CIRCULAR ECONOMY
By Ged Henderson
SQUARING THE CIRCLE
You can sense some frustration in Nick Oettinger’s voice as he talks about the circular economy. “There’s a real misconception around the term,” he says. “People focus on the ‘circular’ but don’t understand the ‘economy’ bit.”
He explains: “It is about finding value in materials – if there is value it will be used. So before you build something, make sure it has value once its life is over.
“If you are putting in a material that no-one will want then don’t – use something else.
“If you took it straight out once you’ve built the product, what would it be worth? If the answer is ‘nothing’, go and find a different material.”
That message about utilising renewable products that can create commodity value further down the line is one that he continues to promote both to his clients and the wider business world.
Nick, who lives in West Lancashire, is a well- respected circular economy economist and something of a pioneer. The Furniture Recycling Group (TFRG) he has created, which is headquartered in Blackburn, provides mattress recycling and mattress refurbishment solutions to industries across the UK.
This includes full logistics and material handling services, creating a circular economy
for mattresses and their component parts as a sustainable alternative to landfill.
The company has recycled more than 3.5 million mattresses since 2012, and currently recycles 16,000 mattresses and rejuvenates more than 2,000 every week.
It has grown from Nick working on his own in small premises in Preston to a business that employs 140 people, with recycling facilities in Blackburn, Bolton and Derbyshire and a turnover approaching £8m.
Nick got the idea for the business when he saw an old mattress stuck under the wheels of a truck on a landfill site with its springs wound round the drive shaft. He says: “I thought, ‘that’s metal’ and started wondering how it could be extracted so it didn’t go into landfill.”
He worked at home, taking mattresses apart to see what was in them, before setting up the business. Its first delivery was a single mattress from a Preston furniture company.
The material TFRG recycles is used in a variety of ways, including creating automotive felt and carpet underlay. The metal extracted goes to foundries to be used again.
Nick says businesses are now becoming more aware of the importance of building value into their products. It is a conversation he continues to have with the industry he works with.
He says: “It is high on their agendas and we are being asked to look at a product and if it can be recycled.
“The role of sustainability managers has changed from box ticking. They now sit on boards as sustainability directors with a loud voice that is listened to and that has been a very big change.
“Design teams are looking closely at the materials and what can be done with them at the end of life.”
He also points to the government’s introduction of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, where producers are given significant responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products.
As well as its recycling operations, Nick sees further growth in his company’s industry- leading rejuvenation service.
This was created to meet the challenge posed by the online growth of ‘sleep trials’ and ‘comfort night guarantee’ offers, where customers can return their mattress after a certain number of days.
The sanitation process created by TFRG uses bespoke designed, automated machinery to transform returned mattresses to nearly new condition to be resold.
Continued on Page 58 LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
IEW.CO.UK
BOY ANTHONY/
Shutterstock.com
57
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
