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State-of-the-art £19k recycling equipment built by Dewsbury firm turns cucumbers into cash

Dewsbury-based Waste Food Solutions has turned 98,000 packaged cucumbers into 15 tonnes of animal feed, following a loan from a local business lender BEF.

Paul Goddard, managing director at Waste Food Solutions on Bretton Park Way, built a machine to strip out-of-date supermarket food from its packaging, with a £19,500 loan from the Yorkshire-based Business Enterprise Fund (BEF).

Paul relocated to Yorkshire and runs the business with his wife Sharon and business partner Richard Hampshire.

Mr Goddard said: “I first built the separating machine when I was living in Glossop seven years ago and the cost of feeding 500 wild boars was eating into my profit.

“I got in touch with a local supermarket which provided me with its unsold fresh produce which would have gone to waste.

“Removing packaging became a tedious task and as a former engineer I found a method to save time and money.”

The separating machine is able to recover 98% of the food removing card and plastic packaging, which is recycled or turned into energy-from-waste. The food is then sold on to local farmers for animal feed.

“Since returning to Yorkshire I wanted to create an updated system which would benefit local manufacturers, supermarkets and bakeries where stock would go to waste.

“My business plan was turned down by several banks until I was referred to the Business Enterprise Fund,” explains Paul.

BEF, which provides financial support to start-up and established businesses which are unable to receive funding elsewhere, approved the loan which enabled Waste Food Solutions to build the machinery and associated equipment.

Stephen Waud, fund director at BEF which is celebrating its tenth year of lending, said: “We immediately saw the potential in Waste Food Solutions and the impact Paul’s separating machine will have on the environment.

“The business has since received recognition from Kirklees Council and we’re incredibly proud to have supported it.”

Waste Food Solutions is continuing to grow and has plans to build further models to sell to businesses across the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .