By Ian McConnell

ABERDEEN-based Keenan Recycling, which describes itself as Scotland’s largest food and garden recycling business, has invested £4.5 million in trucks as it moves to ramp up its market share in England.

Keenan has acquired 39 new vehicles, worth around £115,000 each, as it expands its commercial food waste collection business south of the Border. The trucks will be rolled out across its operations in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Hull, and will be used for additional collection services in south-west England.

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The firm, set up initially as a garden composting business, now employs more than 100 people in Scotland and England. It processes in excess of 100,000 tonnes of organic waste each year. Keenan turns food waste into compost or biofuel.

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Collections director Claire Keenan said: “Scotland has already introduced legislation requiring all businesses that produce over five kilogrammes of food waste per week to recycle it but this is still to come in England. However, with an increasing focus on green sustainability, forward-thinking businesses in England are already making better choices with their food waste management. Our new fleet of collection trucks puts us in an ideal position to expand our services and capitalise on the opportunities when new legislation comes into force in the next few years.”