About two years ago, South Lanarkshire Council spied an opportunity. Its tree cutting and environmental work was generating a tremendous amount of green waste.

This was being disposed of in landfill sites, an ever diminishing resource. Surely there was a better - greener - option?

Jim Gilchrist, of horticultural specialists the GP Group, was asked for his suggestions and identified the Wilberforce Organic Waste Shredder - a recycling machine capable of reducing biodegradable waste by up to 80 per cent.

“The total cost of the shredder and all the necessary machinery was around £150,000,” says Jim. “That’s a lot of money to spend on a trial.”

But, confident of success, Jim made the investment. It was worth it. “With a lot of recycling, yes, it works. But it costs more. With this we have proved that we can save local authorities money at the same time as making them more environmentally friendly.”

The shredder turns green waste such as branches into chippings. In six to nine months this decomposes enough to use as soil conditioner or mulch.

“If you take the same waste and put it in landfill it will probably cost £24 a tonne,” says Jim. “When you consider that with the shredder you can use the material again you are saving about £20 a tonne in total.”

Jim currently operates one shredder from the GP Group’s base at Kirkfieldbank, Lanark. He is now adding another to operate from a new depot in Blantyre.

“The Economic Development team gave us help and advice on potential properties and everyone we have dealt with at the Council has been more than helpful, right through from Community Resources to Planning,” says Jim.

Next, Jim will look to expand his customer base. “We could really provide a service for anyone with green waste to dispose of right down to someone with a large residential garden,” he says.

For the GP Group, this is the latest venture in the business’s 120 year history. Jim is managing director of the environmental division of the group and of GP Hire, which rents out cars vans, plant and machinery.

His son Jimmy, the fourth generation of this family business, is the managing director of GP Plantscape and GP Artscape.

Plantscape specialises in interior and exterior landscaping. It has contracts to supply and maintain plants for all of the Clydesdale Bank and the Bank of Scotland’s UK branches. Artscape was formed last year as an art dealing and consultancy service offering corporate clients works of art for sale or rent.

With the addition of the environmental division, it seems that for the GP Group the future is bright ... the future is green.

Business South Lanarkshire - Spring 2002

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