Jim has designs on being a recycling success

Jim Box, managing director of Peterlee-based Be Smart Solutions, saw a gap in the market to customise discarded glass bottles which are generated as waste on a large scale.

Drawing on his 30 years’ experience as an engineer and his ability to design bespoke and intricate products for clients, Jim has launched an online store, Be-Recycled.com

The concept of the business, which is based at Novus Business Centre, is to personalise the bottles which would otherwise end up at recycling centres, etching individual, hand-crafted designs or messages directly onto the glass.

The customer then has the option to choose either battery, solar or USB-rechargeable LED lighting to the interior of the bottle, which is packaged in recycled, recyclable materials.

The gift bottles can then be given as presents for birthdays, weddings and other celebratory occasions, or as decorations for the house.

Jim said: “My core business is working with companies in the engineering industry, predominantly in the lighting and automotive sectors as well as small to medium start-ups, which require bespoke designs for products that they are manufacturing.

“However, given all the uncertainty around in the current business climate, I decided to look at other ways to utilise my skills and realised there was a gap in the market to take discarded wine or other alcoholic bottles and turn them into decorative lighting gifts.”

Jim is now exploring what other materials and products could be recycled, and where he gets them from, as he looks to expand the product ranges.