Eco Sustainable Solutions (Eco) has landed many awards over the last three decades.
But winning the ‘Environmental Impact’ category of the 2024 Dorset Business Awards was an undoubted highlight for this Dorset-based business. Justin Dampney, Managing Director, said: “Three words – environment, innovation and sustainability – are at the heart of everything we do, both internally and externally.
“To have that recognised by our business peers was a fantastic achievement.”
Founded in 1995, the pioneering family-run business is based at Parley with sites also at Piddlehinton and Weymouth.
Each year Eco recycles over 230,000 tonnes of organic waste from Dorset, Hampshire and surrounding areas, converting it into green energy and high-quality landscape products.
As well as giving waste – such as the contents of your green bin or food waste caddy – a second lease of life, Eco strives to lead the way in the development and implementation of standalone renewable energy projects.
Its sites are powered by the company’s own renewable energy sources including the Biomass CHP (combined heat and power) plant at Parley, which is fuelled by waste wood, and it’s AD (anaerobic digestion) plant at Piddlehinton, fed by local household food waste. Excess power is fed to the grid, generating enough green energy to power over 6,500 homes!
Work has now started on building a second AD plant which will convert additional local food waste and other organic material into Bio-CNG (green gas) and bio-fertiliser.
Costing £15.6 million, the facility is one of the largest projects to be undertaken in Eco’s history and will be sited at Parley.
Eco is also converting its fleet of trucks, which transport waste to and from the facility, from diesel to green gas generated from the food waste.
Justin said: “This project is an extremely exciting one for Eco!
“The thought that your leftover peelings will be directly converted into a gas molecule which, after a bit of treatment, could be used to heat next week’s family dinner, is pretty cool..”
From 1996 until 2023, Eco’s operations have prevented 1.9 million tonnes of CO2 from being emitted to the atmosphere.
It achieved this figure through the recycling of over 1.2 million tonnes of green waste, 1.2 million tonnes of soil, 0.92 million tonnes of waste wood and 0.62 million tonnes of food waste.
The total tonnage of waste recycled since Eco opened its gates now totals more than 4 million tonnes.
Impressive figures for a company which now has an annual turnover of £20 million and employs 49 people.
But Eco has even more ambitious plans for the future.
They include building a new Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at Parley which will divert local waste away from landfill whilst still allowing plenty of opportunity for more recycling.
Justin said: “I’m incredibly proud of our team and their commitment to the business.
“These projects, like everything we do, are all about reducing the impact of local waste on the local environment. But we never rest on our laurels. There is so much more we plan to do to continue to meet the rigorous environmental objectives we set ourselves.”