Calling all DIY enthusiasts

Person using a jigsaw power tool to cut wood.

DIY tools are the latest target in our Re-Use Revolution campaign. We want to encourage tool sharing and hiring rather than buying new.

The UK is DIY mad, with the average household owning almost £400 worth of tools. Experts have worked out this means an estimated £2 billion worth of them sit gathering dust in cupboards or garages. The average drill is only used for 13 minutes in its lifetime!

This is why DIY tools are the latest target in the Re-use Revolution campaign by the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) Waste Partnership and Renewi, the firm behind the household waste treatment facility at Manvers.

They want to encourage tool sharing and hiring rather than buying new in order to cut down waste and help save the planet.

Regular servicing and repairs make them last longer, and when you no longer need them you can:

  • See if any local community projects need any tools
  • Donate them to friends and family
  • Sell them (try websites like eBay, Facebook marketplace and Gumtree)

If they can’t be repaired, take them to a Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) to be recycled.

Manvers-based Community Education Liaison Officer, Abi Reid, said electrical equipment, including DIY tools, was one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK.

“DIY tools can be expensive to buy, they take up a lot of storage space and many are used only a few times.  It’s much more environmentally friendly – and cheaper - to share or hire them than buy new.  And this means less waste.

“If you know someone who is new to DIY or just starting out in their own home, why not pass on some basic tools you no longer need to get them started?”

To find out more about re-using and reducing waste at home, visit the Waste Less South Yorkshire website at www.wasteless-sy.co.uk

Note to Editors:  The award-winning waste treatment facility at Manvers processes around a quarter of a million tonnes of leftover waste a year from 340,000 homes across Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham, turning it into useful products rather than sending it to landfill.  For further information contact Abi Reid or Rebecca Wilson on 07814 302297 or abi.reid@renewi.com or rebecca.wilson@renewi.com

Published: 8th February 2022