Repair Cafés play an important role in Cornwall’s circular economy, bringing volunteers and residents together to repair broken items, preventing useful goods from becoming waste. The donated tools will help volunteers carry out a wider range of repairs and support even more community repair events across Cornwall.

The donation, made to mark International Repair and Reuse Day, includes items recovered through Kernow Reuse shops, operated by SUEZ and Cornwall Council at Household Waste Recycling Centres across the county.

Rebecca Parry, Reuse Manager at SUEZ, said “International Repair and Reuse Day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the role repair and reuse play in reducing waste. By donating tools recovered through Kernow Reuse, we’re helping volunteers across Cornwall give even more items a second life.”

Lucie Akerman at Redruth Town Council said “SUEZ’s donation scheme will make a real difference to repair cafés across Cornwall. By donating tools and equipment that might otherwise be unused or discarded, the scheme helps extend the life of those items while also enabling volunteers to repair many more products for local residents. It is a great example of a circular approach to sustainability, where one piece of equipment can support the repair and reuse of countless others, reducing waste and helping valuable resources stay in use for longer.”

The donation marks the beginning of a closer collaboration between Kernow Reuse and Cornwall’s Repair Café network. As part of the partnership, SUEZ and Cornwall Council will also support the upcoming ‘How to Run a Repair Café’ event at Redruth Library on 24 October, helping encourage new volunteers and support the future growth of Repair Cafés across Cornwall.

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