Rabbit ornaments are a breed apart

Patch the rabbit is helping Luke Sweeting turn waste cement, Regen and concrete into garden ornaments to give a charity a fundraising boost. The technical assistant was looking for a way of reducing the Scunthorpe laboratory’s landfill use when he came up with the idea of recycling some of the material into garden items. 

“Patch was the first mould I bought to try,” says Luke, who used his own money and time to see if the waste from the team’s quality testing could be re-used. 

“With some trial and error on the mix, it worked so I bought some more moulds. To gauge interest and recoup what I’d spent, I sold a few of the rabbits to friends and a colleague suggested doing more to donate to The Forge Project.” 

Spare time permitting, Luke and the team make ornaments for the charity, which supports the homeless and vulnerable in north Lincolnshire, to sell to help fundraising. 

Lab manager Callum Allison praises Luke’s “fantastic” idea: “Not only does it benefit the charity, but it helps us be more sustainable by putting some of our waste to good use.”