Reuse Littleborough's disappointment after walking aid dropped off for reuse scheme thrown in scrap metal

Reuse Littleborough has spoken out about its disappointment after taking a Zimmer frame in “excellent condition” to Rochdale recycling centre to be returned and reused by hospitals – only for it to be thrown in the scrap metal.

A new partnership last October revealed that walking aids such as walking sticks, frames or crutches would be accepted at drop-off points across Greater Manchester – including Rochdale’s recycling centre on Chichester Street – as a new push to return, reuse and recycle such items without a trip to hospital.
 

Read more: Walking sticks, frames and crutches now accepted at local recycling centres in Greater ManchesterPublished: 27 October 2022

With this in mind, Reuse Littleborough’s founder Michael Bamford took a “perfectly good” Zimmer frame to the Chichester Street recycling centre on Monday 23 January where he asked about the return and refurbish scheme.

Michael said: “I’d seen it on Rochdale Online that Rochdale tip were taking walking aids to return and refurbish them before taking them back to hospitals.

“I asked about it to be told ‘we don’t know anything about this’ and that the Zimmer frame would go in the scrap metal pile, which it did.

“I’ve got more of these aids than the hospitals. I’ve been told they won’t take them back directly because they say they can’t clean them so people need to get new, but they’re struggling to get them.

“Reuse has got so many of these we could return to this scheme to go back to the hospitals – it’s what we’re about – but not if it’s going to go into a skip. If the scrap metal is going to be melted down, that’s not refurbishing.

“That zimmer frame was in excellent condition, and now it’s lying in a skip over there.”

 

 

A spokesperson for SUEZ said: “SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK run the household waste recycling centres on behalf of the GMCA. We fully support this scheme which aims to return walking aids to the NHS to be cleaned, refurbished and reused. Items can be dropped off at 18 of our 20 recycling centres across Greater Manchester in the donation containers.

“We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service however based on the feedback on this occasion, we may not have correctly advised this customer about this scheme. To date we’ve collected over 200 types of walking aids for the NHS. We provide ongoing training for our operatives to make sure they’re aware of the latest recycling advice.”