Our story
Community Wood Recycling has developed into the country’s leading social and environmental social enterprise network
How it started
Founder Richard Mehmed first realised the potential of waste wood in 1998 when he was building a playhouse for his daughter. He spotted some ideal wooden sheets piled outside a local factory, and when he asked if he could take a couple of them for his playhouse he was shocked to find the pile was just a fraction of the excess wooden packaging they had waiting to be incinerated. Richard came up with a plan to cycle more wood out of the waste stream, and the Brighton and Hove Wood Recycling Project was born.
Since then
Thanks to the success of the Brighton project, funding was secured to franchise the model elsewhere and the National Community Wood Recycling Project was founded in 2003. The National Builders Collection Scheme was set up to market the service to building companies in 2010, allowing the NCWRP to become self-funding and offer support to enterprises without the need for grants or fundraising. There are currently 30 enterprises operating across the country, collectively forming Community Wood Recycling and collecting around 20,000 tonnes of wood every year.
Our wood recycling network creates sustainable jobs
The work we do creates jobs, training and volunteering opportunities for local people, particularly those who might find it difficult to get into or back to employment or who have been excluded from the workforce. We work with former offenders, those with mental health problems, people in recovery from addiction and young people who have never had a job.
We are committed to the re-use of waste timber
We believe that there is a better alternative than the chipper for the 4.5 million tonnes of waste wood the country creates every year. By sorting the timber for reuse we are working with commercial partners and local communities to build a circular economy.
Our Journey
Publications
Our annual reports contain information about accolades, media coverage, and social and environmental outcomes, as well as the changing challenges and successes of the Community Wood Recycling business model over the year.