About the Green Business Network

In October 2005 the Green Business Network celebrated 10 years of service, providing environmental advice and support to local businesses, assisting community groups and establishing major recycling projects.

Established in October 1995 as a partnership between Kirklees and Calderdale Councils, the Training and Enterprise Council (T.E.C.) and the Rural Development Commission, the GBN started out with a budget of £30,000. It's initial remit was to offer advice and support to ten small and medium sized enterprises to assist them in improving their environmental performance.

Since this time, thanks to the enterprise, energy and enthusiasm of the Project Manager Graham Wiles and his team, the GBN has grown significantly. Over the last ten years, it has given advice and assistance to over 1,500 businesses to help them improve their environmental performance, over 200 of which were given grant assistance to implement projects. The GBN has established and now operates a number of distinct but related environmental activities, many of which are social enterprises. Funding of over £7 million has been secured making a substantial contribution to the economic, social and environmental well being of the region. The GBN is still indebted to the ongoing support it receives from Kirklees and Calderdale Council's.

Projects set up by the GBN include Intruplas a plastic recycling company, and the ABLE project, which is currently converting a 34 acre site at Caldervale for fish farming, a tree nursery, and willow and hazel coppicing. The GBN also set up GBN (South Yorkshire) Ltd, which set up and ran a large scale sustainable composting and plastics recycling project in Sheffield. Unfortunately the site has closed since Outokumpu, who own the site, have now decided to sell the site. Other projects include various cardboard recycling schemes, a carpet tile recycling project at Pennine Magpie, the Calder Future river project; and four business support schemes.

The ABLE project at Caldervale

The GBN runs it's own Packaging Compliance Scheme, Pennine-Pack , and is also a registered Environmental Body, under the Landfill Tax regulations having assisted nearly 150 local community organisations, by securing millions of pounds through the landfill tax credit scheme and other sources.

Shredder and Control Room at the composting facility at GBN (South Yorkshire) Ltd

The GBN has won many awards for its innovative projects as detailed on the 'Awards' page. Such success has attracted much attention, and opportunities are now opening up in other parts of the country in partnership with organisations from the Public, Private and Voluntary sectors.

The GBN's work is informed by a commitment to social inclusion, and its projects actively involve the long-term unemployed, socially excluded young people and those with disabilities.

The GBN has established an excellent reputation for its innovative and pioneering project work which supports and encourages the principles of sustainable development, social inclusion, economic regeneration and environmental improvements. It intends to build and expand upon this solid foundation during the next ten years.

The diagram below gives a flavour of the activities that GBN projects cover. For more details about the schemes, please click on the individual hexagon.

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Cardboard Composting and Recycling

The composting and recycling of cardboard was an important feature in many of the Green Business Network's initial projects. With the introduction of The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997, the GBN recognised a need to deal with a large amount of cardboard packaging waste that was previously going to landfill. Trials into the shredding of cardboard and using this for animal bedding proved to be very successful, and it was found that once mixed with manure the cardboard bedding was ideal for composting. A composting operation at Huddersfield Community Farm was set up, which combined both bedding use, and composting in a specially constructed wormery. Vocational Enterprises, an organisation providing sheltered employment opportunities to disadvantaged groups agreed to house and staff a shredding machine and supplied the Community Farm with bedding.

There were found to be great benefits to the scheme, principally reducing the volumes of waste going to landfill and saving money for both local businesses and Huddersfield Community Farm. The revenue generated from the sale of waste derived products (compost, plant-food, and worms to local anglers) was another benefit of the scheme.

The scheme was subsequently replicated and expanded at the ABLE (Cardboard to Caviar) Project, where the worms are then used to feed Sturgeon fish, and at the Ponderosa Rural Therapeutic Centre, where the compost is used to grow food for the trainees lunch. (For further information on both these schemes please see the GBN Projects page).

Pennine Magpie also collects waste cardboard from organisations in Calderdale on behalf of the GBN. The cardboard is shredded by trainees and sold to local farms. Pennine Magpie also ran a carpet tile recycling project with help from the GBN. Further information about the GBN's association with Pennine Magpie can be seen on the Grants for Businesses page.

A case study has been developed by the University of Leeds to instruct students in Enterprising Intrapreneurship and to encourage lateral and creative thinking around a series of projects. Please visit: www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/courses/other/casestudies/

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Green Business Network
5 Town Hall Street
Sowerby Bridge
West Yorkshire
HX6 2QD.

Tel: 08456 444 880. Fax: 01422 316662.
E-mail: gbn @ kirklees.gov.uk

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