Names are important

Do you know why asbestos is called asbestos? Apparently, the term was first used in England in the fourteenth century and it came from the Greek meaning inextinguishable or unquenchable.

Over the years I have started a number of businesses.  A challenge is always to think up a good name for the business.
There are a limited number of options when thinking of a company name.  Should it be eponymous – for example Kellogs, Richer Sounds?  Should it be evocative – Apple, Virgin?  Should it be descriptive – the Post Office, Money Supermarket?  Should it be an acronym – KFC, Asda? Should it be a made-up word because none of the other options were viable –  Cadent, Arriva?  

I have always quite liked descriptive names. I wouldn’t dream of naming a business after myself, and acronyms and made up names are difficult to remember.  Evocative names can evoke many different feelings.

Once you have a name inevitably it has already been registered at Companies House or it is impossible to get a sensible domain name – and then you start again.  I imagine these days few entrepreneurs are able to use the name they first thought of.

So is Thermal Recycling a descriptive name?  We do use a thermal process but we do not recycle asbestos.  In fact, we recycle the material once the asbestos has been denatured.  We call this material Calmag because it is made up of, amongst other things, Calcium, Aluminium and Magnesium in the form of sulphates, carbonates, silicates and oxides.  It is unfortunately a made-up name based on an acronym!

Asbestos fibres are carcinogenic so it is impossible to safely recycle asbestos.  I was concerned that the name Thermal Recycling could lead people to thinking that we are recycling asbestos.  We have tried to make it clear on our website that we divert asbestos away from landfill, we convert it into a new substance and we produce a safe product from that substance.  

Thermal Recycling is not a perfect name and is not perfectly descriptive, however we have now grown to rather like it and people do seem to remember it so we have no plans to change it.