Bramall Branches Out Into Recycling

One of Britain's biggest regeneration companies has drastically reduced the amount of wood it wastes, by recycling 840 tons of wood every year and converting it into everything from fence panels, patio furniture to bird boxes. .

The leading housing specialists have teamed up with a company called TP Trading to recycle domestic wooden materials such as cupboards and work tops that are stripped from people's homes as part of ongoing refurbishment work.

Bramall, part of the Keepmoat group, pass van loads of excess wood onto TP Trading every month where it is either reused or converted into furniture. The aim is to boost Bramall's recycling rates and help reduce carbon emissions.

Their recycling record is so impressive that TP Trading have recently gone over their 1000th collection from Bramall sites.

The majority of recycled wood goes on to make items of furniture such as sheds, bird boxes or picnic tables. A proportion of the chipboard collected by TP Trading is incinerated in Doncaster and the energy is then converted to heat a local greenhouse growing organic vegetables.

The wood can also be used to make lower grade chipboard, recycled timber or to repair wooden pallets which can be rolled out to the construction market.

The recycling process is an important part of Bramall's green agenda as it ensures almost all of their wooden waste that goes to TP Trading doesn't end up in landfill sites.
They began working with Rotherham-based TP Trading in January last year and is currently recycling excess wood on nine of its sites including construction schemes across Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield.

Their close working relationship with Bramall has enabled them to double their number of employees to eight who come up through the Government's New Deal scheme.

Ian Stacey, Bramall's Chief Planner, said: "Environmental issues are one of the top priorities for Bramall Construction and I think our strong relations with TP Trading clearly reflects this and helps us meet our timber recycling targets.

"Looking at how we can minimise damage to the environment and maximise sustainability are important to Bramall. Wood recycling is just one small part of what we do to achieve this.
Bramall is currently TP Trading's biggest customer and have plans to expand the company and introduce the recycling initiative to other major clients.

Nic Marshall, the Managing director for TP Trading, said: "We have been working with Bramall for 18 months and it's fair to say that they take environmental issues very seriously.

"Our strong working partnership with Bramall ensures that we are there on a daily basis to collect any excess wood produced on their sites so that none of it ends up on landfill.

"It's a fantastic environmental initiative and it's very clear to see that Bramall has very strong green credentials and a strong green agenda.

"Without Bramall, we wouldn't be able to take anyone on from the New Deal scheme and so we are very grateful for their support, especially during the early days when we were just starting out.

"We have now got eight employees working for us through the New Deal scheme but we'd have to let them go if it wasn't for our ongoing contracts with Bramall Construction, our biggest client."

The work with TP Trading is part of many environmental processes that the company are involved in. Earlier this year they completed the first saleable Code 4 homes as part of the Government's Code for Sustainable Homes. The homes can save owners up to 50 per cent on energy bills and emit less than half the carbon of a standard home.