New business created from old bottles

Ms MacLeod, 35, has a thriving business making cheese platters from old bottles supplied by waste management company Yorwaste, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

Ms MacLeod, who lives in Wiggington, near York, turns glass bottles into platters and her products are proving so popular that art galleries in York, Helmsley and Holmfirth are selling her wares.

To ensure that supply keeps up with demand, Ms MacLeod, who uses a kiln in her home to melt the glass into platters, approached Yorwaste about supplying her with glass bottles.

"I was aware of Yorwaste because they work with the council operating the kerbside collection scheme in my area and the crews used to supply me on an ad hoc basis when I told them what I did," she said.

"I am always on the lookout for more unusual bottles, such as coloured glass, because these prove to be the most popular with customers, and now I have established a proper relationship with Yorwaste, I am hoping to get even more delivered.

"I am very grateful to Yorwaste for their help. They do a great job encouraging people to recycle and I am delighted to do my bit for the environment by reusing other people's glass."

Yorwaste recycling and external affairs manager John Miller said: "We are only too pleased to supply Louise with the bottles she needs because re-using products is an excellent way of avoiding waste. What cannot be re-used should then be put out for recycling."

* Yorwaste recycles more than 2,000 tonnes of glass a year. It is taken to Glass Recycling UK, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, where it is turned into glass containers.

During the past five years, Yorwaste has doubled the amount of waste it handles and broke the million tonne barrier for the first time last year.

It is also recycling more material than at any time in its history, using recycling centres, kerbside recycling schemes and new technologies.

For more information, visit the company's website at www.yorwaste.co.uk