Don’t Waste Paint, Partnership with Mylands

InUse ReUs Lambath CIC, a social enterprise committed to preventing usable materials from becoming waste. Originally focused on collecting and redistributing surplus construction materials, InUse ReUse has expanded into the DIY space to scale its impact and bring circular economy principles directly to customers. 

This case study highlights a collaborative project between InUse ReUse, Mylands and Community RePaint, demonstrating how excess paint can be diverted from waste streams and reintroduced into the market as a high quality, sustainable DIY product.

The Challenge

Paint waste remains a persistent issue within the construction and home improvement sector. High-quality paint can become surplus due to:

• Cancelled or amended customer orders
• Mis-tinted or overproduced batches
• Leftover ingredients from manufacturing processes

Despite being perfectly usable, much of this paint risks disposal due to limited redistribution pathways, fragmented supply chains and a lack of consumer awareness around reused and remanufactured paint.
At the same time, consumers are increasingly seeking sustainable DIY options that reduce environmental impact without compromising on performance or aesthetics.

The Connection: Community RePaint

Community RePaint plays a central role in the UK’s paint reuse ecosystem, connecting corporations, manufacturers, charities, social enterprises, and reuse hubs to ensure surplus paint reaches communities instead of landfill.
Through the Community RePaint network, InUse ReUse was introduced to the wider paint reuse community. This connection provided:

• Access to knowledge and established reuse models
• Trusted introductions to manufacturers aligned with circular values
• Insight into the social and environmental impact of paint reuse at scale

The Partner: Mylands

Founded in 1884 and still manufacturing in Lambeth, London, Mylands is Britain’s oldest family-owned paint manufacturer. The company is widely recognised for its commitment to sustainability, including the development of plant-based, low-VOC paints using natural fillers and binders.

Mylands actively works to reduce waste across its operations. Surplus paint generated through mis-tinted batches, cancelled orders and leftover ingredients is carefully managed to ensure it remains in productive use wherever possible. By partnering with InUse ReUse, Mylands has created a new route for this surplus paint to be redistributed responsibly, extending product life while maintaining the brand’s premium quality standards.

The Solution

InUse ReUse Lambeth now collects surplus paint from Mylands, repackages it into new containers, and redistributes it through our DIY e-commerce platform and physical storage facility in Brixton, The Remakery.

This approach:

• Prevents high-quality paint from going to waste
• Makes sustainable, premium paint accessible at lower price points
• Provide a consistent production output of the same colour paints
• Extends the life of existing materials in line with circular economy principles
• Creates a scalable model for reuse beyond traditional donation based systems

Impact

The collaboration delivers measurable environmental and social benefits:

• Waste reduction: Surplus paint is diverted from disposal and kept in circulation
• Reuse reduces the need for virgin materials and new production
• Data Collection: Paint collected is weight and we capture this data for impact reporting
• DIY customers gain access to premium, sustainably produced paint
• Demonstrates a commercially viable reuse model for manufacturers

Looking Ahead

This collaboration with Mylands, enabled through Community RePaint, serves as a blueprint for future partnerships. InUse ReUse aims to continue expanding its paint offering while working with manufacturers and reuse networks to create low-waste supply chains across the DIY and construction sectors.