News
A barman concerned at the amount of waste glass in the pub industry has been inspired to launch his own business.
Gary Harland has established Glasscycle which is offering a glass recycling service to the pub trade, saving businesses money and space while improving efficiency and helping reduce carbon footprint.
Glasscycle has received nearly £10,000 through the Coast and Lowlands Local Action Group, which delivers money through the LEADER approach, funded by One North East’s Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
The funding will be used to buy required start-up machinery and wheelie bins to allow him to establish the business which is quickly gathering momentum.
Gary, a father-of-one from Pegswood, Northumberland, has already rented and installed machinery into over 10 pubs in his local area, each of which can hold up to 800 crushed bottles at one time which Gary then collects and recycles.
Gary, 35, said: “As a bar manager I could see how much glass wasn’t being recycled efficiently and I started to think about how this could be changed for the benefit of the environment and individual businesses.
“After much research I knew this was a sound business idea but in this current economic climate it is daunting setting a business up so having the backing of the LEADER programme has been essential.
“Supplying on site crushing machines will reduce the volume of glass waste by up to 80% with five bins worth of glass being reduced to just one. This will save both space in the waste disposal area and money on waste collection. The system also reduces noise levels, creates a more efficient working place while also reducing health and safety concerns.”
Gary has been shortlisted to the final three of the Class awards for Best New Business of 2009 and has plans to expand the business this year.
He said: “I am firstly concentrating on rural areas of Northumberland before expanding into Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland where there is huge demand to reduce waste, costs and number of bins located outside premises. The second phase of the business will be to take this across the UK.
“I have also started working with the restaurant and hotel trade helping hotels to achieve the green tourism award and have been contacted by several local parish councils so I’m looking to set up a community based project that benefits not just the community but the environment.”
A similar glass recycling service is currently used in Scotland to much success but hasn’t been adopted in England. The UK glass industry recycled 751,845 tonnes of glass in 2006. The energy saving from recycling one bottle will power a 60 watt light bulb for 100 minutes, power a computer for 25 minutes and power a colour television for 20 minutes.
Northumberland County Council is the accountable body for the RDPE programme in Northumberland. Cllr Jim Smith, executive member for regeneration, housing and planning at the council, said: “We are very pleased to see new enterprises like Glasscycle benefiting from the programme.”
One North East’s RDPE Manager, Adrian Sherwood, said: “This new business is an excellent example of how RDPE funding can be used to support innovative business start ups. Glasscycle sets out to prove that it isn’t a costly venture to recycle while bringing benefits for individual businesses and also reducing carbon footprint.”
Ivan Hewitt, Local Action Group Coordinator, added: “Glasscycle is starting off as a local business created by a man who wants to benefit his community and the environment which typifies what the LEADER approach is about. However, Glasscyle has the potential to expand across the region bringing further benefits for many businesses while boosting the importance of recycling and its benefits.”
For a free site survey and a trial visit www.glasscycle.co.uk
Ends.
For more information, contact Alison Laggan (press office) on 0191 229 6613, mobile 07766 424400 or email alison.laggan@onenortheast.co.uk
You can now follow One North East on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OneNorthEast
« Back to list