Recycle for Greater Manchester

Renew celebrates four years and millions of pounds transforming local waste into community good


  • Renew has donated £1.6 million directly to community groups and charities across Greater Manchester in the last four years.
  • Renew is a joint initiative between Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) and SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and is the largest reuse and repair project of its kind in the country.

Greater Manchester’s unique reuse and repair initiative, Renew, has marked four years of delivering social and community impact across the city-region. Renew is at the heart of GMCA and SUEZ’s waste and resources contact commitment to deliver world leading social value.

Since its inception, the Renew programme has been instrumental in diverting hundreds of thousands of reusable items from waste while funding community groups and donating large sums to Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise groups.

Renew is a joint initiative between R4GM and SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and is the only reuse and repair project of its kind in the country. Money from the sales of repaired and upcycled goods are channeled back into the Renew Community Fund, which has awarded a total of £1.1m to 110 local projects since 2021. These projects have been pivotal in encouraging residents to recycle, fix, mend, borrow, and share items, promoting a circular economy and generating wider social benefits.

Emmaus Salford – a charity which helps people who have been homeless - is also supported by the community fund with their house clearance project: repairing, reusing and recycling furniture, clothes, bikes and books. This project reduces waste, offers training and employment to homeless people, and supports our wider community by providing volunteering opportunities and low-cost essential items to those in need.

Emmaus were awarded nearly £10,000 from the fund which allowed them to hire a van driver who could help transport unwanted items to be repaired and sold in their shops. This key role meant the organisation could improve their capacity to work across Salford, transporting bulky items and speeding up the clearance process.

The Rochdale Science Initiative was awarded £20,000 to continue to their work in involving the wider community in science. They ran hands on workshops themed around recycling and repair, providing food recycling advice and held sewing workshops to teach basic clothing repairs. The year long project culminated in an event bringing together climate action with STEM.

Alongside this a total of £500,000 has been donated to the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity to support their day-to-day work including the pioneering A Bed Every Night scheme, a commitment to provide a bed, welcome, hot meal and support for anyone sleeping rough in Greater Manchester.

Renew has also:

  • Donated upcycled and repaired equipment to local communities in need by redistributing unwanted kitchen equipment to people experiencing homelessness or in crisis.
  • Supported the rehabilitation of offenders through helping prisoners learn new skills such as repairing bikes and other household items, plus skills in furniture restoration and upcycling. Organisations like Recycling Lives have helped 20 ex-offenders move into full-time employment, with 13 securing jobs at SUEZ.

The social value approach to waste management is helping to support local neighbourhoods and provide much needed funding for VSCFE organisations helping to tackle social and economic inequalities to enable everyone to live well.

On Wednesday (September 3) the Mayor visited the Renew Hub in Trafford Park to meet community groups who have benefited from the Community Fund, and the skilled repairer and upcyclers, including apprentices.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:

“It was inspiring to watch the repair experts at the Renew Hub breathe new life into furniture and bikes knowing that these items would have been thrown away in the past. Now they're being sold to raise money for our VCFSE sector which plays such a foundational role in people's day-to-day lives.
“And it's also supporting jobs and apprenticeships in the repair sector as well as providing affordable household items at their shops.”

John Scanlon, Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ UK said:

“When we fix something, borrow something instead of buying it, or buy second-hand instead of new, we're keeping these items in use and saving precious resources. Renew has been at the forefront of this movement for four years, and we're incredibly proud of what they've accomplished. Their efforts have not only kept countless items from going to waste but have also created tangible benefits across Greater Manchester.”

Greater Manchester residents can help support Renew by donating items at their local recycling centres and by shopping at the Renew shops in Oldham, Salford and Altrincham.

About Renew

Residents can shop at three Renew shops located at the following recycling centres:

  • Woodhouse Lane Recycling Centre: Woodhouse Lane, Altrincham, WA14 5TB
  • Arkwright Street Recycling Centre: Arkwright Street, Oldham, OL9 9LZ
  • Boysnope Wharf Recycling Centre: Liverpool Road, Eccles, M30 7RH

Or shop click and collect from the Renew Hub in Trafford Park online:

Visit the Recycle for Greater Manchester website to find your nearest recycling centre to donate items to Renew: https://recycleforgreatermanchester.com/find-a-recycling-centre/

Article Published: 05/09/2025 16:18 PM