Smash and grab provide solution for London’s glass problem

Monday 6 May, 2008

London-based Smash and Grab has developed an innovative ‘quiet’ recycling solution for the waste glass created by London’s restaurants and pubs.

Gone is the noisy late-night tipping of wine and beer bottles into bins – the Esher company’s ‘Little Smasher’ invention crushes glass bottles reducing their volume by 80%, and the waste is then taken away for recycling.

“Waste glass is a big problem for London’s licensed retail premises – at the moment the cost of operating a traditional glass recycling service is high with very frequent collections needed, which means that much of the glass ends up in landfill,� said Geoffrey Galitzine, Managing Director of Smash and Grab.

With help from the London Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), the company has manufactured over 100 ‘Little Smashers’ so far for use in pub chains such as Fullers & Young’s in London. The business model is based around Smash and Grab providing the equipment at no cost to customers and then charging a monthly service fee for the use of the equipment and for the removal of the glass.

The company recently called in London MAS to help with design improvements to the product and to identify further long term developments to drive the business forward in the coming years.

Comments Manufacturing Specialist Mark Brown: “The business model is flawless - however the product required certain simplifications. By working together, we identified ways of reducing the number of components which will result in reductions in manufacturing costs of about 20 percent, which is obviously a significant financial benefit for the company.�

www.mas-london.co.uk