A Tayside company which collects used glass for recycling in many parts of Scotland has ambitious plans to establish a UK presence within five years.
Doorstep Glass Recycling (DGR) only started collections at the beginning of 2020 – with Dundee the first location.
The three directors of the venture, which has its registered office in Broughty Ferry, are Ryan Russell, Alisdair Smith and Daniel McAtear.
Daniel explained how the company came about: “During lockdown, we found that local recycling points were overflowing. Recycling our glass was a real effort.
“Recycling glass has always been inconvenient and we realised that it would be a service we would be interested in ourselves. We set out to offer a solution.”
From a borrowed van to first staff member
Daniel said the initial financial investment in the venture had been relatively small.
A borrowed van allowed them to do the first collections. Since then, the company has continued to grow.
“Our first month collection only covered Dundee with 70 customers,” he said.
“We have increased our density in all the areas we cover while launching new areas.
“We quickly added Perth and St Andrews, later launching in the rest of Fife and Perthshire followed by Aberdeenshire.
“Recently we moved into central Glasgow.”
In addition to the three directors, the business also has a full-time driver and an apprentice.
It’s incredible what we’ve achieved.
Daniel said the directors are very happy with how things have progressed.
“Looking back over the past 16 months, it’s incredible what we have achieved in a short time.
“We would love to have grown even more but realistically, we have probably expanded at exactly the right pace to continue to offer the best service as we add new areas and more customers.”
Daniel said DGR has been profitable from its launch date.
“We wanted to focus on sustainable growth and invest heavily in growing our customer base while fulfilling our commitment to support local foodbanks.
“As directors, we are interested in reinvesting our profits directly into the business to facilitate our growth.
“We have consistently demonstrated this as we expand our geographical reach and investing in new vehicles.”
Chances to grow for Doorstep Glass Recycling
Daniel said the Covid-19 has been around since DGR started.
He added: “It means we’ve had to be flexible with staffing at some points, with various staff spending time in isolation.
“We’ve also found that customers have really appreciated the service and the interaction that our collections offer – even if it is just a short time.”
Daniel said the biggest challenge for the firm is the perception that glass recycling should exclusively be provided by local authorities.
“We often speak to people who are frustrated that we charge for collections.
“The service launched because local authorities do not offer kerbside collections in any of the areas we operate.
“We expect this trend to grow as budgets are squeezed.”
Daniel said this is the continued awareness of the need to recycle and improve the environment presents a major opportunity going forward.
“We have many ideas as the landscape of recycling is beginning to change.”
