Plastic feels like it is last year’s issue, but that’s the thing about plastic. It is a brilliantly useful material that doesn’t rot or rust away. Most of the plastic ever made is still here.

Worcester Resource Exchange helps by reducing the amount of waste by re-using it. It is a creative charity that solves two problems at the same time. Local manufacturing businesses while making things also end up with amounts of left over offcuts, trimmings and punch-outs.

WRE arranges free regular pick-ups diverting many tonnes from landfill, which saves them money as they have to pay to get it taken away.

READ MORE: Give a passing thought to cyclists

The thing is, there is no away. Once in landfill despite the best efforts some minerals leach into the groundwater and methane escapes into the atmosphere. Besides, councils struggle to find sites for landfill. That’s a problem, but with WRE it isn’t waste – it’s a resource.

WRE is a registered charity set up as part of the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust to provide inspirational and affordable resources, whilst reducing landfill.

Their main objectives are to:

Provide affordable, safe waste materials, advice and training to a wide range of individuals, artists, community groups and schools.

Provide training, volunteering and work opportunities for students, volunteers, the unemployed and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Promote re-use and recycling, to reduce the amount of materials going into the waste stream.

The materials in the scrapstore change constantly but they often have paper, felt, cardboard, shiny film, plastics, fabric, tubing and much more.

You never know what you might find there! Teams of artists in workshops take a bin of what others would call waste and turn it works of art or theatrical props, limited only by one’s imagination.

WRE can be found in Blackpole East, Unit F9 – see .wre.uk.com for more details.