Waste Minimisation and New Developments in Recycling Grace Ryder, Environmental Consultant, GEP Environmental

Waste Management Principles Duty of care | Waste Hierarchy | Waste Segregation | Storage of Waste | Compliance documents

Duty of Care

Waste Management Principles Duty of Care What is Duty of Care? “The legal duty of everybody who has control of waste to ensure that it is managed safely and transferred only to somebody authorized to take it” Duty of care applies to anyone who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats and disposes of controlled waste

Waste Hierarchy

Waste Management Principles Waste Hierarchy Reduce the amount of waste that is generated on-site Consider packaging and materials used when procuring goods and services Prevention Re - Use Repurposing or rehousing items of waste should always be sought first Office equipment and furniture to charities or schools On-site segregation of Recyclable material Paper, cardboard, coffee cups glass etc Maximise the number of individual recyclable waste streams on-site Collect and send to materials recovery facility Dry mixed recycling Food tins, mixed paper and card, corrugated carboard, foil Order of priority AD/Composting Where possible send waste for composting or to an anaerobic digestion facility Food waste If incinerating waste a strong consideration should be made to sites that include energy recovery Incineration Landfill Waste sent to landfill should only be considered as a last resort

Waste Management Principles Waste Hierarchy Applying the waste hierarchy Prevention Double sided printing Printing restrictions (e.g. printing allowances) Electronic notice boards (emails) Consider sustainable procurement Onsite Segregation Clearly labelled bins Communicate segregation requirements to staff Re-use and/or recycle Equipment (e.g. laptops) Scrap paper Printer cartridges Cardboard Pallets Disposal - Determine the best disposal route for your waste

Waste Segregation

Waste Management Principles Waste Segregation What waste streams should you consider when segregating waste?

Storage of Waste

Waste Management Principles Waste Storage Prevent waste escaping Clear descriptions Prevent cross contamination Prevent water damage e.g. rain Prevent damage e.g. glass

Compliance Documentation

Waste Management Principles Compliance Documentation – Waste Transfer Notes Non-Hazardous Waste – Your business and the business taking your waste both need to; Fill in the sections of the waste transfer note that apply to you. Sign it. Keep a copy for 2 years. Show it to an enforcement officer from your local council or the Environment Agency if asked.

Waste Management Principles Compliance Documentation – Waste Consignment Notes Hazardous Waste If your business produces, holds, stores or has hazardous waste removed from its premises you must; Classify your waste Separate and store hazardous waste safely Use authorised businesses to collect, recycle or dispose of your hazardous waste – check that waste carriers are registered and waste sites have environmental permits. Fill in the parts of the consignment note that apply to you Keep records for 3 years at the premises that produced or stored the waste.

Best Practice for… - Minimising Waste - Managing Waste - Creating value from Waste

Sustainable Procurement

Best Practice for Managing Waste Sustainable Procurement Sustainable procurement is the process by which organisations buy assets, supplies or services by taking into account a number of factors including: Value for money Lifecycle of products Environmental Aspects Social aspects

Best Practice for Managing Waste Sustainable Procurement How can you minimise waste by procuring sustainably? Products made from recycled materials, recycled road construction materials Products that are refurbished therefore extending product life cycle Products using less packaging

Sustainable Procurement How to embed sustainable procurement in your business Understand your procurement activity and identify products and/or services procured regularly Consider the environmental impact of these products and/or services (e.g. waste) Consider availability and cost of environmentally preferential alternatives Identify responsible product or service provider (e.g. ISO 14001:2015 certified) Define procurement specifications Lower environmental impact No recycled content 10% recycled content 30% recycled content 80% recycled content 100% recycled content Higher environmental impact Timeframe Improving sustainable procurement in incremental stages – for example office paper

Contract Management

Contract Management Why should you review your waste contracts? Reduced costs Divert waste from landfill Business sustainability goals Cut greenhouse gas emissions Increasing Legal Requirements

Contract Management If you would like to get better value from your waste contracts you will need to: Understand how many waste management contracts your organisation has in place Identify how you are charged for waste collections (e.g. per lift, average weight, actual weight) Identify what waste and recycling data is collected internally and/or provided by your waste contractor(s) Determine how much waste you actually need to dispose of on a weekly and/or monthly basis (e.g. per lift, average weight, actual weight)

Waste as a resource

Waste as a Resource Why should you consider waste as a resource? Stock Management Cost reductions Income generation Staff Engagement Enhanced Reputation Environmental Responsibilities

How to use waste as a resource How can your waste be used as a resource? Identify your waste streams and identify those which could be sold e.g. cardboard, metals Determine the quantity of these waste streams Understand the quality of these waste streams Identify local providers that purchase your specified waste streams Consider sustainable procurement (lifecycle)

Waste as a Resource - examples Shell & Bio-Bean London alone produces 200,000 tonnes of waste coffee grounds every year Shell are collaborating with Bio-Bean to help turn coffee waste collected from factories, coffee shops and offices into a sustainable transport fuel. This fuel would then be used to power London buses Adidas & Parley Use upcycled plastics from beaches and coastal communities in order to intercept it before it reaches the ocean Transforms upcycled plastics into high-performance sportswear including; Trainers Swimwear The company collects and processes 50,000 tonnes of waste grounds a year, saving 6.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions for every tonne re-cycled. We are collaborating with bio-bean on a project to help turn coffee waste collected from factories, coffee shops and offices into a sustainable transport fuel.” According to Bio-bean, it takes just over 2.55 million cups of coffee to create enough biofuel to run one London bus for a year with the hybrid coffee oil. To date it has produced 6,000 litres of coffee oil, enough coffee oil to power one bus for a year. November 20th

New Technologies

Innovation in Waste Management Anaerobic Digestion Input: Organic Waste (e.g. food) Output (i): Biogas => Biomethane => Energy Output (ii): Digestate => Fertiliser Innovation: Community AD installations to ‘close loops’ (e.g. setting up food waste collection programmes) Using surplus ‘heat’ from AD process to dry wood chips that are used for biomass boilers https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2014/articles/waste-a-problem-or-a-resource is a waste treatment method that involves submitting bio-waste to a biological decomposition process similar to the one in landfills, but under controlled conditions. Anaerobic digestion produces biogas and residual material, which in turn can be used as fertiliser, like compost

Innovation in Waste Management Sorting Technology Physical separation Magnetic separation Targeted jets of air to separate different (e.g. plastics) Innovation: Medium Infra-Red sorters which sorts paper according to quality Near Infra-Red sorters which sort woods into Cat A (clean) and Cat B (industrial) wood https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2014/articles/waste-a-problem-or-a-resource is a waste treatment method that involves submitting bio-waste to a biological decomposition process similar to the one in landfills, but under controlled conditions. Anaerobic digestion produces biogas and residual material, which in turn can be used as fertiliser, like compost

Summary: Next Steps (Top Tips) Waste Minimisation and New Developments in Recycling Understand your duty of care when it comes to waste generated in your business Apply the waste hierarchy Segregate and store waste effectively Understand your waste contracts Identify waste you could sell to generate more income Investigate new technologies in waste management and disposal

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