Richard Branson congratulates Absorb graduate on his “recycled chock”

At an award ceremony in London, Richard Branson personally congratulated Certificate IV graduate in On-Site Environmental Management Les Payne on his innovative “recycled chock”.

Based in Brisbane, Les is the OHSE Compliance Manager for Virgin Australia.

For those who don’t know, “aircraft chocks” are those triangular blocks that are placed under plane tyres when they are parked to keep them in one place.

Generally “chocks” are made from new plastic materials such as polyurethane, but Les saw an opportunity and encouraged a local manufacturer to make the chocks from recycled polyethylene, which is commonly derived from recycled plastic milk bottles.

We love the practicality of this environmentally conscious solution, which is now in service at the Brisbane airport.

While we can’t take credit for Les’ ingenuity, we hope our course provided him with a little “inspiration”.