University supports newly-opened Edinburgh Remakery

The University of Edinburgh is a project partner in the Edinburgh Remakery, a reuse and repair store located on Leith Walk which opened in 2016.

This weekend marked the launch of the Edinburgh Remakery, a unique re-use and repair store supported by the University of Edinburgh.

The store is owned and operated by Remade in Edinburgh, a social enterprise based on Guthrie Street which teaches the general public repair skills whilst also campaigns for consumer goods to be built to last.

The newly-opened Edinburgh Remakery is located at 125 Leith Walk, and will be a hub for Leith-based locals to learn repair skills and buy second-hand goods.

Both projects are backed by Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Government as part of the latter’s recent Circular Economy strategy, ‘Making Things Last’. The University of Edinburgh is a project partner and donates computers between five and eight years old to the enterprise which are sold to the community at a low cost, making them highly affordable.

The importance of reuse

Re-use has a key role to play for Scotland’s economy and environment, helping us get better value from products by moving away from the model of buying items and throwing them away after little use. 

Building the sector in Scotland will be essential in preventing perfectly usable items from going to landfill, benefiting the environment, and relieving pressure on scarce raw materials, while creating local jobs.

Many items, which could be used by someone else, currently go to landfill. Thousands of re-usable items end up there every year, including 304,000 individual 3-seater sofas and 151,000 washing machines (ZWS, 2016).

The University of Edinburgh as a project partner

Dave Gorman, Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the University of Edinburgh, said:

"The University of Edinburgh is delighted to see the Edinburgh Remakery open its doors in Leith, giving another part of the city a hub for re-use and repair.

"We live in a world with finite resources, and one of the most impactful ways we can protect those resources is to reuse and repair the things we already have.

"The Remakery champions the idea of a Circular Economy, which is about transitioning from a ‘take-make-dispose’ linear approach to resource use, to systems that encourage reuse and extraction of maximum value before returning resources to the biosphere.

"The University currently works with Remade in Edinburgh to reuse and repair our old PCs before making them available for the Edinburgh community to purchase second hand. We look forward to expanding this partnership with the Remakery, and wish them every success in their endeavours."