An ACE overview

ACE provides a range of recycling services for business and the wider community. It is one of our main objectives to provide a convenient, cost effective and integrated multi-material recycling service to meet the needs of our customers. We also aim to protect the environment by diverting as much material from landfill as possible supporting local councils to meet their recycling targets.

We are aware of the rising costs to business of waste management and are able to offer advice on how to reduce these costs.

Similarly we provide support for community recycling, running kerbside collections for over 35 000 households in North Lanarkshire and Clackmannanshire. Collecting cans, paper, cardboard, plastics, glass and textiles and either reprocessing these ourselves or sending them on to third parties for recycling.

We also aim to support community groups in the areas where we operate. We provide both a 'Cash for Cans' scheme and our recently introduced 'Cash for Textiles' scheme where we buy cans and textiles ( clothes, hats, belts, shoes etc) from groups. If you require more information on these schemes please refer back to the home page and click on the link or use the contact page and we will get in touch as soon as possible.

We also service community recycling centres in Stirling, Clackmannanshire and Falkirk which provide uplift services for those who for one reason or another do not have doorstep uplifts or where certain materials are not yet collected through doorstep uplift.

How we started

In the spring of 1984 a group of volunteers in Clackmannanshire successfully raised funds to furnish a halfway house, which provided training and support to assist long stay patients in a nearby psychiatric hospital to regain their rightful place in society. From these humble beginnings arose what is now arguably the most successful community recycling business in Scotland.

Due to the success of their fund raising venture the volunteers recognised the need for an ongoing business which would create local jobs and help alleviate poverty in a high unemployment area.

With the help of a £1000 Small Business Grant and one employee Alloa Community Enterprises Ltd (ACE) was launched in 1984. The first venture of the organisation was to establish a furniture reuse project.

Over the years ACE have diversified into other areas of recycling such as glass, cans, paper, textiles. ACE was one of the first organisations in Scotland to introduce a colour separated glass collection scheme. When the scheme was launched in 1991 ACE collected about 4 tonnes per week. Today ACE is one of Scotland's biggest collectors of post consumer glass from public bottle banks and commercial premises throughout the Central Belt.
In partnership with its local authority partners ACE extended the range of materials collected at its public bottle banks to include cans, textiles and paper. This integrated service for the community is now available at sites throughout the Forth Valley area and forms a pivotal role in encouraging recycling in the community.

Working with a range of local authority partners as well as various market organisations ACE have built up an operation which now employs a large number of full time staff, operates a fleet of vehicles.

Such has been the success of the organisation that ACE was voted the UK Community Recycling project of the Year 2001 in the National Recycling Awards.

Development

ACE were selected by London base ECT as their sole Scottish partners. This is doubly significant as ECT are a well established Social Enterprise with a turnover in excess of £60 million per annum and who operate their own Trust which returns significant sums of money to the communities it serves. ECT spent a considerable time looking for a Scottish partner who shared not only the same social objectives but who could also work efficiently on a commercial level. The inaugural Board meeting of the newly formed Scottish Environmental Services (SES) was held on the 20th of June, 2007.

In addition to this ACE will be concentrating on the development of new services to support Scottish Business and the expansion of existing services where there is a commercial need.

Partners

ACE is proud of its commitment to partnership working which sees us working closely with a number of local councils and agencies as well as our expanding commercial customer base. Partners at the moment include:-

• Clackmannanshire Council Integrated Waste Management
• Clackmannanshire Council Temporary Tenancy Team
• Falkirk Council
• North Lanarkshire Council
• SEPA
• CRNS
• WRAP