AN AWARD-WINNING Stirling store is hoping the fifth anniversary year of its recycling scheme will be the biggest and best yet, with a little help from local homeowners.

Staff at the Crown Decorating Centre in Munro Road, Springkerse Industrial Estate took the title of Regional Champion in the Kick Out The Can paint recycling scheme last year.

And they hope people will rally round once more in their bid to retain the title by collecting the most paint tins in the entire Scottish region.

The campaign urges householders to bring unwanted paint containers into their store to help the environment and charitable projects too.

Nationally, 2016 was the most successful Kick Out The Can yet with 20,000 containers of surplus paint brought into the network of 135 Crown Decorating Centres – and in a bid to further the good work, Crown is extending the campaign to run for an entire month.

Homeowners can drop off any brand of unwanted paint at their local Crown Decorating Centre from April 1-30 and as a thank you they receive a 20 per cent discount voucher which is redeemable throughout 2017.

Now in its fifth year, the campaign has collected more than 50,000 tins of unwanted paint since its launch in 2013.

In that time, thousands of litres of paint have been given a new lease of life and donated to community projects and deserving causes across the UK.

Store manager Joanne McLaren said: "We are proud to have achieved our most successful year yet in 2016, but there is certainly no room for complacency.

"Sheds, cupboards and garages across the country are thought to hold around 54 million litres of unused paint – and we are keen to ensure it is disposed of both responsibly and usefully.

"The whole Kick Out The Can process keeps sustainability at its heart– from sending paint back to our head office in vans that have delivered paint to the stores, to giving both the paint and containers a new lease of life.

"The paint collected in-store is reprocessed by our social enterprise partner, NIMTECH, at our Lancashire headquarters. Once it is reprocessed the paint is donated to community projects right across the country, while leftover containers are also recycled and turned into garden benches and planters among other things."

For details of opening times at a local Crown Decorating Centre visit: www.crowndecoratorcentre.co.uk

Learn more about Kick Out The Can and NIMTECH at https://youtu.be/bd0omjKxtGs.