Aberystwyth Recycling Centre was established in 1989.
At this time the concept of recycling was unknown to all but a few academics and pressure groups, like Friends of the Earth, and it is from precisely this background that A.R.C. came into existence.
At the time, Friends of the Earth lobbied what was then Dyfed County Council, to provide recycling facilities for the local community. The council were adverse to the idea, considering it a passing fad that would be costly and unnecessary. Friends of the Earth kept up the pressure and nominated members Ged Farnell and Joe Hawthorne to represent them in negotiations with the council.
Intent on doing something positive and constructive, Ged and Joe bought a van which they used to collect newspapers from sympathisers in the area. A Welsh paper recycling company provided a skip each Friday and collected on a Monday, after it had been filled by Ged and Joe over the weekend.
Nationally the recycling lobby was growing. Locally, sympathisers collected signatures to pressure the council into action. This petition was the largest ever presented to the council.
Friends of the Earth sought the help and advice of Professor Cable from U.C.W. and other experts to help put a proposal together to provide a viable recycling facility in Aberystwyth. This was presented to the Ceredigion District Council, but rejected after the council funded (at the cost of £28,000) an alternative report from a waste management company. The company told the council that the report was simplistic, unworkable and impractical, and that land fill was the only answer.
Fired with indignation at this rejection, Ged and Joe funded the beginning of A.R.C. which is now a thriving business, providing a valuable service to businesses and households in North Rural Ceredigion.
Happily, the times have changed over the years and what was once seen as quirky and 'hippy', is now a part of our everyday lives. Recycling, Reduction and Re-use is now enshrined in legislation nationally and locally and what was once a, more or less, adversarial relationship between Ceredigion District Council and A.R.C. is now co-operative.
A.R.C. has contracts with the significant majority of businesses and State services in and around the Aberystwyth area, including the local authority, hospitals and schools. The service that it provides ensures that a significant amount of recyclable materials - paper, glass, card, metal and textiles - are diverted from the commercial and domestic waste stream into useful resources.
The business continues to work both nationally and locally to promote sustainable use of the Earth's resources.