I found my fortune in a plastic cup

The idea of setting up a pencil firm sounds a little behind the times. And making them from plastic cups sounds just plain daft. Yet that’s exactly what Edward Douglas Miller set out to do in 1996…

In the age of email and word processing, the idea of setting up a pencil firm sounds a little behind the times. And deciding to make them from plastic cups sounds just plain daft.

Yet that's exactly what Edward Douglas Miller set out to do in 1996, after several years working for SaveWood, a plastic recycling company. "Using things once and then chucking them in a landfill just didn't make sense to me. So the idea was to take an everyday item like a plastic cup from an office and turn it back into a product that could be used in the office."

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.