Carden Park Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa has invested in a new high tech glass crusher, which uses a series of hammers to crush the bottles into very fine sand instantaneously. The result is a substance soft enough to touch and ideal for spreading on its roughs, fairways and tees to maximise drainage.
It’s believed to be the only resort in the UK to recycle all of its surplus glass on site for use on its own golf courses.
General Manager Hamish Ferguson said: “We produce up to 30 tonnes of glass every year at Carden Park. It was costing us £200 a week to have the glass taken away to be recycled and even more to bring in the equivalent amount of sand for use on the golf courses.
“It seemed like the ideal solution to invest in an on-site recycling system, which would cut out the middle man and be kinder to the environment in the process.”
The journey begins inside the four-star 196-bedroom hotel, where hundreds of guests enjoy a drink in one of the resort’s restaurants, bars, conference suites or golf clubhouse every week. The empty bottles are collected and placed in recycling bins from where they are carried every lunch time to the glass crushing machine nicknamed ‘Gnashers’.
The bottles are fed into the contraption, labels and all, and the spinning hammers pound the glass into a delicate powder, which is then collected in a tray ready to transport in wheel barrows to the golf courses.
Carden Park boasts two championships golf courses on its 1,000 acre estate – the Nicklaus Course, designed by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and his son Steve, and the Cheshire Course. Each requires year-round care from a dedicated team of 18 ground staff and in excess of 100 tonnes of sand to increase surface aeration
The specialist crusher cost £12,000 and produces a finer quality ‘sand’ than the hotel can import.
“The sand is fine enough to be scattered easily on the green surrounds, roughs and walk offs and spreads nicely between the block paving,” Hamish added. “As an added bonus it tends to have a green tint to it because many of the recycled bottles are green so it blends very well with the grass.”
Carden Park is working hard to reduce its carbon footprint. Its recycling scheme is part of a larger corporate social responsibility agenda, which includes sourcing much of its produce and services locally, use of efficient power sources for its vehicles, such as electric golf buggies, and significantly reducing its energy and water consumption.
Carden Park www.cardenpark.co.uk
‘Sand’ is used on the Cheshire Course at Carden Park, one of the resort’s two championship golf courses, along with the Nicklaus Course.