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Future-proof Fencing

In the outskirts of picturesque Torquay, jewel of the English Riviera, Sherwell Valley Primary School provides education to over 700 local children aged 3 to 11. Founded in 1974, the school has undergone extensive rebuilding in order to create a safe and engaging learning environment. We at DCW Polymers proudly supported these efforts by installing 59 meters of our exclusive recycled picket fencing.

At DCW Polymers, we focus on making the best use of the many tonnes of plastic that our society produces. We collect plastics from across the South West and bring them back to our processing plant in Exeter, where they are re-engineered. Fencing made from this material is perfect for school environments like Sherwell; places where rambunctious kids can be hard on their surroundings!

From Old to New

Sherwell used to have traditional wooden fencing enclosing its property, which was a major headache for its maintenance crew. Wooden fencing is susceptible to rot; especially in places like Torquay where the sea-salt breeze can eat away at the natural fibre. When wood rots it’s easier to break, making it dangerous, especially in areas where kids like to run and play.

Some schools get around this by using chain-link fencing or similar solutions. For many, this can make an education environment seem more like a prison. This is why Sherwell chose our Polymer fencing instead; it has the charm and aesthetic of wood, whilst being so durable it comes with a decade’s guarantee. Sherwell’s maintenance crew won’t have to fix or replace it and can spend their time working on other improvments, for the benefit of their students.

Keeping it Efficient

Over the summer we worked with Sherwell Valley and Festers Fencing, another local business (find out more about them here). Our skip stood by to collect all of the old, broken wooden fencing and debris. We brought it back to our plant for processing with the rest of the recyclables. Then we installed 59 meters of brand new fencing around the playground. The kids at Sherwell can now safely run around and get out all of their wiggles during breaks. We also surrounded the ‘quiet area’, where kids who are a bit less energetic can go to relax and just spend time outdoors. Spending time in nature is especially important for children’s development, which is partly why we work so hard to preserve it. We saved any offcuts to bring back to Exeter to feed back into the system, which keeps it efficient and sustainable.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reimagine

“Sherwell Valley Primary is a large and vibrant place where children enjoy learning and teachers love to teach them. Our vision is to achieve ‘excellence in all that we do’ and when the opportunity came for us to modernise our Key Stage 1 playground we adopted that vision – to not only create a safe and fun area for our children to learn and play, but also showcase our values of being community focused and inspirational. The fact that DCW Polymers could provide good quality, 100% recycled fencing made from local plastic waste, fit in with our school values of reduce, reuse, recycle. From start to finish the customer service received by all members of their team was excellent and we are proud to be associated with this new innovative product. We look forward to working with them again.”

-Kate Sharp, School Business Manager

Sherwell’s motto is ‘Education today for the world tomorrow’. At DCW Polymers we are proud to help support this message and help educate our kids on ways to be sustainable and eco-friendly, which is only going to become more important as time goes on. Here’s hoping the little eco-warriors at Sherwell Valley Primary School will grow up to continue our mission!

Thank you to everyone at Sherwell School and Festers Fencing for helping to create a more sustainable planet.

If you are inspired to make your own environment more sustainable, please click here to find out more ways to do so.

If you would like to find out more about our Polymer products, like garden furniture, dog agility equipment, decking and more, please click here

The Smiling Sheep

10 years ago, Holly and Andrei Szerard moved out of London into a beautiful thatched cottage in Copplestone in mid-Devon. From this idyllic setting, they set up The Smiling Sheep, a smallholding which is home to many animals; chickens, ducks four rare nene geese, a flock of 40 sheep, rare breed pigs, 3 cats and Bodie the dog.

The couple proudly grow a variety of fruit and vegetables here. They have a wool studio where they produce luxury woolen blankets and throws from the wool from their flock. Shortly they will be opening their luxury B&B accommodation again!

Recently, they acquired a 15 acre neighbouring woodland, which they intend to maintain as a haven of nature and tranquility. They soon set about clearing a lot of fallen trees, overgrown blackthorn and brambles, and trying to restore the woodland to a natural and useable space. It quickly became apparent that there were hundreds upon hundreds of old plastic tree guards that littered the ground!

What can you do with hundreds of old plastic tree guards?

They were stumped (excuse the pun) with what to do with these, as although they are plastic, there is no viable recycling solution in place for them due to their condition and lightweight nature of the product.

Here’s where DCW Polymers come in! One day they heard about DCW Polymers successfully recycling tree-guards from a conservation project in Cornwall, into a new bench that the conservation trust had placed back in the woodland. Andrei contacted DCW Polymers who tested their tree guards which are perfect for recycling into benches! Best of all, The Smiling Sheep decided to order 7 benches made from their own material to place back into the woodland to enjoy the beautiful views!

Next they had to collect all of the tree guards, clean off the debris and bag them up before taking them to DCW Polymers in Exeter. Here they were shredded and granulated first, then melted down in a process to create planks of recycled plastics that were finally assembled into 7 smart bench seats.

From Woodland Waste to Sustainable Seating

The benches were delivered to Andrei and Holly a couple of weeks ago, and have been placed in their positions. All of the benches are at clearings that afford stunning views of the surrounding trees and wild flowers.

They are delighted with the end results, and have spent time already using them and enjoying the fruits of their labour.

Andrei said “I am so pleased knowing that a difficult to recycle material had not only been diverted from landfill, but had been reprocessed and made into fabulous new products that will last for years to come – all within 15 minutes from home!”

There are still more tree guards to come, that DCW Polymers will make into more sustainable seats!

For more details on The Smiling Sheep, visit their website www.smilingsheep.co.uk

For more information on DCW Polymers range of sustainable recycled plastic furniture, please go to https://dcwpolymers.co.uk/products/.

 Luxury Camping in Devon

This AA five star rated site is immaculately presented with generous pitches for tents, caravans, and campervans. There are even fully insulated double glazed glamping pods, for those craving a touch of luxurious comfort.

Woodland Springs is central to Dartmoor’s National Park, and close to the English Riviera. With excellent facilities and tranquil surroundings, this award-winning, rural site will definitely enrich your Devon vacation. It offers the perfect Caravan & Camping getaway designed exclusively for adults.

Since taking over in 2000 owners, Peter and Fiona have upgraded the park beautifully. Well-kept grass areas compliment young hedging, shrubs, and wildflowers that back onto existing mature trees; the new planting harmoniously fuses with the gorgeous countryside, encouraging local wildlife to setup habitats. Guests regularly enjoy the early morning chorus spotting nuthatches, greenfinches, woodpeckers and even a red kite!

Woodland Springs is a wonderful choice for dog lovers, with two exercise areas nestled within the park. A fully fenced, well-manicured 1-acre grass field, and an agility course for the more adventurous canine companion. There is a dog shower area, which includes a warm water shower that is free of charge; ideal for washing off dewy grass or muddy paws your dog might pick up during countryside walks. There is also a selection of dog food and treats are available in the on-site shop.

Recycled Plastic Dog Agility Equipment

The dog agility area features DCW Polymers’ recycled plastic dog agility equipment. The hoop, see-saw, and spider climber were exclusively handmade by DCW Polymers. Produced from recycled Polypropylene, these products offer a sustainable alternative to wood. DCW Polymers use a closed loop process to collect and manufacture plastic scrap locally; all of the work takes place in their Polymers facility in Exeter.

Peter couldn’t be happier. He said “We are absolutely delighted with the dog agility equipment DCW Polymers have manufactured for us. The equipment is in use daily on our busy caravan  touring park. It has proved hugely popular with our guests and their dogs. We are particularly impressed with the quality of the equipment – the items are extremely hardwearing, well-built and completely maintenance free.”

Planning an adult only camping holiday in Devon… why not see what Woodland Springs can offer you. You can contact them by calling 01647 231648, emailing [email protected] or, by visiting their website https://woodlandsprings.co.uk and completing their online enquiry form.

DCW Polymers’ sister company DCW has been supplying waste collection services to Woodland Springs Touring Park since January 2020. Recycling is particularly important to the site, who were delighted with their “Zero to Landfill” contract.

DCW’s diligence enables Woodland Springs to achieve a 67% recycling rate from their general waste. That equates to almost four tonnes over the past 12 months alone!

By choosing DCW and DCW Polymers, to date Woodland Springs have so far saved over eleven tonnes of waste from ending up in landfill!