Spalding’s Household Waste Recycling Centre in West Marsh Road is the end of the story for local people with garden waste to get rid of.
But it’s only the beginning of the tale for Bettaland and its sister company Organic Recycling Ltd at Crowland.
Bettaland was celebrating a milestone in its business last week when local MP John Hayes officially opened new offices created from redundant farm buildings on what was the tenth anniversary for the company.
Cutting the ribbon to the new offices, Mr Hayes, who first visited the site early in its existence, said: “Then, it was a farm with an interest in recycling. How things change. Now, the recycling business has become extremely significant and an important local employer.”
In the intervening years, Bettaland has completed the recycling loop, taking in green waste from councils, including 45,000 tonnes from South Holland District Council, as well as 30,000 tonnes from commercial suppliers in this district, and turned it into organic compost which is then sold on to garden centres and growers.
It has also established its own three-acre nursery, growing hardy nursery stock, trees and shrubs, and extended its range of composts, topsoil, barks and mulches in loose, bulk and mini bags.
Managing director Andrew Riddington told the guests assembled for the unveiling that there are plans to launch a grow bag and potting on compost this autumn.
He said: “We are proud of what we have managed to achieve from what were old redundant farm buildings. We have converted a couple of hay stores, a crew yard and 15 old stables into modern, well appointed offices, and in keeping with our business mantra of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, we have chosen to reuse bricks, tiles and wood and installed energy and water saving devices to reduce our carbon footprint. We recycle our water and the building is heated from a biomass burner filled from surplus wood from our recycling business.”
He added there were exciting plans to build an anaerobic digester facility capable of converting some 90,000 tonnes of food waste into energy and a soil fertiliser.
He said: “Within the year, we are hoping to build a 50-acre solar farm. We are also well advanced in our plans to build a biomass burner to burn oversize materials, but also to generate heat.”