Whilst listening to a Radio 4 podcast on the lack of lending by banks to SMEs, I came across the story of a firm called 2K Manufacturing. The broadcast was about the firm's difficulty in securing a loan from a major UK bank in order to expand the production of their Ecosheet product; It was this Ecosheet that really caught my attention.

2K Manufacturing's Ecosheet is an environmentally-friendly alternative to plywood. By using low-grade post-consumer waste plastic products 2K are not only keeping this waste from the incinerator or land-fill but also reducing the need for imported plywood.

Mainly used in building & construction, hoarding etc Ecosheet has many other advantages over plywood:

• Generally lighter than plywood
• As strong as plywood
• Similar cost to plywood
• Ecosheet is impervious to rain & damp so it can be stored outdoors, weathers really well and can be jet-washed!
• It is made in standard sizes
• Both sides of Ecosheet are "A" faces (whereas plywood has just one)
• Ecosheet can be recycled at the end of its own useful life
• Ergo it is a totally sustainable solution

Just take a look at Ecosheet around the refurbishment of Marks & Spencer in Stall Street, Bath; The hoardings have been vinyl-wrapped with graphics but the installation is totally weatherproof and sustainable.

So builders, construction firms, civil engineers etc... It's well worth checking out the green alternative to plywood. I hope the big DIY and builders merchants start stocking this product too - it keeps low-grade plastic waste out of land-fill and the incinerator, it stops trees from being cut to supply demand for plywood and it is good for the environment and 2K Manufacturing, a UK small business.