Research commissioned ahead of London’s Repair Week event (20-26 March 2023) appears to show that the capital’s inhabitants threw away £1.8 billion worth of items last year that could have been repaired.
With an estimated 25 million items of textiles, 10 million bikes, 19 million electrical items, 16 million items of furniture and 14 million bathroom fixtures or fittings* in need of repair in London homes, say the organizers, there are some massive savings to be made from learning a few basic repairs. And, says the group, “Repair Week is here to help Londoners join the trend to mend”.
Supported this year by partner Suez, Repair Week is billed as an annual celebration of handiness, featuring repair workshops, films, expert advice and a directory of repair services – all of which are intended to help people gain and grow their repairing skills, save money and help fight climate change.
Partners and brands running workshops this year include Beyond Retro, the Royal College of Art, Hackney’s Castle Climbing Centre and Vivobarefoot.
The event is also seemingly expanding for the first time to Manchester. “Waste management company, SUEZ, and Recycle for Greater Manchester will be joining in, promoting repair skills across the city and opening the doors to their Renew Hub, where hundreds of tonnes of pre-loved items which would otherwise have gone to waste are brought for repair and resale – with all profits going back to the local community.”
Rebecca Child, Repair Week campaign manager, said: “We are really excited to see so many more brands and organisations get involved this year and delighted to have Manchester join us. Hopefully this is the start of a national Repair Week. With the cost of living and climate crises, it makes sense that there is a growing appetite for learning to repair and upcycle rather than throw away. There are lots of free events across the capital, and a lovely community spirit to be found in local repair workshops if you can get to one. We also have plenty of free advice and hacks on our website if you can’t get to a workshop in person.”
Dr Adam Read, Chief External Affairs and Sustainability Officer at SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, said:“We’re delighted to be partnering with Repair Week this year to highlight the importance of repair, giving people practical skills and encouraging greater use of existing repair services. Repair is a fundamental element of the circular economy and a key component in our fight against climate change. Repair Week brings together businesses, boroughs and communities to inspire and enable people to repair more items that would usually be thrown away. We’re hoping to prove that much of what people think they should throw out can easily be repaired and have a second life.”
To find out more about Repair Week, visit: https://londonrecycles.co.uk/repair-week.
*These figures were extrapolated by multiplying the mean results of Q4, the number of each type of item respondents have in their home that are broken or damaged and could be repaired, by the ONS 2019 Mid-Year Estimate for London population (7,118,408) and rounding to the nearest million.
