Introducing Reuse Stations at the RCA

The Royal College of Art finds a solutions to high volumes of waste and affordability of materials with new Reuse Stations.

In Autumn 2023, the College trialled a pop-up Material Exchange over the course of 3 days, where students were encouraged to bring materials they no longer needed and take materials for their projects.  This was well-received. An idea was raised by students through RCA Student Union College Assemblies to create a permanent version of the Materials Exchange.

The RCA Students Union initiated a 'Task & Finish' Group, bringing together colleagues in the Student Union, Estates, Technical Services and Health & Safety to envisage how to create a permanent way for students to reuse materials. The Group identified that there already existed scrap bins across technical workshops in the College but that they might not be well known amongst students. So the first step was to identify all the reuse opportunities already active at the RCA and map these on floorplans. The group then introduced the term “Reuse Station” to cover all of these opportunities - and future ones. These were then published on the RCA Intranet and promoted in newsletters. 

Next, the Group worked together to identify a location in a communal space (to ensure equity of access) and the infrastructure to support the concept.  A space in the Darwin building on the Kensington campus was chosen and was kitted out with re-purposed racking. New containers made of recycled plastic were purchased to organise materials into categories (to ensure the space remained useable) and signage was created to support students to sort their materials. The pilot communal Reuse Station launched in May 2024!

Ad-hoc walk-bys of the Reuse Station have shown that materials are being frequently deposited and collected. The materials seen in the Reuse Station vary hugely; from paper, wood, cardboard, plastics and fabrics to a range of weird and wonderful items which are quickly snapped up by students. This has meant materials have found a second (or sometimes third/fourth!) life and students have been able to save money.

Next, the group plans to identify areas in our other RCA campuses to introduce communal Reuse Stations.  They also want to explore opportunities to introduce Reuse Stations within studio spaces.