PROPERTY supremo Chris Oglesby is challenging landlords and businesses across Greater Manchester to `radically increase' their recycling.

The chief executive of Bruntwood has thrown down the gauntlet after taking the unprecedented move of committing his company to recycling a minimum of 65 per cent of the waste generated from their office buildings over the next year.

From October, all of Bruntwood's customers will be able to sort and recycle their office waste at no extra cost as part of the company's innovative new recycling scheme.

This scheme will see 10,000 recycling bins placed in all of Bruntwood's customer's office suites in conjunction with guidance manuals, promotional material and a managed collections.

Mr Oglesby said: "Of the 75 buildings Bruntwood own in Manchester, we manage the waste for 42 and we estimate that each year in the region of 2,000 tones of waste - the equivalent of 222 double-decker busses - is sent from these buildings to landfill. By working with our customers, Bruntwood's aim is to be recycling 65 per cent of this waste within one year. That's 1,300 tonnes - or 144 double-decker buses of waste - that will be recycled rather than sent to landfill.

"Many businesses see recycling as being costly and time consuming but Bruntwood's recycling scheme is easy, efficient and economical.

"I believe that it is vitally important that companies now choose to tackle the growing problem of recycling head-on and I would encourage all landlords and large companies to strive towards the recycling rates we aim to achieve."

The company has also calculated that if it successfully recycles 65 per cent of its waste, it will cut its landfill gas emissions by 44 per cent over the next three years.

This is the equivalent of taking 2,416 cars off the road or recycling 2,944 tonnes of paper.

Bruntwood's recycling scheme aims to protect its customers from future price hikes linked to `landfill tax' by enabling them to recycle their waste instead.

In contrast, with waste disposal companies, Bruntwood's scheme will also measure recycling by weight rather than volume - meaning its customers will not be overcharged for its disposal.

Mr Oglesby added: "We are the first commercial property company to be measuring waste in this way.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises can lack the internal resources and capacity to establish and manage a recycling scheme, as there will not usually be a dedicated member of staff responsible for environmental management initiatives.

"We intend to provide recycling as part of our waste management contract for customers and there is no extra cost for participating.

"In fact, the more we recycle the more protected our customers will be from rising landfill taxes."