Budget Pack celebrates 10-year anniversary

The company, which has been involved with the recycling of more than one million tonnes of packaging waste since its inception in 2003, has sent packets of wildflower seeds to over 700 UK clients and has sponsored an urban floral meadow as part of the city councils Meadow Bristol project.

And, it recently held a champagne reception for its friends and clients at Bristol Zoo which included speeches from founder and chairman Steve Clark and managing director James Potten.

Mr Clark, an environmental engineer who founded Budget Pack at the age of 25 as a Cardiff University graduate, spoke to letsrecycle.com about how it felt to be reaching the milestone year in the companys history.

He said: In 2003 James and I couldnt have imagined we would be able to say, ten years later, that we lead a team of 25 specialists we have trained ourselves and are responsible for an 8 million company leading the field. I feel really proud of the team as weve come such a long way, and I feel excited that there is still so much potential for growth.

Changes

Commenting on the changes he had observed in the recycling market since 2003, Mr Clark added: One of the markers of our success, and I believe the main reason for our continued growth in a shrinking economy, is our commitment to ensuring our clients receive a truly tailored service. In the course of a decade the regulations have become clearer and are now more widely understood. But this wasnt always the case and we have prided ourselves on providing clear, down to earth advice and compliance solutions.

Mr Clark went on to detail Budget Packs plans for expansion in the future, explaining that the increased volatility of material supply and pricing fluctuations could put a significant strain on companies that havent prepared their supply chain and considered some of the environmental risks that may affect their future operations.

He explained: Our aim is to become a top three compliance scheme. We are recycling more volume and type of material than we ever had now with over 6,000 collection points UK-wide and we are one of the few schemes to offer compliance across packaging, waste electricals and batteries. The key areas for us in terms of expansion though are in resource efficiency and helping companies become more sustainable businesses.

Achievement

Mr Clark added: Weve demonstrated our ability to do this at Tileflair in Bristol where, since December 2012, weve helped them achieve a 77% reduction in landfill waste and a 37% saving on waste management costs. These are important figures in our current economic climate.

The company, said Mr Clark, which currently helps over 700 UK businesses achieve their recycling solutions, aims to be processing more than 1,000 compliance scheme registrations across three different regulations by the end of 2014.

With a turnover which has doubled to 8 million over the past year, the firm hopes to push sustainability and reduce the risks and costs through its sustainability services for clients, which include household brands such as Innocent Drinks, Fujifilm and Tate & Lyle.