Thanks to his sister, Matthew Pardoe-Williams, 28, spotted a gap in the market when it comes to storing unsightly and smelly recyclable material at home...

CONVERT, the name of our bins, makes recycling easy and makes it look good - that's always been the motivation behind our product and is the very reason the idea was born.

In 1999 I was visiting my sister in Portsmouth.

Her council wanted recyclable waste to be separated from normal waste so she hung carrier bags outside her kitchen and sorted the rubbish like that.

It struck me that this was inconvenient, as she had to step outside each time, and it was also unattractive.

The more houses I visited, I noticed there was no simple, stylish method for collecting recyclables and I knew I had identified a market.

In 2000 I quit my job and set up a company, Tempestivo, in my home city, Winchester.

Between working shifts at the pub I set about raising finance to develop and patent the idea. I won a Department of Trade and Industry SMART grant and then sold a small stake in the company to pay for all further developments.

Starting out was tough but over the last two years the company has grown considerably and we expect to shatter our sales targets this year.

Our customers now include several large banks, universities and local authorities ranging from the Hebrides in Scotland to the south coast, including one of the more progressive councils here in Hampshire.

I am very passionate about my company, both in business and in the way we can benefit the environment. I would love the government to take its environmental responsibilities as seriously as some of our European neighbours - Britain faces a £180m fine every year the government fails to meet EU recycling targets.

I don't necessarily blame the population for this shortfall. The vast majority I talk to would like to recycle - they just want it to be easy, and that's where we come in.

Our bins cost £14.99 each and are available in various colours. Each unit has a 37-litre capacity, enough for 15 bottles of wine, two weeks' worth of newspapers or 50 aluminium cans.

Three units provide enough storagefor all the recyclables generated by the average four-person household for a week.

For more information go to: www.convertbin.com