The Midland Waste Manufacturing Co Ltd was started by a Mr A. Stranger before the First World War, and mainly supplied engine cleaning waste to H. M. forces.
At the time rag wipers were very little used. This state of affairs continued until 1923 when Mr A. H. Smith bought the business. Then an expansion into rags took place, so much so that today, there are very small quantities of engine cleaning waste manufactured. The business progressed and between 1935-1945 almost the whole production was geared to the war effort. After the war all the contacts had to be renewed as our agents had been in the forces and it took a little time to return to a reasonable footing.
Up until this time all wipers had been packed into bags of generally 1cwt., which were both cumbersome and not always too clean, and we were one of the innovators in introducing packing in 28lb and 56lb cartons. A great improvement at the time.
In 1962 Mr A. H. Smith passed away and his two sons, Mr W. M. Smith and Mr J. H. Smith became joint Managing Directors. Both had been in the business for a number of years.
In 1965 Mr T. H. Smith, son of Mr W. M. Smith joined the company and became a Director in 1974, sadly in 1980 Mr W. M. Smith died. During 1981 Mr M. E. Smith the son of Mr J. H. Smith also joined the company.
In the mid-seventies many of our customers became disenchanted with the cardboard cartons as they were heavy and expensive. Careful research of the then current market led us to become the first company to press pack 10kg nett weight packs. We were and still are therefore able to meet the needs of all our customers. Whether they require 10kg nett weight packs or 12.5 kg – 20kg gross weight cartons.
In 1975 the name ‘waste’ had a different connotation to that when it was first used in the name of the company – waste disposal and waste paper as two examples – hence the name change in that year.
We are proud to be known for our personal contact with our customers, 95% of our goods are delivered nationwide, by our own fleet of transport and any queries from customers are dealt with personally by the Directors.
Mr M. E. Smith became a Sales Director of the company in April 1990. In 1991 we were appointed main distributors for the Johnson and Johnson Chicopee range of industrial and hygiene wipers; we have found these to be a very positive addition to our existing lines. In 1996 Johnson and Johnson (Chicopee) Ltd changed its name to PGI Chicopee Ltd.
In March 1992 we obtained our quality management certification for BS EN ISO 9002:1994
In 1993 Mr R. Smith, son of Mr T. H. Smith joined the company thus continuing the family tradition.