About GREAN
Structure and Workforce Recyclates Achievements History
Structure and Workforce
GREAN is a community based social enterprise. It is a 'not for profit' Company Limited by Guarantee and a registered charity SC031539. It is run by a board of directors, currently six, all locally based.
GREAN currently (November 2010) employs 19 full time, 3 part time 1 trainee and 2 volunteers. Our workforce varies in age from 16 to 66 and most staff have experienced barriers to employment, long term unemployment or are school leavers. GREAN is a major local employer.
GREAN provides a weekly kerbside recycling service to over 4204 households in east and central Sutherland on behalf of The Highland Council, covering almost 100% of the population. 82% participate regularly, 75% of households are village based and 25% rural, some very remote. We collect the following:
- All types of paper
- Books
- Cardboard including grey card
- Glass bottles and jars (except pyrex type)
- Drinks cans
- Food tins
- Aluminium foil
- Plastic drinks bottles (PET 1)
- Plastic milk bottles (HDPE 2)
- Woven polypropylene bags (including tote bags)
- Textiles, shoes, and accessories
- Domestic cable
- Bicycles
- Lawnmowers
- Domestic scrap metal
- Mobile phones
- Cds and DVDs
- Other materials by arrangement
In addition, the same materials can be collected from businesses by arrangement, see our Business Collection page.
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- has met its targets for tonnage diverted from landfill every year since 2003
- in 2009/10 diverted 919 tonnes of household waste and over 100 tonnes of business waste from land fill
- offers kerbside recycling to almost 100% of households in east and central Sutherland.
- has achieved an average 82% participation at the kerbside
- provides 19 full time, 3 part time jobs, 2 volunteer positions.
- provides up to 10 trainee placements per year
- brings in £0.45 million pounds to the local economy per year
- provides the most comprehensive kerbside collection in Scotland
- enjoys tremendous support from the local community
- provides employment opportunities under New Deal.
- was awarded Member of the Year by CRNS in 2008/09
- was awarded Best Employer in the Social Enterprise category at the Highland Diversity Awards in 2009
- provided recycling service at S2S, the Social Enterprise Fair in 2009 and 2010
- have stablished a Business Waste Recycling service and a Textiles Training Project in addition to core activities
History
Golspie Recycling and Environmental Action Network (GREAN) formed as a result of a public meeting in December 2000. This followed several months during which a working group had met on several occasions to look at the feasibility of developing locally based recycling solutions in line with Highland, Scottish, UK and EU Directives on Waste diversion from landfill. The working group consisted of local Highland Council members and various Council departments, CASE, environmental bodies such as WHAM, SNH and SEPA, and local members of the public.
GREAN was formally establised as a registered charity (number SC031539) in 2001 and was also registered as an environmental body with ENTRUST (number 160195) until late 2009. GREAN became a Company Limited by Guarantee on the 21st January 2004, (Company Number 262247).
GREAN's original objectives listed in its first Business Plan were:
- To recycle locally produced waste
- To reduce landfill
- To reduce waste disposal costs incurred by local businesses
- To promote a green identity and establish green credentials for the Golspie area, attracting capital and revenue support
- To promote a positive community awareness on waste minimisation
- To provide and support educational initiatives on waste minimisation
- To assist agriculture locally
- To attract interest, including tourist interest, to community activity in Golspie which will result in revenue to the area
- To establish core enterprises initially and thereafter add on further linked enterprises as and when resources and opportunities become available
- To provide job opportunities with an emphasis on social inclusion
GREAN took as its first priority to raise environmental awareness, to undertake environmental education and to encourage the take up of recycling through kerbside collections within Golspie. It started from scratch with 1 employee in early 2002 and by 2010 employed on average 23 ftes and turned over £0.45million. The original objectives have largely been met and still apply, but the priorities have moved in the direction of employment and training in an area of high unemployment, supersparse population and rural deprivation.