Axil has collaborated with Crown Packaging to identify a great opportunity for asset re-use at their site in Peterborough which supports The Norfolk Hospice, Tapping House.
Through one of Axil’s many social enterprise connections, we were able to re-home a quantity of c.1 Tonne of international specification pallets, that were unusable in the UK due to their unusual size/dimensions. As Crown were unable to re-use these pallets themselves, Axil stepped in to find an alternative solution. Supporting our customers with alternative and innovative disposal routes is not unusual for us, it’s part of our business.
Re-use for Social Value has many benefits:
- Achieves a cost reduction in disposal by moving materials up the waste hierarchy
- Reduces Lifecyle emissions by keeping materials in use longer
- Reduces unnecessary emissions from disposal of waste
- Provides the charity/social enterprise with much needed materials to support their community workshops and activities
- Embeds Circular practices and Sustainable resource management
The benefits of the circular economy are being realised on a larger scale than ever before. The World Economic Forum notes that “organisations that embark on circular transformations… will be better positioned to prosper.”
Our re-use activities have enabled us to leverage the value in what could have been ‘waste’ for our customers. By taking a fresh approach and seeing the opportunity in unwanted materials, assets and products, Axil can help our customer’s deliver significant social value and savings compared to traditional disposal routes.
By facilitating customer donations, we are enabling our customers to support social enterprises and, in this case, promote patient wellbeing, social inclusion and mental health.
Crown stated that:
“This donation diverted a material we could not re-use ourselves into reuse elsewhere, pushing the pallets further up the waste hierarchy. In addition, it gives back the community some much needed materials that support the workshops for their residents at the hospice”.
The Norfolk Hospice said that:
“The Tulip Centre follows a rehabilitative model of care. The care and support we provide to our patients all who have a palliative condition and their families is designed to support them to live well in both body and mind for as long as possible. We can help navigate uncertainty, chat through challenges and support our patients to get on living their lives. It is not about end of life; it is about rest of life.
Our men’s woodwork group runs here at the hospice in our purpose-built cabin. The group offers men the opportunity to complete a woodwork project within the social context of a group. The potential benefits include improvements in mood, self-esteem, confidence, a reduction or distraction from anxiety, fatigue and pain, an increase in socialisation.
Obviously one key thing we require for this group is timber, so the donation collaboration has been gratefully received and ensures we can continue supporting outpatients to make their projects – some of which are left in memory.”
Sustainability Manager at Axil, Iona Beresford, comments that
“We are very much looking forward to facilitating more asset redistribution and collaborations in future and are grateful for Crown’s engagement in this process”