Thousands of products saved and resold at new recycling shop in heart of Wear waste centre

Environmentally-conscious Wearsiders can now browse through hundreds of recycled and upcycled products at knockdown prices next time they drop off their rubbish at the city’s state-of-the-art waste centre.

A new shop, called Revive, is now on site with shelves of useful items for the cost-conscious or those looking for a bargain from perfectly-usable items that would otherwise have been destined for the skip.

Revive, in the city’s Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC) in Pallion, has only been open for four months but in that time it has already saved nine tonnes of formerly treasured household items, restored them and put them up for sale for prices unavailable anywhere else.

Coun Claire Rowntree, deputy leader of Sunderland Council, who visited to officially open the site, was thrilled to highlight the shop contributing so successfully to the local authority’s green goals.

She said: “It’s brilliant to see clothes, toys and household items that people no longer have a use for being recycled and resold at affordable prices.

“It means that anyone having a clear-out can bring things they no longer need or have room for, to the re-use shop when they visit the household waste and recycling centre, instead of just throwing them out.

“It’s also a real boon for people looking to pick up decent quality items at affordable prices, especially in the current cost of living crisis.”

Sunderland  Council’s decision to open a reuse shop at the Pallion waste recycling centre, where people can donate things they no longer need so they can be recycled and resold,  is part of its commitment to being a clean green city.  

The Revive shop, which is being operated by the St Vincent De Paul Society charity (SVP), opened to the public shortly before Christmas.

Since then it has saved more than 12,500 items with some of the more unusual donations including a brand new saxophone, quirky pottery and artworks, and rare books.

Coun Rowntree, who is cabinet member for Clean, Green City at the council, as well as deputy leader, joined Ian O’Hara, head of business development at the St Vincent De Paul Society to officially open the shop with the help of Brandon Longsworth, who does work experience in the shop, at a ribbon cutting ceremony. 

Coun Rowntree, added: “We know that the environment is a key priority for our residents and this is a welcome addition to the recycling facilities we already have on offer at the HWRC, which has been really popular since it relocated to our new state of the art centre in Pallion last February.”

The official opening of the reuse shop comes just over a year after the council opened the £5m plus state-of-the-art Pallion Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC). 

The new HWRC replaced the previous one in Beach Street and was designed to provide bigger and better household waste and recycling facilities and to make it easier for residents to recycle and dispose of their waste.

Energy from waste involves using a high-tech burning process to convert waste into electricity for the national grid, rather than being tipped into a landfill.

Elizabeth Palmer, chief executive officer of the St Vincent de Paul Society, said: “This new reuse shop offers local people the opportunity to donate unwanted items, extending their life cycle, creates employment, and helps to address local poverty through providing affordable goods. 

“It also generates vital income for our work.

“Collaborations such as this benefit the local community and represent positive action in the fight against climate change and build a better world for everyone.”

Prices at the reuse shop are kept deliberately low to ensure a high turnover of stock and the vast majority of clothes sell for just £1 an item which means they’re sold and replenished quickly.

The shop accepts and sells a wide range of items including clothes, books, DVDs, electricals, toys, homeware, furniture, and lots of quirky items. It has also just opened a small garden centre selling garden furniture and ornaments.

It is open seven days a week to shop or donate from 9.30 am until 4.30 pm and there is no need for a permit to shop or donate. All the proceeds go to the St Vincent de Paul Society which helps some of the most vulnerable people in communities.

For more information on the shop visit: www.sunderland.gov.uk/revive-sunderland