Stoke Fleming

Helping to make household recycling hassle-free is the aim of a Devon family firm which is selling a range of paper bin liners.

Former teachers Gordon and Lesley Anderson and their economics graduate son Russell are producing the environment-friendly liners from fully recyclable paper.

Based at the Halwell Business Park, between Dartmouth and Totnes, south Devon, the firm is selling products which can now be bought from the shelves of several major supermarkets.

Gordon said: "We are providing a solution to the hassle faced by householders from the imposition of the new recycling regime."

Two years ago Gordon and his wife Lesley were among householders who had to cope with a new South Hams District Council scheme for recycling compostable materials, including garden and food waste.

They were supplied with a small kitchen caddy to collect food in and a wheeled bin. But the couple were unhappy at the thought of dealing with messy food waste and having to clean out the bin.

Lesley explained: "I peered into the wheeled bin and thought 'I'm not going to put my left-over spaghetti Bolognese and scrambled eggs all the way down there. What we need is a liner'."

So the couple - parents-of-five from Stoke Fleming - went on the internet to look for someone who could manufacture paper bin liners.

They eventually found a British firm which helped them design a "block bottom wet strength sack/kraft paper liner" ideal for the purpose.

Gordon said: "Sack/kraft paper is made from a stronger fibre than ordinary paper and is used for products such as vegetable sacks. It is puncture resistant even when filled with damp food."

The couple bought 2,000 wheeled bin liners which they stored in a garage and started to sell to friends. When the parish magazine printed an article about the service the local shop became interested and asked for a supply of liners to sell.

"The next village's shop said 'we will sell them' and then the next one - and the next one…" recalled Gordon.

The product became available all along the nearby coast and the venture outgrew the garage.

Gordon said: "We moved into an old shipping container on a farmer's field and the farmer used to help us offload the products from the manufacturer's lorry.

"We would count them up, put elastic bands round them and stick on labels with wallpaper paste while we were watching TV.

"By then we were in about 70 shops including the local Co-op," said Gordon. "We gave out publicity posters produced by Russell to put into the shop windows. And I used to fill up a van and go round selling the liners."

Lesley Anderson: "I peered into the wheeled bin and thought 'I'm not going to put my left-over spaghetti Bolognese and scrambled eggs all the way down there. What we need is a liner'."

An important breakthrough came for the business when three buyers from a major supermarket paid a visit. They explained what the firm would need to get their products into their stores.

It was then that Gordon and Lesley realised the territory they were entering was far removed from their backgrounds in teaching.

"We were faced with a big learning curve. For example how do you find a barcode or register as a company? How do you package the product and describe it on the box? How do you market it?"

Another vital step forward was when the liners were awarded the European Certificate of Compostability, required before a product may be added to the council 'waste stream'.

They now produce liners tailored for kitchen caddies, kitchen bins, outside food boxes and wheeled bins. And they sell their own kitchen caddies too.

Their original thought - "what we need is a liner" - lead to the product range being named ALINA!

Their first success with supermarkets was to sell to 20 Co-op stores in the South West.

The Anderson's formed a company, Recycle Together Ltd, with Gordon, Lesley and Russell as directors. They set up a website to promote their products and give information on recycling issues, including tips on composting - www.recycletogether.co.uk

They also set up the website shop www.paperliners.co.uk. Orders have come in from a wide variety of places, including the Outer Hebrides and British Forces in Germany.

The company outgrew its shipping container premises and moved to an industrial unit, owned by another 'friendly local farmer', Denys Treeby. He has diversified by turning part of his land into the now popular Halwell Business Park.

At first Recycle Together moved into a 3000sq ft unit there.

Lesley said: "When we drove up to look at the unit we were very hesitant. We knew we had moved into a different league."

But they soon outgrew that unit too and moved into a 5,500sq ft unit next door. They use this as a holding warehouse and workshop.

The Anderson's pay warm tribute to Mr Treeby for being such a helpful landlord: "He has become a true friend and business confidant, helping in so many practical ways, e.g. moving materials into the units with his tractors, and being an enthusiastic promoter of our bin liners in his holiday cottages."

Now the product is selling extensively in the South-West, particularly in the South Hams and Teignbridge districts and in Asda stores in Bristol, and in other areas of the UK where councils have introduced food waste recycling.

The Anderson's are expecting a tenfold expansion of their business this year, with the products going into Tesco and other supermarkets throughout the UK, including Northern Ireland.

In co-operation with council waste management and recycling officers, they aim to roll out the product as and when councils introduce new food waste schemes into their areas.

The company has had a great deal of help from the bank and from Business Link Devon and Cornwall, which introduced it to the EVOKE programme. This gives financial help and advice to businesses which expect rapid growth and the ability to offer employment to a rural area.

Lesley says: "We have a very experienced business advisor and mentor called Des Smith who has helped with business plans, financial forecasts, intellectual property rights, production, marketing, advertising and brand image, and has helped identify other sources of funding."

The Anderson's believe the future for their recyclable products is very bright. Gordon says at present a third of all food bought in the UK is wasted. Pressure is increasing from the EU for this country to meet stiffer recycling targets - or face huge fines.

Targets are now based on the weight of the material recycled. As food waste is heavier than most other recyclable materials, there is a great incentive for more areas to introduce schemes.

A recent exciting development is that the company has gained support from a British paper mill to produce a sack-kraft paper suitable for the bin liners, from waste material recycled in the UK. This will be the only recycled sack-kraft paper made in Britain to be used by a number of British manufacturers to make ALINA bin liners.

This means a much reduced carbon footprint for the products, as the paper currently used is imported from countries abroad with sustainable forests.

But what motivated the Anderson's at the outset of their exciting journey was to keep the mess out of domestic recycling.

So most important of all are the favourable comments they are getting from householders, such as this one from Lizzie, from Bristol: "Your paper liners are brilliant for our food waste collection bins.

"Most people are just putting food straight in the food boxes and keeping them outside. In the summer months we have had dreadful smells and flies in the neighbourhood.

"The liners keep the bins clean and hygienic. There needs to be lots of stockists to be able to easily buy them."