EXPANDED polystyrene (EPS) recycler Volker Gruppe is making major inroads into sectors such as education and local authorities as it ramps up ambitions to tackle waste issues surrounding polystyrene recovery across Scotland.
Last year, Packaging Scotland visited the firm’s EPS recycling facility in Chryston, North Lanarkshire, to see how the business helps turn EPS waste from packaging and fish boxes into high value commodities such as briquettes for the construction sector.
Operations manager John Rennie told us back then that the recycling process can be tailored to suit each client’s output and he was keen to raise awareness of how versatile and recyclable expanded polystyrene is. In the 15 months since that visit, Volker Gruppe has procured and developed more sources of EPS waste that would otherwise go to landfill. The business has also reached out to more sectors including manufacturing, insulation, retrofit, EWI (external wall insulation), and more packaging businesses, as well as more councils.
“We have increased what we do in terms of service levels,” John explained. “We’re collecting more materials physically, we’re offering more collection options for customers – collection stands, bagging systems, compaction equipment.
“With the more enquiries we get from companies wanting to recover more in terms of EPS packaging, they’re asking us to do a fuller solution – supply the equipment, supply a system, supply a process – in order to safeguard materials not going to landfill, be more sustainable, and also make it financially viable for them, whether it be rebates or waste reduction to reduce landfill and disposal costs. It’s very adaptive.”
John is keen to stress that no two customers are the same and Volker Gruppe is providing bespoke elements to businesses.
The company has been engaging with a number of local authorities and actively rolled out a successful project with the City of Edinburgh Council for the local authority’s household waste recycling centres. Volker Gruppe installed collection systems at the sites to collect the EPS waste. People who have historically never had a disposal route for EPS now have one.
Volker is also working with universities and the wider education sector and has developed an ongoing relationship with the University of Glasgow following an initial conversation last year around providing a solution for EPS waste on some of their many campuses. Four campuses were identified as being suitable for collection points and bags, and the process has added another facet to the university’s waste reduction ambitions. A handful of uplifts have already been carried out and John explained the team is beginning to understand more about the volumes and frequency, paving the way to grow from there.
With both councils and the education sector, key for Volker Gruppe is getting one or two on board to prove the exercise works. “That is the push for us,” John added. “It’s volumes that have historically been landfilled, historically never been looked at as a recyclable product. But it now is, and we’ve proven that.”
Volker has continued to invest in plant and equipment at its Chryston facility to future-proof operations. The company has taken on additional staffing – with more appointments in the pipeline – and upgraded internal processes. As part of parent group BEWI, the business has also been undertaking IS0 14001 certification.
Looking to the future, Volker is keen to collaborate with more sectors of business.
“BEWI is a packaging and construction product manufacturer,” John added. “With regards to packaging, we’ve done a lot of work with our sister plants within the BEWI group, working closely with them with their packaging and construction EPS. We’ve also got a process running with the packaging plant in Aberdeen where we’re working with them to recover some of their waste which would otherwise have gone to landfill. We are facilitating change within our own group. That is good for business and sends out a progressive massage.
“We’re looking to be more focused on assisting the construction and packaging sectors with the impending waste implementation requirements, both at a Scottish and national level.
“We want to home in on the services that we offer to customers, new and old, and increase the volumes that would otherwise be landfilled. We’re progressive in what we do and see reward in the challenges.”
