Torfaen residents have an alternative to throwing away small items when they become broken or damaged thanks to a new repair shop.

The Torfaen Repair Café, run by Torfaen Council and Wastesavers Charitable Trust was officially opened at Pontypool Indoor Market last week as part of Recycle Week. The café will run weekly, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, between 9.30am until 12.30am, where people can take items for repair advice.

Small items such as kettles, toasters, and small vacuum cleaners can be taken to the shop for diagnoses and repair on site if the job is easy. It’s hoped the café will help reduce the amount of small electrical items being taken to the Household Waste Recycling Centre for disposal.

The council is aiming to recycle 70 per cent of all waste by 2024.

Councillor Mandy Owen, executive member for the environment, said: “We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Wastesavers Charitable Trust to offer this service to residents. Repairing and reusing items should always come first before recycling or sending them to incineration, so we really hope residents take up this offer.

“The café will only be able to take a look at small items, with the rule of thumb being, if it’s too big to carry they can’t fix it.”

Alun Harris, Wastesaver Charitable Trust, said: “Repair and reuse is a growing factor in Wales’s aim to be net zero carbon by 2030, and Repair Cafés will be an integral part of this over the coming years.

“These will be a great facility for households to repair items they would otherwise throw out. Wastesavers are extremely grateful to be running the Pontypool Repair Café in partnership with Torfaen Council.”

Find out more

The Torfaen Repair café joins a network of repair cafes know as Repair Café Wales. To find out more visit https://repaircafewales.org/