Leading manufacturer and supplier of composite products for industry, Dura Composites, hosted an open-door session at its Operations Centre back in February. This event allowed local people and organisations to choose from a range of end of line and leftover GRP products that could be repurposed for a variety of applications.
Dura asked for a minimum £10 donation per product, with all proceeds being split between three charities: Macmillan Cancer Support, Essex Wildlife Trust and Clacton Food Bank. Over £600 was raised within two hours of the event.
There were a variety of products available on the day, with endless repurposing opportunities, such as walkways, caravan jack pads, drain covers, sand ladders, trellises, living wall grids or seedling planters, but the possibilities do not stop there. With design lives of over 60 years, many of these products can benefit the buyer for years into the future.
Alongside attracting many locals, this event saw one keen buyer travel a 150-mile round trip to see what products were on offer and secure some low-cost composite materials for repurposing on his farmstead.
Charmaine Steel, Head of People at Dura Composites said: “Our charity upcycling day was a fantastic experience, to see such a big turnout within only two hours was really heartwarming. It’s great to know that we could raise this money for charity, whilst helping out our local community.
“Our vision as a company is to solve infrastructure problems sustainably, and this upcycling day fits exactly that. Our waste products are only just beginning a new lifespan for the local people and organisations that have chosen to repurpose them.”
With such an overwhelming success at the first event, Dura will be opening its doors once again in the coming weeks, with the aim of raising an even larger sum for the three charities nominated charities for this financial year, Essex Wildlife Trust, East Anglian Children’s Hospices and Mind, and hopes of making these events a regular occurrence to help upcycle and repurpose products that might otherwise be wasted.
Essex Wildlife Trust is planning to attend this event to present Dura Composites with a certificate to reflect their Investors in Wildlife membership status.
The upcoming event will be open from 12-2pm on Saturday 13th May at the Dura Composites Operations Centre, Telford Road, Clacton on Sea, CO15 4LP.