Acheson and Glover

Acheson and Glover who won the Belfast Telegraph Business award for Outstanding Environmental Achievement, sponsored by ‘Wake Up To Waste’in 2004.

Acheson and Glover was founded in 1960 and is now a leading manufacturer of paving and flags, masonry block, retaining walls, bricks and mortar, hollowcore flooring and stairs. The company’s headquarters are in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone and they currently employ 330 people. It operates five manufacturing operations and has sales offices throughout the UK and Ireland.

The company has demonstrated a strong commitment to the Northern Ireland environment by developing a strict environmental policy which has designated care of the environment as an essential part of the business strategy and in planning/ procedural matters.

In 2001 Acheson and Glover recognised the major financial cost as well as the environmental impact that the transport of large amounts of sand used for the production of concrete from Pomeroy to Belcoo. To resolve this the company decided to open an on site sand processing plant.

However, this process created almost 40,000 tonnes of dolomite limestone slurry which was seen being treated by the company as a waste.

Acheson and Glover have clearly shown that they have ‘Woken up to Waste’ by recognising that the 40,000 tonnes of ‘waste’ being produced by their sand making facility can be easily developed into a material which is valuable to customers throughout Europe while at the same time creating a potentially valuable revenue and boosting the recycling market.

The main achievements of their project were that:

• All of the waste was eliminated.
• This was achieved by recycling it into a new agricultural product.
• The product is environmentally friendly and easily handled

The company took a holistic approach to the development of their manufacturing facilities by carrying out environmental assessments and employing architects who were briefed to be sympathetic to the surrounding Fermanagh Lakelands.