Rugeley farm praised over recycling operation
Mar 11 2009 by Anna Blackaby, Birmingham Post
Cawarden Reclamation at Cawarden Springs Farm, near Rugeley, is a shining example of farm diversification, with the added bonus that it reduces carbon emissions and landfill, according to the government.
Set up by farmer Richard Parrot on his family’s farm 20 years ago, Cawarden Reclamation is now the UK’s largest building reclamation centre and was just one of the rural businesses visited by Sir Don Curry, the government’s farming champion on a visit to the county recently.
Richard Parrott and a friend William Crooks started Cawarden with just £1,500 capital 20 years ago and today they recycle over 7.5 million bricks and tiles a year with a turnover of £3 million.
In addition more than 5,000 tons of other building materials are recycled by the team, making a huge contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions from the building industry.
Sir Don Curry was paying his last visit to the region as the government’s visionary for the farming industry.
In January 2002 he chaired the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food and set a challenge to the agricultural industry to reconnect with the marketplace and put confidence back into British farming.
Sir Don, himself a farmer, will retire from his post in March and was delighted that the success of Cawarden is reducing carbon emissions and landfill.
As well as recycling brick and tile products, Cawarden activities include a skip business, buying and selling roadstone and a recycling centre and waste transfer station. The parent company has an annual turnover of £7 million a year.
Mr Parrott said: “Our activities reduce materials going to landfill by 80 per cent, making a saving on landfill tax and opening new markets for by-products such as metals, wood, hardcore, glass and plastics.”
“A recent order included a large quantity of period bricks to the Black Country Museum.”
“We are delighted to see the government taking a positive approach to reclamation.”
