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Glasgow will be the setting for a major conference this Wednesday (August 27), which will spotlight the growing success of furniture reuse projects across Scotland.

‘More Than Furniture 08’, the 5th Annual Furniture Reuse Conference, will be hosted by The Community Recycling Network for Scotland (CRNS), the membership body for community recycling and reuse organisations across the country.

The conference, which will be held at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD), will highlight the growing demand for second-hand furniture which has increased partly due to the credit crunch, coupled with greater public understanding of the environmental benefits reuse and recycling have.

Under the banner of ‘Bigger, Better, Bolder’, a number of key figures from the furniture reuse sector  - from home and abroad – will take to the platform on Wednesday to speak about the projects they are involved with.

This includes projects such as the Glasgow based Maxie Richards Foundation, which helps to rehabilitate drug addicts and gets them involved in restoring second-hand furniture ready for resale. Other spotlighted projects will include Edinburgh based charity The Bethany Christian Trust, Fife based Castle Furniture Project and New Start Highland.

The keynote speaker will be US recycling pioneer Eric Lombardi, who is Executive Director of Eco-Cycle, one of the largest non-profit recyclers in the world.

Eric’s influence has extended in the past to the very highest levels of office, including an invite from President Clinton to attend the White House in 1998 to advise on national recycling issues.

During his address to more than 100 delegates from the Scottish furniture reuse sector, Eric will refer to a report which he co-authored on behalf of Eco-Cycle. The report, published last month by the Institute for Local Self Reliance, is entitled ‘Stop Trashing the Climate’ and argues that eradicating waste through the growth of reuse, recycling and composting programmes is the fastest, cheapest and most effective route to combat climate change.

As one of the world’s most successful Zero Waste activists, Eric will argue that a waste free society will be good for both the economy and the climate.

Newly appointed CRNS Chief Executive Pauline Hinchion commented: “Things are shaping up nicely for what is set to be our biggest conference yet, on the ever more important issue of furniture reuse.

“Furniture reuse projects are playing an increasingly pivotal role in our economy, bridging a gap in the market for low cost, perfectly decent furniture for families who are on a low income or people who are moving out of homelessness.

“Furniture reuse also offers a host of other benefits, such as stopping items being scrapped and sent to landfill, and social benefits for workers and volunteers who work on some of the projects.

“The figures speak for themselves – around 105,000 people made use of a furniture reuse project in the last year, compared with 30,000 five years ago. That means 14,000 tonnes of furniture a year that would otherwise have gone to landfill has been reused.

“Last year, 65,000 of the people who made use of the initiative were homeless or on low incomes. The other 40,000 were members of the public who opted not to go to a traditional furniture store.

If you are interested in attending ‘More Than Furniture 08’, you can book your place via  www.crns.org.uk or by calling 01786 469002.