😲 You Won't Believe What This Dad Did With Over 862 MILLION Plastic Straws 🥤

What do 862 million plastic straws have to do with driveways?

When Johnny Pearce saw plastic waste building up along the beaches near his home, he couldn’t shake the feeling—especially as a dad—of wanting to set a better example.

He already had a successful business. But what if that business could be part of the solution? In this episode, we talk to Johnny, co-founder of Oltco, the company behind Recycle Bound—the world’s first driveway solution made using recycled plastic waste.

What started as a personal mission to become a better role model became a ground-breaking innovation in sustainable construction. Just one standard driveway using Recycle Bound repurposes the equivalent of 150,000 plastic straws.

That’s over 50 years’ worth of plastic bottle recycling from a single household!

Here’s what you’ll hear:

✔️How multiple tests and persistence finally paved the way for Recycle Bound – Oltco’s most durable system ever

✔️How Oltco is dealing with ocean waste head-on

✔️Why more businesses are going green—and what that means for the future If you care about eco-friendly construction, smart business moves, and real-world innovation, don’t miss this conversation.

Transcript

UK Construction Blog Podcast - Interview with Johnny from Oltco

Host: Thanks for joining me today on the UK Construction Blog podcast. How are you doing?

Johnny: Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. Thanks for having me as well. I love doing these things. It's, and it's good to be on this one. I've been wanting to do this.

Host: Awesome. Top man. Johnny, you're one of the directors of Oltco. Can you give us a quick background on Oltco and what it is you guys do?

Johnny: Yeah, so Oltco is a company that's 20 years old. Myself and my business partner Tom and a very good friend. We specialize in flooring went into resin flooring and we then approached into the resin bow market.

One of the main reasons of why we wanted to do that is that we were nationwide at the time and we wanted to scale the business back down to Cornwall because we were, we're both having young families and we wanted to not be those dads that were away all the time. We, one of our main focuses is we wanted to be a good dad and resin bound made us sell to the domestic market so we could sell to anyone.

And that's Natural Stones, mix of resins. And it's a decorative system that goes on to driveways, pathways, patios. So you could sell to anyone. We live by the beach. And we are very conscious especially like over the years of plastic pollution that coming into play. And we wanted to find, can we find a way to reuse recycled plastics?

Could we put it into the resin band system? Was it possible? We essentially had two years of failure to do that. Nearly give up. But we had a eureka moment when we got some tests back where it was the strongest system that we've ever tested. We were using that, those waste plastics that are already in circulation and that was the key.

And then that went one way you can imagine that really flew. And then we franchised the business. And here we are with 55 franchisees around the UK.

Host: That's awesome. Wow. That couldn't have been an easy journey and it never is. I'm thinking of what I've discovered as well, making money or building a business, there is no quick fix. There is no easy way to do it.

Johnny: Absolutely. It's consistency and being extremely patient. Working really hard and making sure you have the right people around you and you, and you might just get that time.

Host: Yeah, absolutely. No, I think with everything that I've been involved, it's taken at least twice the amount of time, twice the amount of effort, twice the amount of headaches, then I ever, probably, even four times on all of those factors on absolutely every part of the business.

Johnny: Yeah. I can completely relate. You have a vision, you know where you want it to be. The vision's the most important thing. If you can see it, it can happen, but always takes a, it always takes a lot longer than you think it does.

Host: Yeah. When you're developing products like what were the kind of challenges you had?

Johnny: The challenges was actually, believe it or not, is getting recycled plastic.

Host: Is it really? You've beaten me to my next question. Was gonna ask you, is that actually an issue?

Johnny: So as you getting the plastic material it was a very difficult process to do because essentially the product that you get is essentially filthy and horrible. So then what you need to do, and what we needed to do was find a pro machinery and processes where we grinded it down to a certain level that we needed to be. It then needed to be actually cleaned, but more importantly, it needed to go into a drying system. So then what that does, it creates a cost.

And people love the sound of recycling and recycled products, but then when it costs more money, they and are about. I'm an are about the system. It costs us more money to make recycle bound, but we made a conscious decision to charge the same amount of money as resin bound.

Host: Oh, you kidding? Oh, that's awesome.

Johnny: And we managed to do that and it wasn't easy and it still isn't easy and we still get those challenges, but it really reverts back to the why on, why we were doing this. Because the resin bound thing was great, but it didn't have any purpose.

You need to have a purpose. So this gave like a new lease of life for me, and I just look at it as it's part of our marketing budget because, and our training budget and our staff retention budget, because everyone in the business relates to it and we all have a common goal - we're trying to do something better and it's not just about making money.

Host: Yeah. No, that's awesome. Absolutely. Congratulations on where you've got to so far. I was having a read up before this call and it sounds like you're working with some great clients like the Eden Project and the RHS Gardens.

Johnny: Yeah, the RHS Gardens. Before a few times. That's all. And I'd probably say like most of the major brands on the High Street we've worked with, and I think it's what's becoming and talking about, trends and what's happening now.

If you are not thinking about recycling and the environment in terms of how you do things within your business, you are gonna struggle in the future because it is definitely becoming a real key decision maker for these buyers. They want these sort of products. We saw that a few years back. We took action, we put it into play. Now we're seeing the fruits of our labor, if you like. People are finding it and they get excited about it and go, yeah, that ticks that box and actually moneywise it works as well.

Host: Lovely, lovely. That's awesome. I read an incredible stat on your website, so you've recycled the equivalent of 500 million plastic straws.

Johnny: I think that needs updating. I think that is gonna be dramatically up this year has been I think quite a tricky year for everyone in industry. We had a good couple of boom years. Everyone did, especially after during Covid and after Covid to a certain extent. But, we have, we've ticked along and I thought we wasn't as busy, but we are running about 20% up on last year.

Host: Perfect. Which is fantastic. So that's, that definitely needs updating. Yeah. No. Gotta get your web developer onto that, I think. So you mentioned about struggling with the actual plastic material. So where are you actually getting the recycled plastic material from? Is this sourced within the UK?

Johnny: It's sourced in the UK and it goes through recycling plants. And it's a byproduct of that. So that was the probably the easiest bit. The hardest bit is actually creating a process for that product to go through. That's the clean, the grinding, the cleaning, and the drying.

I still look back on those days and go, how the hell did we come up with that and do that? Because it was really difficult. It's there now and it's all packed. It's all in bags and it goes out with everyone's orders and it's seamless and it works.

Host: And so you developed that in house. Did you then, so you buy the recycled plastic material from the as a byproduct. And then you take that in-house and you guys process all that yourself, do all the cleaning?

Johnny: So when it was at a smaller stage, we would do it in that way. But because of the sheer size of it now it now gets contracted out to someone else to do those processes for us.

Host: Okay. Cool. That's one of the byproducts of being a success.

Johnny: Yeah. As soon as you think that you've done it and you've made it you just come to these different challenges and one of them is growing and growth and manufacturing and teams, and you have to adapt really quickly to accommodate that. Or you can get to these stuff of not just over trading in terms of money, because when people grow, they over trade and they can't manage their cash flow correctly. The others is actually manufacturing and delivering the product. So you're not going short if you like.

Host: Yeah. No, I can imagine. Is there any kind of specific plastic waste that you guys are using primarily? Or can you use any type of plastic waste? You mentioned plastic straws.

Johnny: Plastic bottles, yeah. The majority is plastic food packaging. So it's straws, bottles and it's the stuff that you can't reuse.

And then we've developed a product called Recycled Base. And recycled base is a grid system that we infill it with ocean waste. So that is literally stuff that's come out the ocean, grind it up, and that goes into a concrete mix into the grid, mesh system. And then over the course of time, if it were to be dug up and redone again. You can grind that up and reuse it.

Host: Oh, really? So it can be reused multiple times then?

Johnny: Yeah.

Host: Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. And so the actual, so you're getting waste from the ocean, like what's the actual process of that there, I ask?

Johnny: Yeah partnerships and working with companies that are doing that. So we've worked with Odyssey X with Exeter council that they've helped us in terms of their processing. So you find when you are going on a mission like this you meet people in the same sort of bracket. Not just construction and building and resin, but in environmental.

And it was actually a guy that we met at an award ceremony and we were both going up for the same award for the great British entrepreneur. And we got along amazing. And he formed a company called Odyssey that collects the waste and he uses it to create different products. But there was a certain part of it that he couldn't use. So we're still working on that and still trying to make that.

But that's one of the systems that potentially cost you more than put into traditional ground system. So for that to be chosen, you've gotta really believe in what we're doing, which is a great thing for the world.

Host: That's now not such a common site within the UK. Fortunately since the legislation change and everything like that, I was wondering whether you're actually sourcing the plastic from outside of the UK to actually fulfill your needs?

Johnny: No, so like the straw thing, it's funny 'cause like we use, we call it the equivalent of straws because it helps people understand what it looks like. So it's a mixture of food packaging bottles and was straws. We, like you say, we don't see straws anymore, but if we said, oh, this driveway contains one ton of recycled plastic, like people, they just, they won't know what that looks like or that sounds like. If you say, like you said, 500 million straws, you can visualize what that looks like.

And you go, oh, wow. So that was the whole sort of reasoning by that. We did, we have had some customers go, is it only stores that you recycle? But, and I can understand why they do say that, but hope that explains that.

Host: No, absolutely. I understand what it you're doing. What you're exactly. And like how would it compare to more traditional kind of surfacing materials? Like you mentioned, obviously the cost for yourself is increased, but you're actually managing to sell the product at the same price, which is, that's amazing. But what about the actual kind of the, I dunno, say the maintenance, the durability of it, surface finishes, things like that.

Johnny: So one of the main things with this product is that it's SUDS compliant. And it's completely porous if you deliver the right base as well. So the surface of the recycle bound, water can go straight through, it like a sponge. So if you put a grid system or you put a porous concrete or a base tarmac. Then essentially what will happen, the water goes straight through and drains, drains into the ground.

Which I think for the UK and the government are looking at this sort of stuff that even if you - I think it's the only system that you don't need planning permission to extend your driveway really.

Host: Yes. Because of the flooding issue.

Johnny: So that is, I would say, one of the main benefits for consumers and for example, architects. And when they're specking up these projects. That it's completely porous as a system. In terms of durability it's up there if installed correctly with the likes of tarmac and block paving and what have you.

And then cost wise where you can have a real cost saving is when there's an existing old hard surface in place. So if you were to put brick paving down, for example, do you have to dig it all up? Re-put the hardcore down and then the sand and put your block paving down. Whereas this, you could go straight over. The only time you would go straight over is number one. You know it's stable enough. And number two, the water is draining in the right manner. In the right ways, if that makes sense. 'cause if it's puddling and it's all over the place, there's no point doing it, if that makes sense.

Host: Yeah. No, totally. Yeah.

Johnny: On in Valencia and everything of late, this is it. And the government are definitely on it and they're recognizing it. I think the future will hold that. If you don't have a porous system it's either gonna be difficult for you to put it down or they're gonna tax. And that's still the way it's going.

The other benefits of resin as well is massive range of colors. UV stable. It's very decorative, very anti-slip. So it's really versatile in so many different environments.

Host: Awesome. And it doesn't, there's no restrictions by using the recycled product on the actual kind of the surface finishes and colors and things?

Johnny: Nope. Still achieve the same range of yeah.

Host: I used to work in more on the manufacturing side in the automotive industry. What we used to find is we're trying to use recycled products and say like dashboards in the interiors of cars, but the surface finish would end up causing issues. So you get lots of slight defects visually in the actual surface finish. So yeah, what we ended up having to do was only use them for the parts you can't see really.

Johnny: Yeah. With the plastic, it almost acts like a bonding agent, so it's almost a small flake that it creates more of a contact point between the stone and fine sands and makes it more compact and more, more solid. So that's how we got our strength testing to be it, to be the strongest.

And if you think about it, plastic in the environment is a nightmare. And because it's really strong and hard to get rid of.

Host: Yeah. Yeah.

Johnny: So if you utilize it in the correct manner, in the right ways, it's a fantastic product.

Host: Yeah. It's an amazing product. That's why it's everywhere. But it's what we do with it at the end of its lifestyle. That's the issue. We don't wanna be making any more of the stuff. We wanna be reusing the stuff that's already out there.

Johnny: Yeah. If you think about it, it's an incredible resource we've got, which is at the minute, it's just a headache. I think even extracting the oil and stuff, like one day we'll be looking at this as a huge resource in the world.

Host: Yeah. Did you struggle in the early not necessarily even the early days, but do you struggle to get actual first adopters to actually try the product and things?

Johnny: I thought any kind of presentation, I honestly, I thought this was gonna be our biggest challenge was the first adoption stage. I really did. And I think that our PR agency did a really good job at the time and we were hitting national press. And it got out very quickly, but what it was very easy to convert existing customers 'cause they were coming for the resin bound product. And then we would show, this is recycle bound. This is what Recycle Bound does, and it's the same price.

So it got traction very quickly. But then what we were getting is big hotels, like good brand hotels and theme parks were wanting people to see that they were using products like this. So once you've won the contract, at the end of the day, you've done a path in a hotel. Who cares? It's a path in a hotel. Who cares? What this all what this did, it made it a very newsworthy story for them and their consumers. So they would use Oltco and then all of a sudden they're putting it all over their social media.

And they're putting it in their newsletter. And look what we've done and look how many stores that we've recycled. So that's how it created the early adoption stage and we creeped into this mass production stage a lot quicker than I expected.

Host: Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Self marketing almost because of the benefits. That's great. Yeah. That's great. It's awesome to hear and like very encouraging to hear of innovation such as this within the UK construction industry. You hear a lot of horror stories about the construction industry and what you guys are doing. So like I know you guys are doing you've got the franchise model now yeah. What do you see for the future of Oltco? Have you got any further plans? Just keep on doing what you're doing or anything you want in the pipeline?

Johnny: Yeah, like our network at the moment I've always looked at, we were, we wanted numbers through the doors. And I've learned that quality over quantity is so far superior. The guys we have in our network are a really good set of guys, and I think it's gonna become harder to get into the Oltco network because there's a lot more criteria that we wanna see for them to come into the network.

So I think the existing franchisees, their areas will grow. Their turnover will grow. We've got, for example, we've got two brothers, they're going into their third year and they're gonna hit a million pound turnover.

Host: Wow.

Johnny: Yeah. And it is just, for me, it's like one of the most exciting things to help someone get from A to B. But franchising is a funny thing. You've got all these tools and stuff, but the person who's doing the franchisee, it's still their business. They've gotta still dig deep, they've gotta work really hard. They need to understand, the fundamentals of business.

As we move forward, there are things going on in the background that I would say within the five years we'll be in New Zealand, Australia, and America.

Host: Really? That's amazing. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. That's great stuff. As I say, I think what you're doing is it's inspiring. It's great to hear about innovations in the UK construction industry. Yeah. We look forward to sharing your story. I appreciate your time as well. Keep doing what you are doing. 'cause I think it's amazing for UK construction, it's something that needed to be done. And I hope you can share, not just the good stuff, the bad stuff as well. 'cause people need to be educated. But I'm hoping that, it's all going the right direction for the UK construction.

Johnny: Yeah, hopefully mate. Hopefully.

Host: And so if any of our listeners wanna find out more about your company and what you guys are doing, where's it best for them to find you?

Johnny: I would say hit up the Oltco website and whether you wanna know about the product itself or becoming a franchisee, potentially go and check it out there and it will take you to where you need to go.