Here at RPS, 2018 has been both a rewarding and challenging year. Timber prices rose and with the legislation around waste collection ever changing, it was important that we continued to grow and develop within the industry.
It’s been a pleasure to look back on the last 12 months, and we’d love to share our most memorable moments with you.
At the beginning of the year,The Environmental Agency issued a Regulatory Position Statement over the hazardous status of waste wood; this led to much tighter rules over the waste handling in both civic amenity sites and household recycling centres.
In February, the UK experienced an unprecedented shortage in timber supply due to various global issues, including a significantly reduced volume of raw material available.Unsurprisingly, this led to wooden packaging and pallets becoming scarce despite their escalating demand and as a result, timber prices increased. Due to the shortage, more and more businesses were looking for cost-effective and sustainable solutions to solve their pallet supply issues; that’s where we came in, to provide reconditioned pallets for reuse!
Remember when we celebrated our sixteenth birthday? This was an important milestone for us as a company, and we decided to mark it with a day at the races. We used the opportunity to reflect on the reasons why we are proud of where our journey has taken us over the years,including our continuing mission to find sustainable solutions for used pallets and to grow our clientele with major international and national businesses.
We’ve been doing our bit proudly for charity this year too, from working directly with the Memusi Foundation to taking part in the 21st annual Stokesley Charity Bike Ride. We’ve been trying to raise as much money as possible for causes that are important to us. Our MD, Gary even climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in September, raising over £11,000 for OSCARs Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity!
We were excited to return to RWM2018 this year, an event which attracts over 500 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors from the waste, recycling and environmental industries, at the NEC Birmingham. The exhibition is the perfect place to talk with like-minded people about how we can build a more resource-efficient future and meet face-to-face with current and potential customers! Because of popular demand we also brought back our forklift pallet game!
In June, we were shortlisted for not one, but two National Recycling Awards. The awards recognise and celebrate best practice and innovation in recycling and waste management and it was a privilege to be shortlisted. It was a great event and we were thrilled to celebrate the hardwork and dedication of the RPS team.
This year we have established business improvement targets for each department, aiming to achieve them and meet efficiency goals by 2021. We have an ongoing obligation to reduce our impact on the environment, that’s why we have started the improvement plan by investing in modern equipment for the RPS HQ, from energy-efficient lighting to installing the latest technology.
Our services have also grown this year. We launched our online pallet collection request service, making the process of pallet collections quicker and simpler than ever before. Our site operatives renewed their forklift truck licences in line with RTITB standards, demonstrating our commitment to safety.
Possibly the biggest service milestone of 2018, was the launch of City Service- a new offering which provides companies in cities with a used pallet collection solution that is both environmentally responsible and cost-effective.
As the festive season approached, we rounded off the year with the all new RPS Advent Calendar! Particularly during the Christmas period, it’s important to consider our environmental impact, and the calendar was designed as a fun way to learn more about Christmas traditions and recycling.
2018 has certainly been a busy year, and 2019 is shaping up to be just as exciting!
What did you enjoy most about 2018? Tweet us at @rps_limited and share your own success stories.
