Meet the ex-Everton midfielder who is helping save the planet and Liverpool businesses money

Every industry has to become sustainable. Football is not exempt.

With there being a finite amount of fossil fuels available and climate change happening in front of our eyes, improvements have to be made.

To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. 

Tom Davies is doing his bit. More than his bit, in fact. The former Everton midfielder is the managing director of ChopValue UK - which launched last week. The aim of the business is simple: to stop chopsticks from going to landfills. 

In the past year, the company has collected five million chopsticks from restaurants in Liverpool and Manchester. Taken to a micro-factory in Speke, they go through a sophisticated process to produce various furniture and decor items for businesses and homes.

The material is harder than maple, stronger than oak and as durable as teak, made to a high specification and have a carbon-zero or carbon-negative footprint. National chain Wagamama is one of the clients ChopValue UK are currently working with, while it is a Community Interest Company that gives some profits back to local people.

It's an interesting business venture for Davies, who last summer departed Everton to join Sheffield United. But it's more than a money-making side project for the 25-year-old. Helping the planet is paramount. Persuaded by his agent and long-time friend Neil Sang to get involved, Davies is excited with what is to come.

"It's still hard to explain the actual concept about everyone to what we do," laughs Davies when speaking to LiverpoolWorld at the launch event. "When Neil told me, I thought he was a bit mad! But I've known him for years, listened to him and eventually saw the product and the quality behind it. I had to get involved straight away, it's incredible what we do and the stuff we're making is really good. 

"I think back on my journey about why I got involved and I've always wanted to live a sustainable life and do my best. It was a bit overwhelming because I wanted to do more but didn't know how I could. Luckily enough, this opportunity came about. It was really about getting involved and doing my bit where I could. Helping the environment is a passion of mine and now I'm getting to turn that passion into an action. Hopefully, it will benefit future generations and tidy up a bit of the world ourselves, which is my goal.

"We compare to wood and are better to some woods. The product is brilliant. We're trying to work with closing a loop with some of the restaurants we recycle from and they're trying to get involved with buying them back for us because there are such good products.

"We're opening today but for the past 4-5 years, I've been working on it behind the scenes with Neil and the guys in the head office in Canada. In the last year, we've just been working on collections and started to get into business ourselves. When we get further into the UK and Ireland, there will be more chopsticks to collect. Our mission is to collect every chopstick in the UK and Ireland. That's our plan. For me, it's great to be doing a passion alongside football, starting a community and making a difference in the world. 

"In football, sustainability is to be looked at. Football boots (changing them frequently), we're taking on fluids which involve plastics, they are things I'm always curious about. If I can change some ideas and get into something similar in football then I'd love to. But it does make me feel good. I'm doing my bit where I can and will continue to do so."

But has Davies' attitude towards the environment had an impact on some of his team-mates? 

"I'd like to hope so," he adds. "Sustainability is a passion of mine. Climate change and the environment, I've always loved being in nature. I'm doing some work with Save Our Soil because that's another thing, soil is dying basically and where our food comes from. It's something I'm really passionate about. 

"If it makes a footballer to go and do it or find they're something they're passionate about then they can make something out of it to do some good."

Davies made his Everton debut aged 17 and is the youngest player to captain the club at 20 years and 60 days. In total, he made 179 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring seven times - the most famous when he was still 17 in a 4-0 win over Manchester City.

But after breaking into the Toffees' first team, it was quickly established he wasn't your average footballer. Davies has been heavily involved in homeless and mental health charities along with Everton in the Community. And it wasn't a shock to see him skateboarding through Liverpool city centre while he could be easily spotted by his flamboyant fashion choices and long hair.

Sang, a director of ChopValue UK, is immensely proud of what's been achieved by his client.

"I always have the stance that the human being is first but Tom just happens to be really good at football,” says Sang. “The reason I pushed him with it is because when football is done, what is your identity? The lads who identify as footballers can really struggle afterwards because once it's done, they struggle after the game.

"I struggle to see that. I'm an empathetic person and want them to be well. But when I look at Tom and they give him stick about this, that and the other, we just have a little giggle because they're putting attention on him. He's his own man. He's a non-conformist in a non-confrontational way. 

"He's not out there lauding it, he's not flashing money and driving flash cars. It's part of it. It's a hard city and if you're a little bit different, the city can sometimes want to give you a bit of stick. Why I admire Tom is as a human, he's done all of his homeless work, mental health work, doing a sustainability business - he wanted this as a Community Interest Company - and hiring locally. He's still unbelievably proud to be from Liverpool and unbelievably proud to do his bit for the community. You couldn't admire him any more. 

"We've got plans to do stuff around the UK, especially London then maybe between Edinburgh and Glasgow, down the North East and maybe Yorkshire - it might be Sheffield as it's his new home. The reason it's important geographically is when you're hiring locally, manufacturing locally, you're distributing locally and your carbon footprint comes down further. If we get an order from a national client and they want it to a restaurant in Leeds, the local factory would deliver it.

"We go to the Asian restaurants and it's a compelling argument. Instead of throwing them in their bin, they throw them in ours and we'll collect them. The benefits for them are great because a lot of Gen Z and the younger population who want to go into restaurants will consider their own purchasing choices through companies that are more sustainable. 

"It's a nice PR piece for them but the tangible benefit is that if they close the loop with us, we'll give them discounts on products bought back. But it also gives them a tangible benefit on waste management charges. I spoke to a restaurant in Liverpool, a really prominent one and they've said waste management charges have gone down by around £800 a month. Now, that's a not fortune but it's something - it's something he doesn't have to worry about because we do it all.”

For more information, visit www.chopvalue.co.uk.