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16 | www.cabinet-maker.co.uk | 28 November 2014 FEATURE JEM Second time

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Page 1: Cabinet Maker feature

16 | www.cabinet-maker.co.uk | 28 November 2014

FEATURE JEM

Second time around

Page 2: Cabinet Maker feature

28 November 2014 | www.cabinet-maker.co.uk | 17

JEM FEATURE

Second time around

Delving into the world of material recycling with waste management expert Jem Recycling GroupWe live, it could be said, in a disposable society. Things that not even too long ago we would have kept and used again have now become largely disposable.

Whereas once items such as glass bottles, nappies and old clothes would have had many incarnations within the same family, today we are happy to toss them into a bag together and send them off to be someone else’s concern.

Of course, today we are able to recycle more items than ever before, but it is still with waxing nostalgia that we think back to the days when a little creativity could go a long way.

So when Cabinet Maker heard about a relatively new initiative in the North West that has come up with a novel way to inject some life back into a manufacturing by-product we just had to get in touch to find out more about.

Phil Robinson is managing director of Jem Recycling Group, a recycling and waste management company that, until recently, was solely involved in recycling your everyday waste. Offering a full facilities management service offer to its clients, since it began the company has managed to win some very high profile contracts. One contract in particular came from a well-known upholstery manufacturer that asked Jem to dispose of its off cut textile waste, giving Phil a rather thrifty idea.

Instead of sending the material to landfill or other fates, Phil and his team decided to try ‘upcycling’ the waste material by making it into colourful beanbags.

The beanbags are made from a fantastic 98% recycled textile, with the remaining 2% being made from polystyrene filler.

“As far as I know, and we have looked, there are no companies that manufacture these kinds of products from textile waste,” Phil proudly tells us.

“The idea came to me after I met David Lancashire from an organisation called one3one that helps to rehabilitate people who are in need of some help.

“He rang me one day and asked if I could provide work, and at the time of the call we had just started to divert the textile waste away from landfill over to waste to energy and I suddenly thought ‘bean bags!’ We could make beanbags instead! “Since then we have really given the project some focus and the interest has been great.”

Now Jem is looking to take things to the next level, ramping up its potential product offering with items such as draught excluders, footstools and pet beds. To aid this expansion, as

Page 3: Cabinet Maker feature

18 | www.cabinet-maker.co.uk | 28 November 2014

FEATURE JEM

well as improve the number of beanbags they are able to produce, the company has acquired a new unit in Runcorn.

And the move couldn’t have come quick enough, according to Phil:

“We were having to finish all the bags in an office next to ours and it was getting a bit silly, so we decided to take the gamble and invest in the unit.

“We will be creating six more jobs in the short term but can see the project being very successful.

“We hope to have the website working very soon and also intend to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to promote the products.”

Now that production has been settled, retailing is well underway, with close to 100

beanbags having already been sold to a customer base which features a number of furniture retail outlets.

However, the company has also tried its hand at selling directly to the public, with families with children especially enthusiastic about the designs on offer. As Phil explained: “Every single beanbag will be individual and my hope is that every bag will be loved by someone.

“Even though we don’t have Buzz or Woody on the bags the kids seem to love them, which is probably due to their size.

“I have a four year old little boy and he just loves jumping on them!”

Of course, Jem still has its day job of recycling waste products such as wood, cardboard, plastic and glass, as well as hazardous materials. In fact the company prides itself on its success rate of finding a reuse for many of

the materials it handles before looking at other options, such as energy production and landfill, where Phil estimates only 5% ends up.

And while the core business of recycling and waste management is very key to Jem’s identity, with a little luck its newest project will also be able to keep on growing. In fact, Jem has already established a waste contract with its main upholstery manufacturer client for at least the next three years.

This ensures the company will have continued access to a sustainable source of high quality material, material that may otherwise have been destined to a much less attractive ending.

“We are in the process of talking to other furniture manufacturers about helping them reduce the cost of waste disposal and these talks are ongoing,” Phil divulged, concluding:

“For every bag we sell our current client saves money on waste disposal, and they’ve offered us some great support on this project.

“We are very excited about the future and a bit scared which is good. I believe if your ambition doesn’t scare you then it’s not big enough!” n

Every single beanbag will be individual and

my hope is that every bag will be loved by someone

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT

www.jem-recycling.co.uk

Take your pick: some of the colourful beanbags designed by Patch Co using waste textile offcuts

Page 4: Cabinet Maker feature