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When asked what they can do to help the environment, most people will answer “recycle”. However, whilst it can be an effective way for a business to demonstrate its commitment to environmental management and engage staff in the process, recycling is not the most impactful way a business can reduce its environmental impact.. Every organisation must manage their waste; from small offices who create minimal amounts to large manufacturing facilities who produce multiple, sometimes hazardous, streams and doing it with the environment in mind is about to become more of a priority.
New rules around business waste management, which aim to boost recycling rates and minimise waste arisings, come into effect in England and Wales from Spring 2025. (Scotland introduced such changes a decade ago). The new regulations, named Simpler Recycling in England and Separate Collections of Waste Materials, should reform and standardise recycling and waste collections from households and businesses, encourage waste minimisation and draw more, higher quality recyclable materials out of the waste stream.
What does this mean for businesses?
Currently, although most businesses have some form of recycling infrastructure in place, which materials are collected and how they are collected varies greatly.
However, with the introduction of the new regulations, all businesses will have to arrange, with licensed waste carriers, the collection and recycling of any food waste, glass, metal, plastic, paper, cardboard and electrical waste that they produce. The regulatory requirements relating to how the ‘dry’ materials listed above are collected differs between England and Wales, but in both countries, food waste must be collected separately.
Addressing an organisation’s waste management now is essential for a smooth transition to the new reforms when they come into force in a few months’ time. Better waste management is also a significant way to decrease procurement and waste costs, reduce environmental impacts (including carbon emissions) and introduce staff to a company’s wider environmental aims.
Existing legislation
All commercial waste in the UK is governed by the Waste Duty of Care statutory guidance which came out of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This makes provision for the safe management of waste to protect human health and the environment. This legislation applies to any organisation which imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats, disposes of, or is a dealer or broker that has control of, controlled waste.
It is a legal requirement for all commercial waste generators to use a registered waste collector. The waste creators have a responsibility to take all reasonable steps to ensure that waste transferred to another waste holder is managed correctly throughout its entire journey to disposal or recovery.
A waste collector or management company’s authenticity can be verified by:
checking the next and all subsequent waste holders or processors are authorised to take the waste; they must have the appropriate licences from England’s Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency or Natural Resources Wales.
carrying out more detailed checks, particularly if it is suspected that the waste is not being handled in line with the duty of care - for example, by requesting evidence that waste has arrived at the intended destination and that it has been accurately described.
Preparing for the changes
To improve waste management in preparation for the forthcoming changes, conducting a waste audit is a good place to start; it can highlight the composition of and improve understanding of what waste and recycling is being produced, and identify opportunities to reduce or eliminate certain input materials and products.
Enhancing waste management is part of developing any business’s environmental management and it should be planned in accordance with The Waste Hierarchy, which ranks management options in order of the most to the least environmentally responsible methods of dealing with waste. Whilst there are several versions of the hierarchy in common use, they all follow the following principles:
Prevention looks at whether certain wastes can be eliminated. This includes considering if a non-recyclable, single use or hazardous product be replaced with a recyclable, repairable, reusable or non-hazardous alternative, or whether use of a product or material can be avoided altogether. It may involve conversations with suppliers about whether they can a supply their product without unnecessary, hard-to-recycle packaging.
Re-use considers if what is seen as ‘waste’ from a system or process can be reused internally or by another business in its existing state. This may include the re-use of offcuts or ‘overs’ from production.
Recycle: the concept of recycling is reasonably well understood, although its effectiveness as an environmental solution if often over-exaggerated; not all materials can be recycled into their original form, meaning that in some cases, the value and utility of a material decreases, the more it is recycled. The location of appropriate reprocessing facilities is also another issue. Consideration should be given to all materials and products used by a business – for example, used toner cartridges, lightbulbs, batteries, IT and office equipment are irregular office wastes which should be recycled.
Recovery: there is environmental debate about some forms of waste recovery, but in certain circumstances (such as sending mixed waste food for anaerobic digestion) it is generally accepted that this is preferable to it being disposed of in landfill.
Disposal: considered the worst-case scenario for waste; materials are treated (particularly used for hazardous materials) and/or buried and are unlikely to be brought back into economic use in a short time frame.
Having considered how to reduce overall waste arisings, a plan of action should be drawn up relating to changes which need to be made. This may include adaptations to procurement practices to address how waste can be avoided or minimised, as well as the introduction of clearly labelled and appropriately located and sized containers.
Staff, cleaning contractors and other building users will need to be informed about any new procedures and may need regular reminders to nudge them into good behaviours. Regular adherence checks, bursts of communications giving feedback on performance as well as participation in nationwide campaigns, such as Zero Waste Week, will also encourage the adoption of best practice.
As with any management system, regular evaluation of performance and the appropriate adjustment to bring about improvements will lead to better results.
Exemplar businesses have implemented some brilliant initiatives to reduce their organisational waste on site, including finding valuable uses for unusual waste streams, running ‘toolbox talks’ on waste related topics, using refillable packaging, switching to reusable items and sharing unwanted items amongst colleagues. Gathering ideas about further improvements from colleagues can be a good way to encourage wider participation in and awareness of environmental issues; as with much of the current sustainability challenges, many hands make light work.
Effective waste management improves resource use efficiency whilst also offering cost and carbon savings and should be addressed – today! Investors in the Environment will be holding a webinar on the forthcoming ‘Simpler Recycling’ on Thursday 28th November, 12.30-1.30. Sign up to it through the events page on the website.
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Investors in the Environment
This article is the fourth in a series of articles published in this newsletter over the year. It was written by Camilla Sherwin, Senior Sustainability Consultant and Partnerships Manager, on the national green accreditation programme Investors in the Environment (iiE). iiE has 15 years of experience helping businesses of all sizes and sectors to improve their environmental management and gain recognition for their achievements. By using their easy-to-follow e-learning platform, and accessing the wealth of templates and tools members are backed by support from experienced advisors, the iiE programme gives organisations the structure and knowledge to enhance their sustainability performance, set carbon reduction targets, reduce costs and receive a third-party evaluation of their work.
For those looking to upskill, iiE has developed its own green champion training, delivers Carbon Literacy training and is an IEMA certified training provider.
To find out more, visit the website www.iie.uk.com or email info@iie.uk.com and request a meeting with one of the iiE team.
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