Reading e-waste recycler iWaste expands into larger premises
Expanding electronic waste recycling specialist Intelligent Waste Management Ltd (iWaste) has moved to bigger premises outside Reading to facilitate business growth.
The company has taken over a 10-year lease on a 15,000 sq ft unit at the Ducks Nest Farm commercial estate in a rural setting at Arborfield Cross.
After a four-year search for a site, iWaste, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, relocated after outgrowing its previous premises in nearby Eversley.
The business which employs 30 people is a leader in the secure, certified destruction of unwanted electronic waste and data.
iWaste’s new site at Ducks Nest Farm, which has 24-hour security within a gated estate, includes a detached warehouse building, a one-third acre yard and ample parking.
Ducks Nest Farm, three miles south east of Reading, is a secure commercial estate suitable for HGV access with iWaste occupying the largest of four units, with a further 12,000 sq ft available if required.
The company also has a regional, northern depot in Preston, Lancashire.
Director Sam Prentice said: “This move – which in the end is not far from our previous home – enables iWaste to take that next step up as a business. We are investing heavily in new facilities and we have site potential for onward development as required.
“We are very much a national business, thus securing a site with good vehicle access and excellent transportation links was crucial.
“This site is all about growth and having the capacity to expand further. The next 12 months are really going to be about bedding in, refining our systems and ensuring that we are able to push forward.”
iWaste was established at the height of the recession in 2013 by Sam and Operations Director Sam Mountain who, after many years working in waste management, spotted a gap in the market, particularly, they say, a distinct lack of industry-wide customer service.
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The company provides electronic waste collection services, secure data destruction, electronic recycling equipment and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) disposal for businesses across the UK.
It is AATF (Approved Authorised Treatment Facility) licensed by the Environment Agency, the highest accreditation in the waste industry.
Clients include corporations and public sector organisations such as the NHS. iWaste is also a trusted supplier to large national waste companies and facility management companies.
iWaste is embarking on a recruitment drive, particularly focusing on hiring people from the Arborfield area – with IT, warehouse, drivers and sales opportunities available.
iWaste was one of the first electrical waste recycling companies in the UK to achieve B Corp certification, known as the gold standard for sustainability, after a rigorous assessment process covering five key impact areas – environment, governance, workers, community and customers.
B Corp certification, which measures a business’s entire social and environmental impact, is awarded by global non-profit network B Lab and is held by just 6,300 companies worldwide.
iWaste is also off setting its carbon emissions through a partnership with the charity Forest Carbon, helping to create new woodlands across the UK and further afield, with more than 13 million trees planted since 2006.
The company anticipates that 108 tonnes of the company’s carbon footprint – emissions produced by the company’s waste collecting vehicles, and employees’ journeys to and from work – will be off-set through Forest Carbon.
Sam said: “Our mission is to divert waste from landfill and to reduce our client’s carbon footprint. For every 20 tonnes of waste we collect and recycle from our clients, we plant a tree in woodland near to them, on their behalf.”
iWaste is also aiming to achieve a 100 per cent paperless business over the course of 2023-2024 and has developed its own internal cloud-based software covering all aspects of the business in an industry which, historically, has been heavily reliant on paper-based systems.
