Winners of the 2015 'Best Recycled Product' Award

Our Plastic Wood was shortlisted for the 'Best Recycled Product' at the MRW National Recycling Awards for 2015. We had to make a half hour presentation to the judges in London. It was very heartening, and we made a short video to explain our product and it's uses (see below). We had no idea how well we had done till it was announced at the dinner in the London Hilton on Park Lane attended by over 700 recycling businesses from all over the UK. We were gobsmacked and delighted of course. When your peers think you are doing well it's a bit like winning the Oscars. Pretty good for a business that started with a £2500 grant from Pendle Council and a leaky 1000 square foot manufacturing unit in Colne, Lancashire. That was in January 2010. It was the first time in my life I had worn a dinner suit or gone to any black tie event, which I suppose is surprising, as I will be 65 in November. This is me, Lewis Walch, on the right, with my brother and our Managing Director, Dermot Walch. I'm holding the award plaque and a piece of our plastic wood which I always keep in my jacket pocket... after all you never know when it will need to be whipped out to make a point. It always causes a bit of a stir as it really does look and feel like a piece of wood. All shortlisted entrants presented their project/product in front of a panel of expert judges. Being a good blagger was therefore no help. These people were specialists who could see through any slick sales talk and cut to the chase. Each entrant was given 25 minutes with the judging panel – a 10 minute presentation followed by 15 minutes Q&A. The criteria they considered was as follows: Type of product Amount and type of recycled materials used and resource management in manufacture Application of product and the communication to the end user of its properties Continuity and sustainability of source materials, use and disposal of the product History of the materials used The necessity and impact of the recycled product In addition to Kedel's Plastic Wood other shortlisted products were: Alive & Kicking Shika Football Eco Plastic Wood Recycled Outhouse Door Ecover Ecover Ocean Plastic Bottle Marks & Spencer, Helistrat and FluteOffice Furniture Forever Morsbags Morsbags Paper Tube and Core RMF Installation and Services RMF ECO-Range TECHLAN Recycled Silicone Release Paper So the competition was stiff and we were given no clue at the end of the presentation of where we stood in the line up. We were sitting unexpectantly to hear who the winner was when our name was announced. Dermot's look was one of disbelief, but he soon got over it. We had a great night with congratulations from all including the famous Jonathan Straight of Straight Industries (next to me on the right with the mustache) who manufacture Wheelie bins. He came over afterwards and shook our hands enthusiastically... he knows a good thing when he sees it.

For more information on Winners of the 2015 'Best Recycled Product' Award talk to Kedel Ltd