WARP-it at the University of Sunderland

The University of Sunderland has been utilising the WARP-it resource, reuse portal now for nearly three years, however it has been the engagement in the City wide Sunderland Partnership WARP-it scheme that has proved to be the key success and has been “highly commended” in the 2014 annual MRW National Recycling Awards.

Since it was launched in 2011 during major re-organisation of public sector buildings and resources to help redistribute rather than dispose of office contents, the reuse initiative has attracted partners including the University of Sunderland, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, City of Sunderland Council and a local network of voluntary and community sector organisations. The citywide project has now successfully prevented 150,000 tonnes of Carbon Emissions, diverted 50,000 tonnes from landfill and saved partners £400,000 by re-using resources rather than paying to replace them. This has been achieved by loaning, swapping and up-cycling items across the City.

Some of the partners L-R

Michael Foster – University of Sunderland
Ken Bremner – CEO of Sunderland NHS Foundation
Councillor Michael Mordey – Sunderland City Council
Dianne Pattison – Sunderland City Council
John Smith – WARP-it Coordinator (Funded by Partnership and University)
Jessica May – Sunderland City Council
Claire Mather – University of Sunderland