Circular Communities Scotland diverted more than 4000kg of items from landfill

One of the ways Scottish councils offer support to vulnerable local people is by directly providing home items like furniture and furnishings.

Our domestic furniture and furnishings framework can be used by councils and housing associations to source a range of items effectively and efficiently from suppliers, including reuse furniture.

Barry Phillips, Category Analyst at Scotland Excel said: “When scoping our third-generation framework we were keen to bring opportunities for Scotland’s reuse furniture market through the framework that would help divert used stock from landfill and reduce carbon emissions.”

Circular Communities Scotland is the main supplier responsible for reuse goods through the framework. Between the 1 February 2022 and 14 September 2023 they diverted 439,385kg of items from landfill as a direct result of the goods kept in circulation via our framework. This is equivalent to 1,164 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved from polluting the environment.

Michael Cook, Chief Executive Officer at Circular Communities Scotland, said:

“At Circular Communities Scotland we are passionate about seeing a circular economy in Scotland.  We know this benefits the planet by combating climate change and reducing waste.  It also helps people by tackling social inequality, creating jobs and helping those in most need. 

“With the current cost of living crisis putting further pressure on households we expect to see the Consortium continue to grow in the year ahead and would love to hear from more partners interested in delivering a more circular future.”

The choice for buying new or reuse goods is up to the local councils although Barry says the reused goods must pass stringent tests to ensure they are clean, fit for purpose and safe to use.

Barry said: “Sometimes individuals or families can face periods in their lives where they are extremely vulnerable and need help to get their lives back on track.

“The domestic furniture and furnishings framework was introduced to underpin the support that councils and housing associations give to their local residents, by giving easy access to suppliers who can quickly get household items out to communities.

“The environmental benefits are of reusing good, quality items that can continue to be useful are enormous as the figures show. We are looking at our other frameworks to see if we can transfer the same green ethos that will hopefully help our members save money and tackle the climate emergency.”

This article forms part of Scotland Excel's contribution to Scotland's Climate Week 2023 and our ongoing ‘Supporting the journey to Net Zero’ campaign that aims to support the Scottish Government’s ambitious target for Scotland to become Net Zero by 2045.