A recycling trial by Polypipe Building Services with Wolseley UK has proved so successful that it is now being rolled out across 11 of the specialist merchant’s branches within the UK.
The trial began in three Wolseley UK branches in Brimsdown, Trafford and West Bromwich with Polypipe drivers dropping off dedicated empty collapsible pallets to be filled with PVC piping offcuts, obsolete products, plastic packaging, and bulk bags. The drivers would then pick the full ones up on their next delivery to the branch and since January 2022, the PVC drainage manufacturer has collected more than 2,700 kilos of recycled waste.
Alex Ashton, Environmental & Sustainability Manager at Polypipe Building Services, said the newly-expanded service was just one of a number of ways the Kent-based manufacturer is working to improve the sustainability of the business and minimise the impact to the environment.
He said: “We had been looking at ways we could help customers with their waste reduction as part of our own measures on site at Aylesford to stop anything going to landfill, and when we approached Wolseley with the idea they jumped at the chance.
“This scheme ties into our strategy of using more recycled materials in our processes following the release of our Terrain PVC sustainable pipe last year which is manufactured from up to 65% recycled PVC-u and is helping us to hit our targets as part of the Genuit group, which is committed to using more than 60% of recycled materials in our products.
“Plastic often gets a bad name when it comes to the environment, but when it’s used responsibly it can be recycled again and again helping us to limit the resources we take out of the earth.”
Cardboard, wooden pallets and plastic bottles are already recycled at the company’s headquarters in Aylesford, and recycling bags are also supplied by Polypipe to building sites it supplies so any offcuts can be collected and recycled instead of going to landfill.
Alex added: “We’ve already had interest in the trial from several of our other distributors as it really is a win-win for them, their customers and our environment, and we have employed two dedicated recycling staff to sort all the different recycling streams.”
The trial led Wolseley to present Polypipe Building Services with its Initiative of the Year award for going the extra mile for their customers.
Luchiana Laza, Category Manager at Wolseley, said: “When Polypipe Building Services told us about its trial scheme we were delighted, as internally we had been looking at different recycling schemes to support our customers. We have weekly deliveries from Polypipe so the volume of waste which we can now recycle means this scheme also makes good financial sense due to the cost saving on skips.”
Find out more about Polypipe Building Services products and commercial drainage solutions at www.polypipe.com
