AN eco-conscious business owner has slammed the council for opting against recycling thousands of concrete slabs in favour of sending them to the crusher.

Karl Dixon has owned and managed A and D Reclaim, in Sladbury’s Lane, Clacton, for the past ten years.

Mr Dixon specialises in reusing and repurposing almost anything he can get his hands on in a bid to stop it from being disposed of and damaging the environment.

The dedicated collector, whose overflowing unit of varied items has been described as an Aladdin’s Cave, has now lambasted Essex County Council's approach to recycling.

According to Mr Dixon, a contractor working on behalf of the authority offered him more than 9,000 slabs of concrete which have been ripped up in Bedford Road.

He offered to purchase them for 50p a slab, to save them from being chucked away.

But Mr Dixon said after calculating the cost of transporting 4,000 squared metres of concrete to his yard, the council has instead decided to take the bulk to the crusher.

Mr Dixon argues he could have technically prevented another 9,000 more slabs from having to be made, because he would have resold them to someone who needed them.

He also says the authority is acting hypocritically and does not practise what it preaches when it comes to working towards a better environment.

He said: “I am furious about it because why are they getting rid of so many concrete slabs which could be reused?

“Think about how much diesel is going to be needed to get rid of that many slabs – it is seriously going to damage the environment and I can't believe it.

“It just doesn’t make sense; it is madness and it is horrific.

“You are talking about 400 pallets of concrete slabs.

“It is absolutely criminal in my opinion because I could have stopped another 9,000 slabs from having to be made.

“The council preaches about being environmentally friendly and recycling, but it doesn’t seem like they are doing it themselves.”

A spokesman for Essex Highways said the slabs are being replaced as many have cracked, but they will now look to work with A and D Reclaim.

They said: “Our scheme manager has not been contacted by the reclaim company, but he will now talk to our contractor to see if a commercial arrangement can be made with them.

"We certainly have no objection to the company re-purposing any undamaged slabs - that seems a very sensible idea, avoiding unnecessary waste.”