Bin there, done that ... recycling gives new life to 'waste'
MICHELLE Green was on the phone to a company owner who had two 40-foot truckloads of furniture. He had been about to ring a waste management service to remove the furniture, when he thought of Smile Resource Exchange.
Green is project manager of Smile, which helps companies to be resource-efficient — waste can be a valuable resource.
The company with the furniture had registered with Smile four years earlier. But registering is just one step in the realisation of waste’s value. “It takes time for companies to build up to thinking of Smile as presenting a better solution than sending something to landfill. When they do, it’s a great moment,” says Green
She is passionate about the circular economy. This is the opposite of a linear approach, by which we take and use the world’s resources, then bury them. The linear, throwaway culture extracts natural resources without maximising their economic potential.
“The circular economy is a closed-loop system — with no waste. Inputs go into the manufacturing process and what comes out — what was traditionally seen as waste — is a resource for another company.”
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This “industrial symbiosis” is the idea behind Smile — sharing by-products to maximise the value of resources. Green points to Kalundborg Eco-Industrial Park, in Denmark, where steam from one processing plant powers another.
Smile Resource Exchange began in 2010, after Macroom E general manager, Maeve Bowen, contacted National Industrial Symbiosis Programme in Northern Ireland and the UK. NISP connects companies, allowing them identify synergies, whereby one company’s waste can be another’s resource.
A survey of companies in the Lee Valley found that they didn’t just want to connect across a web platform — they wanted face-to-face meetings. “We trialled a half-day event, facilitating networking between several businesses. Company representatives, sitting around a table, wrote whether they were offering or seeking an item. The facilitator then identified potential synergies,” says Green. Since then, 12 similar events have been held. Smile has 1,200 companies on its database and the programme was launched nationwide last November.
The circular economy is gaining traction in Europe and Ireland’s ahead of the curve. “There’s a real drive to encourage EU member states to implement industrial symbiosis programmes — we’ve already done it. All member states had to have a waste management programme in place by last year — Ireland had it in 2004,” says Green.
Smile has welcomed multinationals such as IKEA to its membership, as well as RTÉ and Croke Park. “They’ve all made exchanges with small businesses. They’ve given furniture that would have cost money to send to landfill. IKEA was refurbishing and had lots of shelving and end-of-line stock that were no use to them. Companies doing crafts and bespoke furniture were able to use them.”
A mattress-recycling social enterprise was established through Smile. “Mattresses are very labour-intensive to break down. The only outlet was landfill. Now, the springs are going into metal recycling. Perfectly clean wood in the base is being used as kindling,” says Green.
Rebox Recycling collects cardboard to make bespoke boxes for packaging — the company has created one new job because of synergies developed via Smile.
A company with a redundant industrial shredder has diverted it to a social enterprise that can use it. The furniture from a call centre that was undergoing refurbishment has kitted out new premises for start-up businesses.
In 2014, Smile diverted 360 tons of material from landfill for recycle/re-use by companies. Some resources need testing/research to determine their suitability for use in other processes. Smile is now providing this kind of technical support.
Visit www.smileexchange.ie.
Ship shape
Transylvanian brothers, Levente and Attila Magyar, run Mamukko. Based in Kinsale, the award-winning company sells sailing, fashion and lifestyle bags made from up-cycled sails, life-rafts and canvas — these are fused together with leather.
“We’re always after new fabrics, always trying to be innovative,” says Attila. When the Astrid ran aground in July, 2013, the brothers got sails from the ship. They also saw the potential in four life-rafts lying unused in a yard.
“We realised we liked that rubbery touch and that the fabric was suitable for making bags. We made an exclusive Astrid life-raft range with duffel bag, gear bag, office bag and small shoulder bag. Life-rafts are very authentic — they carry features like safety valve and various printed elements. They’re a piece of history.
“Through Smile, we’ve got car seatbelts from Pouladuff Dismantlers — they make sturdy, original, two-inch strapping for shoulder bags. We get PVC vinyl from Cassidy Covers, in Dublin. We can make a full bag out of PVC vinyl. We’ve used end-of-line window blinds, from IKEA, to line some bags.
“Up-cycled fabrics are either pre- or post-consumer. When the owning company has off-cuts or roll-ends, the fabric is new, just not useful anymore for their purposes. These are pre-consumer fabrics.
“We prefer post-consumer — like sails that have been used on ships or life-rafts that have saved lives. We transform them into bags — they have more character, are more authentic and carry a narrative.”
Visit www.mamukko.ie.
Furniture like new
At Eclectic Attic in Lissarda, Co Cork, Sharon Swanton gives furniture a face-lift.
“Furniture marks important moments in your life. Think of a baby’s room being set up, a married couple setting up home.
“I bought an old pine dresser online — that orangey pine that no-one likes looking at anymore. I saw in it the heart of a warm, family kitchen. It reminded me of my nana’s house, where everything important was kept in the kitchen dresser.
“I painted it duck-egg blue, with cream on the board behind the shelving. I stripped and refinished the counter-top to bring it back to the natural pine. I lined the drawers with pretty paper. A groom bought it as a wedding present for his bride.
“I had a hand-made chest of drawers in my own house. The drawers were jamming. A neighbour made it years ago. You could see the making in it — all the calculations were written inside the drawers. You don’t always see pencil calculations [on items], but everything has been made by somebody.
“I took out the drawers, turned them on their side, put brackets on them to fix them to the wall. I painted them and put paper on them to match the theme in my children’s playroom and we had beautiful, box shelving.
“I’m a member of Smile. I have yet to exchange, but the potential is there. Smile’s ethos very much reflects my own — try not to see waste as waste.”
www.facebook.com/eclecticatticcork
Spark of an idea
Alice McKeon turns used electrical cable drums into table lamps. “I put one drum on top of another to give three shelves — you could have books on one shelf, photo frames on another and a lamp on the third. I decoupage the shelves. I get the lamp-shades in charity shops and hand-paint them.”
Alice’s enterprise is based in Drumree, Meath. She started out hand-painting vintage furniture and had already begun re-purposing electrical cable drums when she heard about Smile at a craft fair.
“I didn’t have a supply of cable drums. Any used on building sites wouldn’t be in great condition — they’d have been left outdoors and got warped.
“I put a request for drums on Smile, and Rehab Logistics in Limerick contacted me. I drove down with a van and collected between 40 and 50 drums. The company was delighted — they’d have had to put them in a skip and pay for it.
“It’s terrible that electrical cable drums generally go to landfill. Companies could easily put new cable on them, but they don’t.
“I think Smile is doing terrific work, both for the company, with surplus material, and for crafters like me.”
aliceathomeinteriors@gmail.com.
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