Hall Hunter Partnership (HHP), one of the UK’s leading growers of soft fruits has significantly increased recycling level at its Heathlands Farm site following the introduction of waste management equipment supplied by ACM.

ACM Waste Management Plc has provided HHP with a twin chamber baler for tins and plastics and more recently, a second triple chamber baler.

Duncan Tyler, Operations manager, of HHP said: “The most important thing for us was to continue improving our environmental performance. We are one of the UK’s leading growers of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries and we rely on the environment for our living, so protecting it is vital for us.

“Over the years we have tried to recycle as much of our waste as possible but since the installation of the new equipment we have seen a huge improvement in our efficiency in accomplishing this. And, as well as increasing recycling levels, the new equipment has also helped us to reduce our waste management costs at Heathlands Farm by a massive 61%.”

Conservation and organic farming are both key to HHP and the company regularly invites school children to see and hear about the conservation work that it is doing, so good environmental performance and efficient waste management are extremely important. Following the success of the recycling initiatives at Heathlands Farm, Hall Hunter is now planning to introduce balers across all of its production sites.

Duncan added: “There is no doubt that good waste management practices and recycling initiatives are good for business as well as the environment”.

“The balers not only save us money and help us to recycle much more of our waste - they also improve our working environment. One of the problems that we had in the past was the storage of our waste until it could be collected for recycling, but since the introduction of the balers our waste is now stored efficiently and it’s impact on the workplace is minimal.”

ACM Waste Management Consultant, Lezlee Burke, concluded: “We have seen fantastic results with HHP. The balers we have supplied have delivered improvements across a number of areas of their business. Previously their recyclables were collected as frequently as twice a week, but following the installation of the baler there was just one collection during a seven week period.

“Fewer waste collections mean significant costs savings as well as a reduction in the CO2 emissions associated with vehicle movements and the recycling of high volumes of waste streams including cardboard, plastics and tins, significantly cuts the amount of waste the company is sending to landfill.”