Meet Nenad Denkov. Nenad is the Scotland Business Manager for UniGreenScheme – the asset resale service for universities.
UniGreenScheme’s mission is very simple. They want to help UK universities reduce waste, consume resources sustainably, and enable research organisations to thrive in an increasingly resource-constrained world.
Heathhall branch serving Scotland
The Dumfries branch of UniGreenScheme was established to serve northern England and Scottish universities, and Nenad recently joined the team from a background in hospitality and security industries. Originally from Serbia, Nenad moved to Scotland with his family in 2008, having been employed in Belgrade.
A typical week for Nenad is a busy mix of office based work, processing orders and proposals, and collecting equipment from universities across the country.
Circular Economy
“What we do here at UniGreenScheme really embodies the so-called circular economy. Universities often have lab and other equipment for specific research or other projects, often for a set period of time. When that project reaches its end, they’re left with often really high value equipment that they literally can’t give away, due to the potential liability of the equipment failing in some way. What we do is remove the risk from the educational institution, help them free up space in their buildings and save them time by handling the removal, processing and onward distribution of the equipment”
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Zero Waste Scotland encourages innovation that supports re-use. Although often confused, re-use and recycling are not the same. Re-use of products and materials is more beneficial as it retains a product’s value by keeping it in use for longer. This minimises waste, creates jobs, has positive social impact and reduces consumption and associated carbon impacts. Some of the equipment collected by UniGreenScheme is as new and barely used, with plenty of life left. They often tend to be bulky items.
Great location at Heathhall Business Centre
“We’ve quickly outgrown our space here at Heathhall Business Centre, and it’s such a great location for us in every way, with links to arterial routes up and down the country, that we’ve just moved to much bigger units on the estate, at Units 4 and 5 on Bomber Harris Green”