Shetland Home Co leads the way in encouraging re-use by achieving national quality certification

Shetland Home Co is the latest re-use organisation in Scotland to be certified by Revolve, the national re-use quality standard offered by Zero Waste Scotland. Shetland Home Co is the re-use/ recycling focused business of local social enterprise COPE Ltd. Shetland Home Co sells quality re-use goods at competitive prices and works to encourage more people to feel confident and see the benefits in donating and buying used goods.

Over the past year Shetland Home Co has been working towards achieving Revolve certification, which aims to increase re-use by improving professionalism, customer experience and visibility of re-use organisations. A Zero Waste Scotland report reveals that over 70% believe that buying re-used goods offers good value and is often cheaper than buying new. Shetland Home Co is the only certified Revolve store in Shetland, and is one of 100 in Scotland. Alongside the Revolve accreditation Shetland Home Co were also awarded the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) ‘Committed to Excellence Award’ by Quality Scotland which recognises business that are committed to quality and continuous improvement. This is European wide quality standard, used by over 30,000 organisations.

Louise Watson, Business Manager at COPE Ltd said: “We are delighted that Shetland Home Co has been awarded Revolve certification. Our customers can have increased confidence that re-use items are prepared for sale within current health, safety and trading standards. We follow strict processes to ensure high standards and confidence in our re-used goods. The Revolve process has increased professionalism in our service, and we are committed to excellent customer service and continuous review and improvement. Since we started working towards gaining the title we have seen a boost in trade.”

Karen Erasmuson, Team Leader at Shetland Home Co, said: “We believe there is a strong market in Shetland in providing people with a sustainable alternative, and we are committed to working with the community to increase re-use and recycling in Shetland. We are proud to be making an environmental impact locally, in addition to our main social purpose providing employment and employment skill development to adults with learning disabilities.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “The aim of Revolve is to support Scotland’s re-use organisations with advice, training and support to provide customers with a shopping experience that is comparable to the high street.

“We want to increase the appeal of re-use, develop a sector of customer-focused organisations selling high quality products, and increase shoppers’ confidence in buying previously-owned goods. This will not only help Scotland make the best possible use of the resources we have, it will also generate income and jobs for the local economy from goods that would otherwise have cost money to dispose of.”