Reseiclo Community Wood Recycling

Reseiclo Community Wood Recycling is a not-for-profit company. It was born out of the original Reseiclo Environmental Services Ltd. which was founded in May 2005. We provide an efficient and environmentally-responsible collection service to organisations at a cost that is below that of other waste disposal options. We are cheaper and more flexible than skip hire! The products that we manufacture are all handmade in our Newport facility from the wood that we collect. We even use other hardware that we pick up in our products; even the nails are re-used!

History

Reseiclo (pronounced ‘recyclo’) is a word that sounds as though it could be the Welsh for 'recycling'. Founder and Director Trefor Puw first had the idea of starting a business recycling wood after reading an article in the magazine ‘Recycling world’ in April 2002. The article was about Richard Mehmed, who set up the Brighton & Hove Wood Recycling Project in 1998.

At the time Trefor was working in the Medical Electronics Industry in Cardiff, South Wales, while studying for an MA in Environmental Management at the University of Wales Newport. He had already decided that 20 years working in Electronics was enough and had embarked on the MA course as a way out of Electronics and into another career that he had been passionate about since childhood. He read the article and thought “What a brilliant idea!” and immediately called Richard to talk to him about it. When he told Richard that he was in a secure, well-paid job, Richard, although enthusiastic about wood recycling, couldn’t advise Trefor to walk out of his job to start his own company straight away. However, in the winter of 2003, circumstances changed! It was in December of that year that Trefor was made redundant from his job at the age of 45. “Ah well!” he thought “It’s now or never!” and although he half-heartedly attended a few interviews to get another job in Electronics, he set about forming Reseiclo.

With help from Richard, he took his idea for a similar project for Newport to Newport & Gwent Enterprise. They were helpful in advising Trefor on setting up the company.

In order to find out whether such a project may succeed in Newport, a Feasibility/Market Research survey was carried out by the National Community Wood Recycling Project, commissioned by Reseiclo and part funded by the WDA Environmental Goods & Services section. The results were encouraging. Finally, in May 2005, Reseiclo began trading and immediately teamed up with the International Construction company Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd. Reseiclo was contracted to collect all their wood waste from the Victoria Wharf site in Cardiff Bay. Other help received has been from The Wales Environment Trust and their CWMre (Creating Welsh Markets for Recyclate) initiative and Newport City Council with a Start-up subsidy.

Reseiclo Community Wood Recycling is a Social Enterprise based in Newport, South Wales. We collect 'waste' wood from all over South Wales with the aim of preventing it from being thrown away. The wood we collect is 100% reused or recycled.

The wood that we collect has been designated as waste, but a lot of it is practically new - perhaps surplus to requirements  or wrongly ordered. This is perfect for DIY projects. Other wood may look old or weathered or 'rustic' - ideal for that 'reclaimed' wood look that's all the rage. We can even plane and/or sand the wood so that it looks new - if that's the look you like. We manufacture hand-made items from the wood we collect and sell them through our Shop upstairs in Newport Indoor Market, Upper Dock Street in Newport City Centre.

As a Social enterprise with strong community links, we also provide employment, training and volunteering opportunities to some of the marginalised sections of our society. We work in partnership with other local community groups and charity organisations to provide work experience for people who wouldn't get it anywhere else.

The Collection Service

We collect the waste wood from all over South Wales in our 3.5 tonne caged trucks. Most of the wood comes from construction sites and Industrial firms. we charge a fee for our collections which is much cheaper than the equivalent skip hire - and we guarantee that the 'waste' will be 100% reused or recycled. For more details see the Collection Service page.

We are members of the National Community Wood Recycling Project. The NCWRP operates anational Builder's Scheme which won the 2012 National Recycling Award for SMEs. We are proud to be part of it!