Page 23 from: January / February 2013
23January/February 2013
duces linerboard for corrugated packaging and
celebrated its 150th anniversary last year.
In 1964, I was promoted to Assistant Mill Man-
ager. It was my job to order the waste paper for
the week (nobody called it recovered paper in
those days). My role was mostly in production
planning and I didn’t negotiate prices, but I
recall that so-called merchants’ own sorted
waste was worth 10 pounds 12 shillings and
sixpence per ton (approaching US$ 17 at
today’s rate of exchange).
In 1968, I joined Birmingham Waste – a big
paper processor at the time – as Depot Man-
ager and then Area Commercial Manager. And
in 1972, I joined British Paper Co. and started
up its recovered paper business.’
And it was when you were at Birming-
ham Waste that you became involved
in a facet of the trade that would have
been quite unusual in the late 1960s
and early 1970s.
‘Yes, importing and exporting recovered paper.
We imported from the Netherlands and export-
ed kraft bags to Spain. It was
my job to monitor loading
by crane on to ships. A few
other merchants in the UK
were doing the same sort of
thing – but not many,
because they were not pre-
pared to take the risk of, for
example, getting a load rejected overseas.
When in 1977 I started my own business (Clar-
field Waste of Bristol) with Brian Perry and
Brian Harris, it was an active policy of mine to
export. Typically, 25 to 30% of our production
would go abroad to, for instance, the Nether-
lands, France, Germany, Sweden and Italy. I
remember, for example, we sold high wet
strength sea chart waste to a mill in Aachen. I
liked dealing with as many different mills as
possible – not only because it was more interest-
ing but also to spread the risk.’
Did this mean a lot of travel?
‘Certainly. Quite often, I would take a ferry
from the UK to the Continent and visit four or
five mills before returning that same day. It was
a lot of hard work but also very rewarding. Also,
I used to send telexes on spec to potential new
customers and it led to, for example, a long-
term trading relationship with a mill in Sweden.
I did manage to speak some languages; in fact,
I’m sure mills in France only dealt with me so
they could hear my bad French and roll around
laughing after putting the phone down.’
So making personal connections in busi-
ness has always been important to you?
‘Before 1995, we didn’t have a single contract.
We just did it on word of mouth and trust.
Sometimes it went wrong but mostly it worked
brilliantly.
I am from a Quaker upbringing and we were
taught to be straightforward with people, but
this also makes good commercial sense.
I have met so many lovely people in the paper
trade. For example, Peter Seymour-Smith leant
me the money without a second thought to
help start up Clarfield Waste; I should add that
the support of my wife and children was huge-
ly important to me at that time and throughout
my career. And I will always be thankful to
Brian Harris for being a person of forthright
principles and a huge supporter of the industry.
A lot of business these days is done at arm’s
length and is contract-based, and that means a
lot of the camaraderie has disappeared. But on
the plus side, being in a global market is much
more “involving”. These days, you can’t be iso-
lationist.’
Has your obvious interest in people
been reflected in other ways?
‘A major guiding principle for me has been
creation of employment – and productive
employment at that. It’s the single most impor-
tant thing you can give someone, and our
industry provides good work for many people.
In the Avon area (of south-west England), when
we started up kerbside collections in the early
to mid-1980s with local community-based
recycling groups, it gave employment to around
200 people at a time when jobs were not easy
to find. It was a major motivation for me.’
And you have also helped to generate
employment in Africa, haven’t you?
‘I was heavily involved in setting up the Frip
Ethique venture in Senegal* which is now oper-
ated by Oxfam and is running very well. Reusable
textile goods are collected, part-sorted and proc-
essed into large bales in the UK and then shipped
to a warehouse in the capital, Dakar. They are
sorted further and converted into smaller bales
ready for sale to local traders through a shop set
up by the partners in the venture.
It provides employment for more than 20 peo-
ple – including a lot of single mothers who
represent an underclass in Senegal and who
would otherwise struggle to get jobs. It was a
good opportunity to do something in a place
where we could make a difference, and I still
regard it as one of the really good things I’ve
done. I receive regular reports on the project’s
progress and understand there are plans to roll
it out elsewhere in West Africa.
More recently, I have completed a fulfilling
piece of work for Oxfam, re-organising their
waste and recycling collections for all their UK
charity shops, reducing their
landfilled volumes by 60%
and saving them £500 000 a
year.’
Rewinding to 1995,
your business Clarfield
Waste was acquired by
UK Waste Management Ltd, the British
arm of US giant Waste Management In-
ternational. How did that come about?
‘Waste Management International told UK
Waste to get into recycling in a big way and we
became its first UK acquisition. Having started
from scratch with no contracts in 1977, Clarfield
was producing 55 000 to 60 000 tonnes of its
own material each year and merchanting a
similar tonnage when it was bought by UK
Waste. Our focus had been mainly on the paper-
making grades and on news & pams; we had
avoided OCC because it was more of a com-
modity grade and so tougher to get a margin.
I became UK Waste’s Director of Recycling and
travelled throughout Europe and the USA help-
ing with advice and co-ordination of recycling
activities within Europe. I set up contracts with
mills and advised on acquisitions. Prices climbed
quite high around that time but then, in 1996,
‘There is a lot of “quasi” regulation in the
UK and elsewhere to drive recycling.’
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