Wharington International shapes the demand for recycled content products
Wharington International, manufacturer of sustainable and eco-efficient commercial furniture, helps drive the demand of recycled content products (RCPs) through its association with the Buy Recycled Business Alliance (BRBA).

Yvette Karklins, Marketing Manager at Wharington International, said the company, which has developed Recopol™ recycled resin mouldings, decided to join the BRBA to make its voice heard and influence the demand of RCPs.

“We found there was no group that represented the diverse range of companies who produce RCPs. The BRBA has been the only organisation that could speak for us as manufacturers,” she said.

“The BRBA has given us the opportunity to present our company to other businesses via its website and at networking events, during which we can meet other members and express our opinion on a variety of issues.

“Increasingly, it is part of the procurement policies for government departments and councils to purchase a percentage of green products but it is not mandatory for businesses. Joining the BRBA is a way for us to promote the uptake of recycled content furniture to businesses,” Yvette said.

According to Yvette, the main benefit of being part of the BRBA is to have input in the development of a national database of RCPs.

“The BRBA is currently developing a database of RCPs – this is above all what attracted us to re-joining the Alliance. The database will promote the use of RCPs and bring back to the attention the importance of buying these products. Many companies are focusing on their recycling process but not on the vital area of re-using the recycled material,” Yvette said.

“We need to encourage product designers to design with RC materials to improve the market appeal of RCPs. A database of RC materials will provide a great resource for designers to draw on. Wharington employs two full time product designers because design is a crucial element in manufacturing today.

“It is important to educate people as we need to close the loop by not only producing recycled content products but also buying recycled,” Yvette said.

“Wharington aims to be transparent with its products and provides complete information about the furniture it manufactures. The BRBA database will provide details on RCPs on a national scale,” she said.

Yvette said Wharington, which employs about 30 people, has found a real niche market in the production of RCPs.

“Manufacturing Recopol™ recycled resin furniture shells is beneficial as it gives our furniture an environmental and competitive edge. It is a key point of difference with some of our competitors and it helps our clients who purchase Recopol™ shells from us to compete in the green building market,” she said.

“Some of our clients are confused about the difference between products containing recycled content and products being recyclable. Wharington takes the furniture back at end of life because if the material is not reused, it will be sent to landfill and represent an immense waste of resources. In addition, the engineered plastics Wharington is recycling are indestructible in landfill,” Yvette said.

Wharington is currently working on a number of projects to help improve the production and uptake of RCPs.

Lara Barclay, Executive Director of the BRBA, said there is a good synergy between Wharington International and the BRBA.

“Wharington has been keen to develop recycled content products and educate students, businesses and government to the ‘buy recycled’ concept. The BRBA can help Wharington in the development and delivery of this objective, with particular emphasis on demonstrating how the ‘buy recycled’ approach can deliver competitive advantage in the market place,” Barclay said.

“Recycling and buying recycled should be a key component of a company’s sustainability strategy as it is a simple way for all businesses to improve environmental responsibility by reducing waste. Recycling also reduces greenhouse gas emissions caused by the breakdown of waste in landfill. In addition, manufacturing RCPs from secondary resources generally requires less water and energy,” she said.

The BRBA was founded in 1999 and operates across Australia as a not-for-profit business-led initiative to provide a forum to promote greater uptake of recycled content products (RCPs), which strongly contributes to corporate sustainability.

Foundation members of the BRBA include Amcor, McDonalds, Visy Industries, Foster’s Group, Corporate Express, Fuji Xerox and Australian Paper.

For more information on the BRBA, please visit www.brba.com.au or call 1300 662 593.

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Released for the Buy Recycled Business Alliance by Dennis Rutzou Public Relations (www.drpr.com.au).
For further information please call Kim Larochelle or Fiona Pennington on
(02) 9413 4244.