A pilot project to recycle climbing gear is now underway with recycling bins placed in six locations around the North West and Sheffield. So if you’re heading for any of the climbing walls below and you’ve got some old rope to throw away, bring it along.

Everyone has a rope too old or damaged to use anymore, or a harness with frayed stitching or a helmet past its best – even hardware that hasn’t left the house in the last few years. It’s all sitting up in the attic, or cluttering up the garage, and is in danger of going to landfill.

No one wants to fill up quarries with rubbish; we want them for climbing. Now, however, there is another option - Green Peak Gear. Supported by the BMC’s Access and Conservation Trust, Green Peak Gear is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to finding alternative uses for retired climbing gear.

It can be put to use in other places where its strength is not required, or recycled. Any surplus funds from the project will be given to the BMC Access and Conservation Trust to support its crucial work. Green Peak Gear aims to make climbing more sustainable, and reduce the amount of old rope and climbing gear going to waste dumps.

Collection bins are now in use at climbing walls in the pilot area of the North West and Sheffield. This is a free service, so if you are looking to clear out old kit that will never be used again, but don’t know what to do with it, put it in one of the collection bins next time you take a trip to a wall.

Collection bins are waiting for your gear at:
Liverpool: Awesome Walls and The Climbing Hangar
Manchester: Manchester Climbing Centre
Stockport: Awesome Walls
Preston: West View Leisure Centre
Sheffield: The Foundry and The Edge

There is also a collection bin at the BMC office. More locations will follow nationwide if the pilot is successful.

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