Waste chiefs at the county council are investigating the possibility of new ‘repair cafés’ at their network of recycling centres.

The council already runs five Reuse Shops at recycling centres across Hertfordshire – in Harpenden, Waterdale, Ware, Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage – in a bid to to prolong the life of items that would otherwise be thrown away.

Now it has emerged that the council is now looking at whether it has the space for repair organisations to hold pop-up ‘repair cafés’ too.

No decisions have yet been taken on where the ‘repair cafes’ may be based – how many there might be or how they would operate.

But the move has been welcomed by the county council’s executive member for the environment Cllr Eric Buckmaster, who represents the Sawbridgeworth division.

Cllr Buckmaster points to the success of similar initiatives that periodically operate in the area – that the community finds “really useful”.

He said: “[Repair cafés] are a good idea because it stops things being thrown away, going to incineration or landfill.

“Based on evidence locally and in other places I think they would be well used.

“It still needs to be worked out how it can be set up. The focus is to have repair and reuse at a single location.”

The possibility of organisations holding pop-up ‘repair cafés’ at the council’s recycling centres initially emerged in a report presented to a meeting of the county council’s environment cabinet panel on Friday (June 28), which outlined the performance of the Reuse Shops’ Community Donation Scheme.

The donation scheme began in 2021 when waste officials made items – such as bikes and furniture – available to social workers and looked after children.

Since then it has benefited organisations and individuals living in the county.

According to the report presented to councillors at the meeting, 189 bikes have been made available to the charity Hertfordshire Disability Sports Foundation (HDSF) through the scheme.

A further 20 balance bikes and 226 other items – including garden pots and small pieces of furniture – have been donated to local schools.

Requests are now received from individuals, organisations, community groups and charities as well as referrals from social workers – with all approaches vetted for eligibility.

The self-funding Reuse Shops are designed to offer ‘good quality’ items at low cost – cutting disposal costs, as well as saving the energy and resources used in the manufacture of new items.

The income is used to fund the running of the shops – with any profits used to offset the costs of the council’s recycling centre service.

According to data reported to the cabinet panel, the projected net income of the Reuse Shops in 2023/24 – after expenditure to equip the shop at Welwyn Garden City and re-branding – was £133,800.

In addition the value of community donations was reported to be £5,315 – from 610 donated items weighing 3677kg.

Overall the amount of material reused through the scheme and the Reuse Shops – rather than being thrown away – was said to be 610 tonnes