Assistance provided by HIE Moray is helping a Moray business expand and develop in a £130,000 environmental project.

Grays Recycling, which is operated by Kenny Gray and Stevie Gray, started in business last year providing a waste recycling service for a variety of clients including construction companies and households.

Recently, Kenny spotted an opportunity to expand the services provided with the purchase of a specialised waste shredder. The new machine which is capable of shredding both timber and general wastes is seen by him as the key to the company's future growth, allowing it to process greater volumes whilst reducing overheads.

He said: "Undertaking this development will reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill by 20 per cent. It will also allow non standard green waste to be processed, which increases the value of compost when passed on to customers.

"Shredding waste rather than land filling is also much more cost and environmentally effective which in turn helps increase our margins."

The £130,000 cost of the waste shredder was funded with a contribution of £19,500 from HIE Moray.

Martin Johnson, head of operations at HIE Moray said: "With greater targets for recycling, the market for composting and recycling in general is likely to grow in the future. Grays Recycling has identified the potential and is keen to maximise the business benefits of this sector."