Scottish businesses, residents and organisations have been increasingly turning to recycled plastic furniture from which to admire the country’s beautiful views, replacing wooden furniture that is becoming harder to maintain.
Award-winning company TDP, which makes outdoor furniture entirely from recycled plastic, has marked the Plastic Free July campaign by reporting an increase in demand from Scottish people looking to replace old and rotting wooden furniture with its own environmentally friendly alternatives.
They have also found that those living in seaside locations across the UK, such as the Scottish coasts, find that recycled plastic benches withstand salty sea environments much better than wooden ones.
Maureen Black, co-owner of a small, private estate near Inverness, has replaced wooden benches in the grounds with TDP’s recycled plastic alternatives.
She said: “We moved to the Scottish Highlands five years ago with the vision of creating a small holiday accommodation business.
“We intended to replace the old wooden benches within the grounds and we wanted something that was low maintenance and sturdy enough to withstand the Scottish winter weather and not blow over.
“We looked at a few options but decided to use TDP as they offered the recycled products in
addition to our original requirements.
“There is no maintenance required other than an occasional wipe down. They are comfortable and sturdy and we are really pleased that we chose TDP.”
Glen Nairn’s owners are so happy with their recycled plastic benches that they have created more seating areas for their holiday accommodation guests to enjoy the lovely views of the area, and have furnished them with more of TDP’s sustainable products including the company’s tea-for-two sets.
TDP, a business which makes a wide range of outdoor furniture from UK recycled plastic is seeing increasing numbers of customers wanting its products because their existing wooden pieces are becoming too decayed to use.
The company won a rare and coveted Kings Award for Enterprise for Sustainability in 2023, and is being kept busy by providing the products made in its own factory which – due to the fact they are made from plastic – are extremely hard-wearing and have strong environmental credentials too.
A picnic table from TDP contains the equivalent of 12,726 plastic bottles, saving 2.89 cubic metres of plastic from going into landfill, waterways and oceans.
One of its ‘Dale’ benches uses 36,985 plastic bottle tops, saving the same amount of CO2 from entering the atmosphere as would be emitted from a 975-mile car journey – more than the distance from Penzance to John O’Groats.
Volunteers at Melrose in Bloom in the Scottish borders, meanwhile, have also turned to TDP’s planters to replace its old wooden versions.
Michael Green, from the group, said: “Recycled materials were something that the group felt was a good way to go, if we could.
“What we particularly like is the fact that we don’t have to go through the annual process of taking these boxes in, storing them, drying them off thoroughly over the winter, scraping them down, washing them and repainting them every year, not to mention the amount of woodwork repairs.
“The rigid plastic boxes hold together very well, and are showing no signs of any deterioration whatsoever.”
Sandra Knowles, from Dumfries, has also invested in a recycled plastic TDP bench for her home.
She said: “I have lived in my house since 2009 and the amount of wooden seats that have come and gone is such a waste of resources and money.
“I have looked at recycled furniture for years, I thought this would be a great investment as it has little to no maintenance and it is so sturdy and durable it will last a lifetime.
“Thank goodness I was correct, this is the best seat I have ever bought, I wish I had bought it sooner. I can’t believe how many bottles and bottle tops it has taken to make it!”
The Plastic Free July campaign has inspired more than 100 million participants in 190 countries by providing resources and ideas to help people reduce single-use plastic waste at home.
Rob Barlow, owner of TDP, along with wife Anne has taken his passion for sustainability out of the workplace and into his own life by taking part in citizen science trips in some of the most far-flung parts of the world, such as Antarctica, the Arctic Circle, and remote parts of the Indian Ocean.
He has seen first-hand the enormous problem of plastic in the oceans and how climate change is affecting the environment.
He said: “Plastic Free July is a great awareness-raising exercise tackling the huge problem of plastic waste in the world. I have seen myself how big an issue it is – when container ships tip out plastic into remote oceans it’s a heartbreaking to see.
“We founded TDP in order to try and address this problem by making something hard-wearing and practical from recycled plastic.
“We’re very proud of our range of furniture, including benches, picnic tables, dining sets and nature products such as bird tables, hedgehog houses and garden planters, that are helping to solve the plastic problem by using it to make something new.
“We’re seeing more and more organisations around the country saying to us that they are buying our products because the wooden benches and tables they have got are now rotting and giving people splinters.
“They need to be regularly treated too – which is not a requirement for our products.”
