right place, right time, right way

600 436 In Good Company | Northern Rivers
wrightway products logo

Wrightway Products

6 Taylor St, South Lismore, NSW 2480

www.wrightwayproducts.com.au

Visit Lismore Northern Rivers-01
right place, right time, right way

The greatest challenge for Jennifer Joy and John Donnelly, the driving force behind Wrightway Products, was getting the world to see the value of putting a foot pedal on a wheelie bin.

“We were laughed at for years at trade shows, as John and I stood there opening and closing bins lids with our feet,” says Jennifer.

“But we are now recognised as being forward-thinking and innovative. Our ‘baby’ Lid Lifta® is still seen as the most effective and reliable foot pedal bin-lid opening device available.”

Jennifer and John’s Lid Lifta® baby was born after observing staff both handle food, and open and close bins by hand. They realised that a foot pedal on a wheelie bin would reduce cross contamination of pathogens.

The idea developed further when Woolworths suggested the pedal should be constructed in stainless steel. “Franklins Supermarkets were the first to introduce the Lid Lifta® foot pedal bin, and after a trial went national, 10 to 15 Lid Lifta® bins were in every store,” says Jennifer.

As well as manufacturing Lid Lifta® bins, Wrightway also manufactures the uniquely designed wrightway2MT® (right way to empty) bin tipper. “We noticed how often young people put themselves at risk of injury when picking up heavy wheelie bins and manually lifting them above their heads, to empty them into industrial skips,” says Jennifer.

The Lismore-based business has grown from four staff to 14 since it launched more than 20 years ago, in 1996. They’ve learnt how to deal with the complexities associated with in-house manufacturing of complicated hydraulic electrical machinery.

They’ve also endured and survived Lismore floods. “We need to work with the reality that it does occasionally flood here and we need to take steps to ensure minimum disruption of operations,” says Jennifer.

While Lismore is a flood area, it’s also the right place for Wrightway Products, Jennifer says.

wrightway products 001

“It is the people, the relaxed lifestyle, the manner in which our business is accepted and respected by the local community, combined with the fact that we both hate traffic jams and city existence, which keeps us happy here in Lismore, the heart of the Northern Rivers.”

wrightway products 02

Share this story

Read more stories
glass lab tweed heads 002

riding the wave of success

 1000 661 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

The Glass Lab
Adam Wessel may have worked in surfboard factories since the age of 16, but it was a stint in the luxury yachting industry that sowed the…

Alstonville quality meats image 1

main street royalty reigns

 2000 1333 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Alstonville Quality Meats
There’s a giggle in the undertone of conversation when Ashley and Tina Thomson share their claim to fame as being the multi-award winning Sausage Kings…

nicholson fine foods yamba

eclectic food innovator shines

 1030 1030 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Nicholson Fine Foods
The small coastal town of Yamba is home to the one of the world’s best eating prawns, the Eastern King Prawn. It’s also home to the highest…

lights, camera, action in ballina shire

 2560 1750 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Byron Studios
Northern Rivers has long been a hub for film makers and a popular backdrop for film and television productions. But there has been one thing missing to tie it all together…

old-fashioned approach reaps rewards

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Kyogle Country Store
It feels like a brave decision, buying a hardware and rural supplies store in the age of the corporate superstores. Though it was a challenge…

A collaborator at heart

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Table Under A Tree
Georgina Inwood credits the evolution of her business, Table Under a Tree, to her ability to “take stock while still running at a million miles an hour”.

Evans Head Cabinetry 001

carefully crafted business success

 2000 1041 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Evans Head Cabinet Making
“People often say, ‘They don’t build things like they used to’,” says fine furniture and cabinet maker Justin Crisp. “But I can confidently say…”

Osteria Casaurina Tweed Coast

overtures of romance and style

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Osteria
Mark Wilson, Lia Mason and Lee Middendorf all met when the three of them were working in hospitality jobs at The Sandbar …

Position, people, poached eggs and a president

 2560 1920 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Caperberry and Flinders Rose
What makes an entire family move from three different cities to live together in a quiet coastal town? Great coffee.

The Natural Rice Co.

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

The Natural Rice Co.
The Natural Rice Co. (NRC) is a unique enterprise not just in the Northern Rivers, but in a national context too.

planting natural beauty

 2048 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Biologi
There was a little bit of the “weird spirit of Byron Bay” in the 2017 creation of the natural skincare range, Biologi, says co-owner Lucy Macdougald of her chance meeting with Ross Macdougald, who is now both her business partner and husband…

spar maclean clarence valley

making history, creating culture

 1535 1025 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Spar Maclean
SPAR Maclean’s claim to fame is a doozy. Indeed, it’s something only one supermarket in the whole of Australia can say: that it is the longest…

Generational innovation

 1440 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Australian Bay Lobster Producers
Thenus australiensis. Moreton Bay bugs. The Bay Lobster. Whatever nomenclature you want to use, there is no doubt that these crustaceans are a much-loved staple of Australian seafood menus.

Spoiled stays for special pets

 2560 1600 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Skye Park Pet Resort
In 2014, a long-held aspiration finally came to fruition for Helen and Ian MacGregor when they purchased an existing pet boarding facility in bucolic Clarenza, with the dream of making it their own.

Northern Co-operative Meat Company

collaboration and cooperative capital

 1600 1066 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Northern Cooperative Meat Company
It comes as little surprise that one of the largest employers on the Northern Rivers is a co-operative, and with Casino being the beef capital of…

A community cornerstone bouncing forward

 2048 1260 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Coraki Post Office
For all that has been thrown at the small town of Coraki in recent times, the owners of the town’s post office are rolling with the punches.

herb blanchard haulage

in for the long haul

 1024 682 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Herb Blanchard Haulage
If you happen to be in the ‘jacaranda city’ of Grafton or its surrounds and you see a big blue truck out on the roads, the chances are its part of the…

Creativity takes flight

 2560 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Honey Hunt Style
Jules Hunt moved to Byron Bay with her family 15 years ago because she wanted to raise her children with a strong sense of community. It was by chance that this move led to the flourishing of her artistic career – and more recently to her turn as a successful business woman.

Nurtured by nature

 2560 1723 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Greenx7
For the past 10 years GreenX7 has been running workshops and retreats internationally and in the Tweed for clients as diverse as McDonald’s, Deloitte, Six Senses, and the Australian Defence Force, to inspire both individuals and teams to tap into the healing power of nature.

stone and wood 001

not just a business, a community partner

 960 761 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Stone & Wood
“That’s like asking parents to name which of their children they prefer,” says Jamie Cook, Stone & Wood co-founder. He has been asked which of the…

Start Typing

X