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Out of the woods - a fine project
A SOCIAL enterprise business set up to improve Wakefield's wood recycling record is also helping to create work opportunities for people who have suffered mental health problems.
Aalto Wood Recycling was originally established in March 2006 after a feasibility study into the potential market for wood recycling in the Wakefield area.
The company provides a timber waste disposal option to commercial wood users including builders and demolition contractors – collecting wood that would otherwise go to landfill, reprocessing and reselling graded timber waste.
The idea to set up Aalto, which takes its name from a Finnish furniture designer, came from a successful project running in the Brighton area.
Aalto's Geoff Crutchley said: "We're aiming to recycle more than 1,000 tonnes per year, collecting good quality timber and reselling it back to the public in various forms with the rest being reprocessed into such things as chipboard and animal bedding."
Grants
Waste wood that can be recycled by Aalto includes non-returnable pallets, timber off-cuts, boxes and crates, solid wood furniture and fixtures, doors, windows and frames, decking and fencing.
Its latest development is the launch of its Wood Recycling Retail Centre, near Hemsworth. The shop makes materials and finished products – including benches, planters, pergolas and fencing – which can be ordered and produced on a bespoke basis.
To support the business, the West Yorkshire Social Enterprise Link scheme, which is funded by Leeds-based Yorkshire Forward and administered by Business Link West Yorkshire (BLWY), has awarded grants totalling more than 20,000 to assist and advice on recruitment, training and web development.
The business currently employs two full time and three part-time staff.
Wakefield Council has set it a target of employing five people who have experienced mental distress.
Arfan Bashir, a West Yorkshire Social Enterprise Link adviser who works with Aalto, said: "Aalto is a great example of a worthwhile business that both benefits from and merits support, not just because it does important work socially and environmentally, but also because it has been established on sound business principles that give it every chance of long term success."
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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