Martin, 30, runs his own small business, a
diner/restaurant in Ballynahinch, County Down.
He believes it is important for businesses to recycle especially in the catering industry due to the large volumes of waste they produce. He is surprised however, that there is no provision for recycling bins for businesses in his locality.

Martin pays between £4-5 per bin per week for collection, and therefore tries to keep waste to a minimum. He has personally sourced waste (cooking) oil collection which is removed every month or so from the premises.

Martin believes that he would more actively recycle if it wasn't for two major constraints. Firstly, his premises do not have the space available to store nor sort waste for recycling, and secondly, he says, "Finding time to sort out my waste and more importantly the time required to bring the waste products to the council's local recycling area is impossible. They open during business hours so it is not feasible for me to take an hour out of my day simply to take rubbish to a dump."

Martin believes that local authorities do provide information for businesses on recycling in the form of leaflets, yet he believes that it would be more beneficial if some of the budget allocated to this provision of information could be diverted into implementing a collection service for recyclables for small businesses like his own.

He owns two vehicles, a 1.8 litre diesel van for transporting catering supplies and a 1.9 turbo diesel car for his recreational use. He considers both these vehicles inefficient yet says they are a necessity as the local bus route does not service his home or the
neighbouring locality very often. He says, "If any electrical appliances needed replacing in my work, I would opt for energy efficient ones because I can see the long-term benefits for my business and
the environment."

Martin believes he is minimising pollution from transportation and helping the local economy by sourcing nearly all his food stock from locally produced sources. He says he would have no problem publishing his business's environmental performance as he does make significant efforts to reduce waste in the business and is enthusiastic, yet he just needs some assistance to learn what constitutes best practice as do other businesses similar to his own.