Green alternative to land-fill Uses for recycled cargo nets can stretch as far as your imagination as Chesterfield’s Trevor and Jacqueline Johnson are discovering with their new business, T&J Nets and Ropes.  With free business support from the Work for Yourself programme, they are proving that enterprise and environmental protection can go hand in hand. Trevor explained the inspiration behind the new venture: “Our eldest son is a high-rope technician working on the suspension cables for bridges and high buildings that use safety nets to protect both the workers and public.  The nets need to have a torque strength of 2.5 tonnes for safety use and, if they fail the test, they were simply being consigned to land-fill where the polyhemp will take years to break down.  We realised that they could still be perfectly useable in our garden making a run for our chickens and keeping the pigeons off our vegetable patch.  But we also saw a recycling business opportunity and our customers tell us about all the different uses for the nets: wind-breaks and shade awnings, football nets, play apparatus and assault course scramble nets, netting over garden ponds, hammocks and hanging storage, horse hay nets, covers for boats, skips and haulage – the list keeps growing.  The nets can be cut to any size without coming apart.” Trevor was a steward in the Royal Navy until 1989 but was subsequently crushed in a building site accident.  “I had a broken pelvis and lots of muscle damage,” he said, “My mobility was limited and, as I’m getting older, arthritis is setting in.  I did try lots of different jobs but couldn’t manage full days of heavy work.  Not being able to work during the last few years got me down in the dumps and frustrated.  Now I can work at my own pace and work with Jacqueline which we both enjoy.  Running the business has made me much happier as I’m working without pain and making an income rather than being on benefits.  The work helps Jacqueline too as it reduces her high blood pressure condition.  Our son is thrilled that we are making such a success.” The nets weigh around 32kg, measure about 10x12 metres and come in two gauge sizes plus the finer debris mesh.  Impregnated with “sun tan lotion”, they have good resistance to light deterioration.  Trevor also recycles the net ropes which are popular with boating enthusiasts.  Customers can choose from the range of recycled materials on EBAY or at their Shirebrook unit for self-collection or courier delivery.  “We receive over 100 nets each month from just one contractor so you can imagine the scale of the pressure on land-fill from multiple contractors.  We are doing our bit to make things greener with sales all over the UK.” For more information you can visit Trevor’s business facebook page