Forth Resource Management (FRM) has grown from processing 10,000t of green waste in 2002 to over 100,000t in our 20th year. We operate 11 sites across the Lothians, Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, and Central Scotland, working with 12 local council authorities. We produce a range of peat free compost and topsoil’s for agriculture and industry, and our Caledonian Horticulture range includes a number of different composts, topsoil, lawn improvers and biomass fuels, to provide peat free horticultural products for individuals to use in their gardens.
At FRM we strive to do our best for people and planet, and we have committed ourselves to a number of different initiatives to benefit both our local communities and the environment including our One Planet Pledge, Tree Planting, and The Scottish Coastal Clean Up.
One Planet Pledge sees FRM taking sustainable steps across all areas of the business to reduce our carbon footprint. Some of the steps include: Fuel Offsetting, we contribute 2p/litre of diesel used by our vehicles and machinery towards carbon offsetting projects; Tree planting, a tree planted for every bag of firewood sold; and Free Compost, offered to schools and community groups across Scotland.
In 2021 we planted 1700 trees as part of our One Planet Pledge with the help of local community groups. This included the creation of a new 4 acre community woodland - Twa Burns Woods. This year we are scaling up our tree planting endeavours and have partnered with Edinburgh Fringe Festival to plant 75,000 trees over the next 5 years across the south of Scotland to celebrate their 75th anniversary. We are also in the planning stages for a new 20 acre woodland near Lanark, and for a restorative woodland project on our new 100 acre site at Balgornie, near Whitburn that will incorporate trees planted under our One Planet Pledge.
The Scottish Coastal Clean Up has spanned the last 5 year period where we have set ourselves the ambitious task of removing 70% of marine detritus off our coastline. Running over World Environment and World Ocean Day at the start of June, we organise an annual clean up weekend that in 2021 saw over 70 community and family groups out cleaning the 150km of coastline between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. Building on the success of last year, this year we extended our clean from Berwick-upon-Tweed up to Aberdeen – a total of 570km. We organise various other beach cleans throughout the year to tackle areas that are highlighted as particular litter hotspots, we have recently returned from the Isle of Ulva where we removed around 75m3 of litter over the course of the weekend (pictured).
We have teamed up with local events such as The Royal Highland Show to take all their straw, manure, and used animal bedding to compost, and we are running the waste management for Fringe By the Sea including the implementation of compostable cups that will be composted at our site then the compost retuned to the park venue of the festival to promote the importance of a circular economy.
Our next steps include measuring our carbon footprint to put a numerical value on the improvements we are implementing, investing in new technology meaning our machines have better fuel economy, and continuing with site improvements to further lower the carbon footprint of our sites.