Secure document collection | Highlander

2002

Company founded

Founded in 2002 by Brian Bingham and Stephen Duffy to offer competitive and reliable brokering service initially exporting three containers of plastic a week to China.

2005

Considerable growth

By 2005 we had become Highlander International Recycling. The company had grown considerably in those three years, now trading in multi-materials and exporting over 100 containers a week from Northern Ireland and Scotland, supplying paper mills across the UK as well as the Far East and Europe.

2008

Adapted to the current climate.

In 2008 amid the financial crisis like many companies we had to adapt. This saw us move from mixed paper trading to focusing on higher quality grades of paper, shipping almost 80% of news and PAMS from Northern Ireland to Europe.

2011

Relocated to our new facility

In 2011, we relocated to new purpose-built offices in East Kilbride, on the former site of the recycling company John W Hannay. Renting an additional warehouse on the same site later that year, to allow us to bring in deliveries of recovered paper from the local area. This was a significant change as we moved from being brokers of recovered papers to direct suppliers to paper mills.

2013

Expanding our workspace

By 2013 we had taken on more warehouse space to accommodate the increasing volume of materials we were processing. By the end of that year, we had secured a large long term contract with a major paper manufacturer, guaranteeing 10,000 tons of high-grade paper per year.

With significant investment, Highlander took ownership of the former Hannay site at Linwood Avenue on 14th April 2014 with the dream of turning it into a modern recycling facility capable of processing up to 1,000 tons of recovered paper per week. We invested heavily in additional machinery to allow us to continue to grow responsibly and sustainably, and our dream was realised in 2015.

2016

New confidential waste shredding service

Our confidential waste shredding division, Highlander Security Shredding, was created in 2016 and was an instant success. This resulted in an investment of £150,000 to create a fully secure alarmed area complete with secure entry and CCTV camera system to provide the highest standards of security and confidentiality.

2018

New contract wins for Highlander

A significant year for Highlander – winning four major contracts with printers in central Scotland, adding 80 tons per week to our intake volumes overnight and thus cementing our place as the go-to company for printer’s waste recycling in Scotland.

We also invested in our vehicle fleet adding a Moffett Mounty with a rear-mounted forklift, ideal for collecting printers tubs!

2020

Now offering wood recycling

In 2020 we expanded our recycling repertoire to include wood. After witnessing the number of unused pallets just scattered around our local area. We offer wood recycling across central Scotland, focusing on pallets and wooden packaging materials, we hope to expand this to all of Scotland soon.

2021

More growth and investment

Despite a global pandemic, Highlander has not stood still! Since the start of the year, we have secured another large contract with a global packaging company, installed a brand-new baling press and invested in two new trucks and numerous containers.

With anticipated growth in key market segments within the paper recycling industry expected over the next 5 years, Highlander are in a perfect position to serve the Scottish waste paper market for decades!

2023

A Year of ups and downs

With 2 global wars, and the economic climate post COVID, 2023 has seen a very challenging year for both the public, and businesses. We have seen falling volumes, and falling paper prices, however we live to tell the tale with some areas continuing to grow. Jan 2023 saw the installation of a large wood shredder, and the introduction of pallets sales and these will continue to be growth areas for Highlander into 2024 and beyond.

The Highlander story