Dura Composites raises charity money with GFRP upcycling events

Upcycling event in February 2023. Photo Credit: Dura Composites

Composite products manufacturer and supplier Dura Composites (Essex, U.K.) hosted an open-door session at its Operations Centre back in February 2023. This event enabled local people and organizations to choose from a range of end-of-line and leftover glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) products that could be repurposed for a variety of applications.

Dura asked for a minimum £10 donation per product, with all proceeds being split between three charities: Macmillan Cancer Support, Essex Wildlife Trust and Clacton Food Bank. More than £600 was raised within two hours of the event.

There were a variety of products available that day, with endless repurposing opportunities, such as walkways, caravan jack pads, drain covers, sand ladders, trellises, living wall grids or seedling planters, but the possibilities do not stop there. Because a majority of the products have a 60+ year lifespan, Dura says they can benefit the buyer for years into the future.

In addition to attracting many locals, this event saw one keen buyer travel a 150-mile round trip to see what products were on offer and secure some low-cost composite materials for repurposing on his farmstead.

“Our charity upcycling day was a fantastic experience; to see such a big turnout within only two hours was really heartwarming,” Charmaine Steel, head of people at Dura Composites, says. “Our vision as a company is to solve infrastructure problems sustainably, and this upcycling day fits exactly that. Our waste products are only just beginning a new lifespan for the local people and organssations that have chosen to repurpose them.”

With such overwhelming success, Dura will be opening its doors once again in the coming weeks, with the aim of raising an even larger sum for the three charities nominated charities for this financial year, Essex Wildlife Trust, East Anglian Children’s Hospices and Mind, and hopes to make these events a regular occurrence to help upcycle and repurpose products that might otherwise be wasted. Those interested can visit Dura Composites’ Operations Centre, Telford Road, Clacton on Sea, CO15 4LP, from 12 to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 13^th.

Essex Wildlife Trust is planning to attend the next upcoming event to present Dura Composites with a certificate to reflect the company’s Investors in Wildlife membership status.