Award success for Kingstanding upcycling project

Praise for environmental and community impact.

An innovative upcycling project based in Kingstanding has been recognised as one of the region’s best at a prestigious award ceremony.

The Timber Pallet Recycling Project – a partnership between the regeneration arm of energy and services specialist ENGIE (formerly Keepmoat Regeneration), Birmingham City Council and local resident and craftsman Pete Horton – was presented with an Excellence in Contractor Engagement Award at this year’s TPAS Central Region Awards.

As part of the project, leftover wooden pallets from the refurbishment work being carried out by ENGIE are donated to Pete, who transforms them into outdoor furniture, plant beds and garden decorations, which are then donated to local community organisations.

Craft and furniture-making workshops have also been held by Pete to pass on his craft skills to local residents of all ages. The upcycling project was set up to minimise the amount of wooden waste being sent to landfill in the area. To date, more than 350 pallets have been upcycled.

Pete Horton said: “The project shows how you can use disused wooden pallets to create anything from small wooden sculptures to garden sheds in an uncomplicated way that anyone can achieve whatever their skill levels.”

Paul Bingham, Project Director at ENGIE, added: “Working with the local community and supply chain, as well as reducing our environmental impact, have been the main driving forces behind the success of this scheme. It’s great to have been recognised for our partnership work and we will continue to work with the Council to provide excellent services to tenants.”

John Jamieson, Head of Asset Management for Birmingham City Council commented: “Demonstrating how we can work together to increase support to local communities and businesses was an important element of the procurement for this contract and is just one of the many examples of how ENGIE is actively working with us to achieve this goal. Receiving this award and recognition is a great achievement for everyone involved.”

ENGIE is working on behalf of Birmingham City Council to carry out £17 million of responsive repairs, maintenance and refurbishment work to over 9000 homes across Erdington, Kingstanding and Sutton Coldfield each year. So far, the partnership, which celebrated its second anniversary this month, has responded to over 45,000 emergency repairs and refurbished over 1100 empty properties.

The partnership was also recently Highly Commended at the West Midlands Celebrating Construction Awards, in recognition of the organisations’ provision of employment and training for local people and work with the local supply chain.