Paul Barnes founded Oatley Resources in January 2012, initially operating it from the family home in Lancashire. Prior to setting up Oatley Resources, Paul had spent 2 years establishing and growing a new UK-based trading business on behalf of a large Australian packaging & recycling company.
From humble beginnings, Oatley Resources has steadily grown to become a well-known and trusted recovered commodities trading business in the UK with an established and experienced core team of staff and contractors.
Oatley Resources specialises in buying a wide range of plastics, fibre, glass and metals from suppliers and loading sites across the UK and selling to reprocessors and other customers in the UK and across the world - including mainland Europe, Turkey, India and the Far East. We are a registered waste broker – both with the Environment Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency - and also hold accreditations issued by the Environment Agency for the export of 4 categories of packaging waste – plastic, fibre, steel and aluminium.
Our registrations and accreditations can be found in our library of company documents.
Paul and his wife of 24 years Sonja own Oatley Resources in the UK. While Paul grew up in Lancashire, Sonja is Australian-born. We were married in Sydney and our 3 children – Jack, Georgia & Sophie – were all born in Australia. In fact the name Oatley comes from the Sydney suburb where we lived for many years. We have more than our fair share of personal experience in logistics having moved the family and our worldly belongings between Australia and England in 2010, 2016 and 2017!
Oatley Resources in Australia
In 2016, Paul founded Oatley Resources Australia with long-time friend and former work colleague Mark Christie. Mark was raised in Scotland, spent time working in Germany before settling in Sydney in the 1990’s. The business has grown quickly since its inception and our global customers recognise our ability to source products from Australia, the UK or both. Oatley Resources Australia now consists of a team of 6 staff and contractors.
Oatley Resources in the EU
Ahead of the end of the Brexit Transition period in December 2020, Paul also established Oatley Resources BV in the Netherlands. The company was set up to ensure the smooth flow of products from the UK to EU customers, as well as providing a platform to develop future EU-based business.
With the Oatley businesses maintaining and developing a global network of suppliers and customers, focussed on strong, sustainable relationships, we can truly offer global recycling solutions for all of our clients.
Our Services
Suppliers
We purchase plastics, fibre, metals and glass products from UK sites, helping suppliers meet quality standards and paying premium prices for products. Our compliance system gives suppliers peace of mind that their products are recycled at licenced reprocessors.
Customers
From our network of UK suppliers, we procure specific products and qualities for each of our customers – whether they are based in the UK, mainland Europe or further afield in India, USA or the Far East. Our inspection processes ensure that customers have confidence that they will receive the products and quality that they ordered.
Logistics & Export Documentation Services
Some suppliers and customers prefer to deal direct with each other, but need specialist assistance on transport and shipping, arranging export documentation, loading and pre-loading inspections and environmental compliance.
Products We Trade
Plastic
We handle a wide range of baled plastic bottle and film grades, bulk bags, polystyrene and specification regrinds and pellets, connecting UK suppliers with domestic and overseas customers.
Fibre
Whether its bulk quantities of cardboard and mixed papers, or more specialist grades such as cores, kraft sacks, or tissue scrap, we can give you a secure solution for your buying or selling needs.
Glass & Metals
We handle various grades and qualities of sorted steel and aluminium cans from household recycling, as well as glass from post-industrial and post-consumer sources.