Cornwall LivingIssue #94
A ground-breaking year
We explore Oltco’s major achievements over the last year and what the future holds for this innovative company.
It’s been a year of highs for Oltco; the company has transformed hundreds of outdoor spaces, introduced an incredibly innovative new product – ‘Recycle Bound’ –and won a string of prominent awards. All of this, as well as becoming the official environmental partner for the 2019 and 2020 UK Pro Surf Tour’s ‘Clean Breaks’ initiative.
“Becoming the official environmental partner is a powerful way of raising awareness about single use plastic in Cornwall and the rest of the UK”
The ‘Clean Breaks’ initiative will see both Oltco and The UK Pro Surf Association work towards instigating positive change for the environment by taking an active role in cleaning up the oceans and beaches around the UK’s coastline.
Johnny Pearce, Co–Director of Oltco comments: “The partnership between Oltco and The UK Pro Surf Association is an important one for both organisations. Becoming the official environmental partner is a powerful way of raising awareness about single use plastic in Cornwall and the rest of the UK.”
To sum up an all-round impressive year, Oltco received the South West ‘Disrupter of the Year’ award at Natwest’s prestigious Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2019. This category recognises purpose driven pioneers of change and tenacious analytical innovators for a highly coveted award that reflects Oltco’s ambition to implement positive change within its industry.
The company has also received the ‘Recycled Product of the Year’ award for Recycle Bound in the National Recycling Awards and ‘Product of the Year’ for Recycle Bound in the Cornwall Business Awards. These are highly competitive awards and for Oltco to walk away with all three is an incredible achievement.
As the impact of waste plastic across the world becomes an increasing concern, Oltco has joined the movement to combat the issue through the launch of Recycle Bound; made using recycled plastic, it will not only transform spaces (such as driveways and patios) but will play a role in utilising plastic which is already in circulation.
The Directors of the company, Tom Stringer and Johnny Pearce are all too aware of the detrimental impact that waste plastic is having on the environment, particularly on the beaches around their hometown of Newquay. With vast technical experience in developing, testing and installing innovative resin solutions, they decided they wanted to help combat this worldwide problem through their services.
Johnny tells us: “As a native of Newquay, I became increasingly concerned about the huge amount of waste plastic which was polluting the coastline of Cornwall and beyond. In the UK we throw away roughly 8.5 billion straws every year, and each square meter of Recycle Bound consists of the equivalent of 3,000. Therefore, if Recycle Bound was laid on a standard 50 square-metre drive, the equivalent of 150,000 plastic straws would be recycled in the process.”
Tom adds: “We’re proud to be an innovator, not an imitator, and as a business we’ve spent the past five years developing unique resin bound solutions. Through our new product design process we decided to explore waste plastic forming part of our blends. After 24 months of intensive development and testing, we launched Recycle Bound in January as a new, environmentally friendly option.”
To amplify the business’ thriving model and promote its environmentally friendly ethos across the UK, Oltco has successfully launched a franchise scheme, with franchises in Bath, Blackpool, Lancaster, Ipswich, Colchester, Derby, Plymouth, Northwich, Cheshire, Gloucester and most recently, Liverpool that all offer Recycle Bound – promoting this unique product and raising awareness of plastic pollution.
Overall, it’s been a particularly ground-breaking year for Oltco who continue to provide exceptional and innovative products to clients across the UK whilst also championing an environmentally aware approach.
The company exceeds customers’ expectations with fantastic results and outstanding customer service and continues to supply its high-quality products across the UK. Here’s to another year of success for a great Cornish company.
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Oltco is also proud to support Surfers Against Sewage and be part of the 250 Club – a network of business working in partnership with Surfers Against Sewage to drive forward a movement for change, protecting the UKís unique coastal environment from plastic pollution.
OLTCO
01637 839000
"Becoming the official environmental partner is a powerful way of raising awareness about single use plastic in Cornwall and the rest of the UK"
