John Lawrie Group recently welcomed a group of visitors from the Royal Society of Arts and Zero Waste Scotland, the organisation set up by the Scottish Government to support the delivery of its Zero Waste Plan.

The guests visited the company’s facilities in Aberdeen and Montrose where they witnessed at first hand some practical and innovative examples of reuse and how they fit in with the ‘Circular Economy’ model - an emerging solution to the world’s projected resource crunch.

The highly valued tour was arranged after Ray Grant, John Lawrie’s Environmental Director, delivered a presentation of the company’s expertise at last year’s reuse event -jointly organised by Decom North Sea and Zero Waste Scotland – which prompted a great deal of interest in the company’s reuse activities.

Following a comprehensive tour and insight into John Lawrie Group’s extensive storage and processing capabilities, Zero Waste Scotland’s Circular Economy Manager Maurice Golden commented:

“The current linear economic model, where we produce, consume and discard, is not the best way to extract the full value of resources and maximise economic and environmental gains in Scotland. By establishing a more circular economy in Scotland – where goods are firstly designed with future reuse in mind and then recycled and remanufactured to be used again – we can maximise the value of resources in our economy and embed sustainability in the way we do business.

“The John Lawrie Group is a great Scottish example of conducting business in a more economical and sustainable way by choosing to reuse redundant oilfield pipe and tubulars to the construction sector rather than sell them for scrap, for example.”

“The visit showcased some excellent circular practises and I anticipate further examples of products being sold for reuse rather than scrap as the company expands in a sustainable manner.”

Left to Right: Leah Gourley, Cheryl Robb and Maurice Golden

The Royal Society of Arts is also involved with the Circular Economy model and has created an initiative called “The Great Recovery Project” which focusses on the relationship between materials, waste and design. The project seeks out and builds new networks to explore the issues, investigate innovation gaps and foster new partnerships in these areas.

The RSA has also been collaborating with Zero Waste Scotland in a bid to explore opportunities to use design as a means of incorporating Circular Economy thinking into the Oil and Gas decommissioning process in which John Lawrie Group has a key role to play.

Commenting on the visit, Ed McCann, Chairman of the Institution of Civil Engineers, said:

“The way that the John Lawrie Group has built a substantial business on the back of an observation that surplus pipes could be used for piling demonstrates exactly the sort of ingenuity and business skills that will be required as we develop the Circular Economy.”

John Lawrie Group is fully committed to the Circular Economy model which is being actively driven across the UK and Europe with Scotland at the very forefront.

Welcoming the positive feedback from the group of visitors, Ray Grant said:

“As a leader in our field, each year John Lawrie Group reuses tens of thousands of tonnes of various redundant items from the Oil and Gas industry which would otherwise be scrapped and recycled.

“By establishing sustainable reuse markets, we not only help our customers to be more environmentally efficient but also deliver enhanced financial value.”