Wales passes 100 repair and reuse hubs as ISWA London hears case for local infrastructure

Wales now operates around 106 repair and reuse hubs, comfortably clearing its target of 80, WRAP's Bettina Gilbert told the ISWA World Congress in London on day 3 of the event — the first time the congress has returned to the UK capital in 30 years.

Gilbert presented the Welsh approach during a session that also featured UCL researcher Danielle Purkiss, who used the closing plenary to argue that repair, reuse and remanufacturing depend on local infrastructure and coordinated policy, not on technological fixes alone.

What did the Welsh network deliver?

The hubs form a network of community-accessible spaces offering services tailored to local needs. The expansion supports Wales' ambition to establish a universal culture of repair and reuse by 2050 — an explicit move beyond recycling.

"The transition to a circular economy requires more than great recycling," Gilbert said. "We need to slow consumption through activities such as repair and reuse."

An independent evaluation of repair café and library-of-things activity supported through Welsh Government funding reported:

• More than 90 tonnes of waste avoided
• Almost £500,000 in avoided household spending
• Money saving identified as a key motivation for people using the services

In short: the services work, but Wales cannot yet prove their full value.

Why can't the benefits be fully measured?

Gaps in monitoring data prevented evaluators from completing a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, despite clear evidence the services were delivering benefits.

Recommended fixes include clearer targets, stronger monitoring systems and standardised measures suited to different activities. Candidate metrics include the number and weight of items handled, repair success rates, borrowing frequency, user satisfaction and volunteer hours.

Without that data, future funding cases get harder to build.

How does policy connect to delivery?

Gilbert explained how WRAP's repair and reuse routemap combined research on existing services, skills gaps, consumer behaviour and policies elsewhere, with engagement from practitioners and the public.

Its recommendations cover accountability and measurement, public sector leadership, access, collaboration, business participation and skills — with responsibilities identified across sectors.

These actions interlock. Hubs need public awareness to attract users, but they also need partnerships with local authorities and businesses to secure suitable items and support services. One persistent challenge is connecting reuse shops at household recycling centres with high street locations people can reach more easily.

Gilbert pointed to Newport Wastesavers as a model of financial interdependence. Its high street repair and reuse hub is supported by commercial activities and shops at household recycling centres. The organisation received initial capital funding to establish its high street presence but does not require long-term government subsidy to sustain operations. Its services include repair cafés, a library of things and space for other repair organisations.

Still, she framed the transition as a continuing journey rather than a completed task. "Funding remains the challenge," she said.

What did UCL's researcher tell the plenary?

Speaking at the closing plenary, architect and UCL researcher Danielle Purkiss argued that waste management challenges cannot be resolved in isolation from the economic, behavioural and commercial systems that create them. She called for stronger connections between research, industry and policymakers, with solutions tested against real-world conditions rather than relying solely on models and simulations.

"They're things that actually only work if you have an infrastructure in your local high street, in your local industrial estate," she said.

Drawing on work at UCL's Institute of Making and Plastic Waste Innovation Hub, Purkiss explained how cross-disciplinary work surfaces barriers individual specialists miss. Repair illustrates the point: extending the life of appliances and electronics involves policy, legal, technical, commercial and behavioural issues, not simply making a product easier to fix.

Her research examined what people do when washing machines break, alongside discussions with businesses and visits to recycling facilities, to understand what could encourage more repair and support business models built on longer-lasting, repairable products.

Can universities test circular systems on themselves?

Purkiss encouraged organisations to use their own operations as testing grounds. At UCL, researchers studied the donation and reuse of items from student accommodation at the end of the academic year. Studying the university's own systems showed how organisational decisions and behaviour affect waste prevention.

She distinguished between assembling specialists and enabling them to define research questions together — shared understanding that took years to build within her own group. On AI and machine learning, she welcomed the support but cautioned against treating digital tools as the only innovation. "Technology doesn't have to be just developing a digital tool. It actually could be about developing a process," she said.

Her final warning was about pace. Rushing ahead without understanding how system components interact risks missed opportunities and unintended consequences.

"You've got to make time to collaborate," she said.

What happens next?

The milestone to watch is whether Wales closes its measurement gap — standardised metrics, repair success rates, item weights — fast enough to convert a 106-hub network into a durable funding case before the 2050 circularity deadline disciplines the next round of decisions.