wastesure-blog

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WasteSURE is Proud to Present Imogen Page

Our main goal here at WasteSURE is to provide the very best service to our clients. This incorporates ensuring that they are fulfilling their duty of care, getting the best value for their money and ending each day happy that their problematic waste needs have been resolved. And that is why we are so proud to present the latest addition to our fast-growing team, Imogen Page.

IMOGEN CAN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED

Imogen has extensive experience in the waste management industry and is quite simply a force of nature when it comes to arranging all the logistics for any project. Her creative approach to waste management, combined with her knowledge of the industry makes her an invaluable asset to both her clients and to us here at WasteSURE.

As the WasteSURE brand progresses and we start making real positive changes to the way waste management can be achieved, Imogen is already bringing new ideas to the table and making our clients happy.

Imogen said:

“I’m so pleased to be here right at the start of the business and able to offer up my own ideas for our progression. It is such an exciting opportunity to change the waste management industry for the better and I can’t wait to get started.”

GETTING TO KNOW IMOGEN

As Imogen is likely to be the first port of call for the majority of our clients, we think it is important for you to get to know her really well (not that you’ll have a choice once she gets you chatting!)

Mark Dunne, Managing Director based in the Bury Office said:

"The moment we found out Imogen was available we had to move quickly. We are incredibly excited to work with her. Anyone in the industry who knows Imo' will understand why we are incredibly excited to have her on board. Imogens track record and knowledge of the waste game will strengthen our customer focussed team.

One word to describe Imogen Page; RETENTION."

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What Are the Options for Disposing of Waste?

When you get rid of your waste, how much time do you really spend thinking about what will happen to it? Probably very little, if you think about it at all. And yet, if we want to help our environment and manage our resources properly, we really need to think more carefully about what we do with our waste products. 

For households, this is mostly about separating your waste into the correct bins and then letting the council deal with your waste from there. However, for businesses there is a further incentive to deal with waste correctly. Landfill tax has now made it more expensive to send your waste directly to landfill and it is much cheaper to act responsibly. 

So, here are your options...

REUSING

It is really obvious that some things can be reused. For example, if you have an old chair that is still in good condition, you should choose a charity shop over a tip. Or, you might be able to sell it online to someone who will be able to restore it and sell it on themselves.

However, there are a few less obvious waste items that can be reused too.

A good example might be waste paper produced by a paper mill. Though it might look completely useless, this waste product may actually be sold to a farmer looking for material to spread over the land to neutralise the soil. There are lots of examples like this so if you want to find a new way of dealing with your waste, you should start thinking about who it could value and where it might be used.

RECYCLING

Though it takes more energy to recycle than it does to simply reuse, recycling is a good method for resource management because it means that materials may be used more than once. The other advantage is that many materials like glass and paper can be recycled more than once. 

Unfortunately, while the British population are all keen recyclers, we are not very good at recycling on the whole as most plastics are not recycled at all. This is often due to confusion about which plastics can be recycled and which can’t. It also often depends on the area you live in as to which plastics you can recycle. 

There is clearly more work to be done, but keep recycling in the meantime! 

ENERGY RECLAMATION

If you can’t reuse or recycle a waste product, the next best thing you can do is use it for energy reclamation. This is a very simple process in which the waste is burned in a large cement kiln to create steam which in turn creates electricity. Some countries like Sweden are so reliant on this method that they are now importing waste to burn. Again, this method has its own problems but it is still much more efficient than landfill. 

LANDFILL

Landfill should always be seen as a last resort for your waste but all too often, businesses treat landfill as an easy - if expensive - choice. The main problem is that once a waste product is in landfill, it is now impossible to make further use of it and eventually the land will fill up with waste beyond its true capacity. 

There are already measures in place to discourage the use of landfill and many people and businesses are finding new ways to manage their waste. But there is still a long way to go before we truly get to grips with resource management in tandem with waste management.

At WasteSURE, we firmly believe that there is a better way to deal with waste which is why we always focus on other methods first. You can read more about the problems with landfill in our guide: Everything You Should Know About Landfill

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What can businesses do to help the environment?

Our environment is now one of the biggest concerns we have and with news stories appearing almost daily about the human impact on the planet, it is difficult to ignore. But, despite all the scary stories, many businesses are still not taking their responsibility seriously and proper waste management is not being observed.

This is unfortunate because there are 3 very simple things that businesses can do to help the environment. And, even better, these things are either completely free or they will save you money! 

FOLLOW THE DUTY OF CARE

The main thing that businesses can do is follow their duty of care. This is a legal requirement and yet many businesses aren’t aware that it applies to them too. To be clear: all businesses are required to follow the Duty of Care.

Simply put, the Duty of Care requires all businesses to dispose of their waste in the most appropriate way. So, if you produce lots of paper waste, according to your Duty of Care you should recycle that waste; if you produce hazardous waste such as aerosols, you are legally required to deal with this type of waste responsibly.

In most cases, the Duty of Care is simply common sense but for some larger businesses dealing with waste from building sites or water treatment plants, it may be more complex. Download our guide to Your Duty of Care to find out more about your responsibility. 

REDUCE YOUR WASTE

Another thing you can do is reduce the amount of waste you produce in the first place. This is quite easy for many businesses but for others, it may be more difficult.

If you are in an office based business, you can reduce the amount of paper and ink you use by only printing the essentials. You should also make use of scrap paper in the office for work product that the client will never see such as rough planning. 

Bars and restaurants can also reduce waste quite easily. Many bars are no longer providing plastic straws unless they are requested and others have switched them for paper straws which can be recycled. You can also swap paper napkins for washable fabric napkins, offer fizzy drinks on tap instead of in bottles and offer condiments in bottles instead of sachets.

REUSE AND RECYCLE YOUR WASTE

All businesses will produce some waste - even when you have reduced your waste to the bare minimum - and dealing with your waste responsibly is the best thing you can do for your environment. Lots of waste types can now be reused and recycled at centres around the UK so it is always worth checking to see if you can recycle before you pay for landfill.

Reusing waste is also becoming more popular and there are now all sorts of forums for selling old furniture (for example) amongst other things. Though it might surprise you that someone wants to buy an old office chair there is a wide market for almost everything you can think of. Many charities will also take old things off you and some, like the British Heart Foundation, will even collect. 

Helping the environment doesn’t need to be a challenge for businesses, it is just about changing your perspective a little and thinking more carefully about what you do with your waste. 

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How the P.E.T eating enzyme could change plastic recycling

Back in 2016, some Japanese scientists discovered a bacteria at a bottle recycling plant that seemed to be able to eat and digest plastic. This was a huge deal because there is so much plastic waste polluting the environment and we need to find a new way of disposing of it. 

The only problem was that the scientists weren’t entirely sure what allowed the bacteria to eat the plastic. Now they know.

An international team have cracked the problem: there is an enzyme that allows the bacteria to break the plastic down. And not only that, but in messing about with the enzyme to see how it evolved, the scientists had the serendipity to discover how to speed the process up. 

The enzyme is now being heralded by much of the press as an opportunity to reinvent the way that we process waste plastics and create a much brighter future. But how will that work, exactly?

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTIC?

One of the main reasons that we use plastic is that, as a complex polymer, it can be moulded and fixed into shape quite easily and won’t disintegrate in water. Unfortunately, this also makes many plastics very difficult to dispose of as they cannot be reformed and will not break down for hundreds of years. 

Plastic is highly convenient for many products and are found everywhere from wrapping vegetables to waterproofing disposable coffee cups. There are now campaigns targeting all kinds of businesses from producers to supermarkets to reduce their dependency on single use plastics but this will only tackle half the problem. More and more evidence shows that the oceans are significantly more polluted with plastics than we thought and we need to deal with this problem as well. 

PET plastic can be recycled but since 91% of plastic waste isn’t recycled, this doesn’t seem to matter that much. It recently became clear that the general public are diligently recycling at home but are unaware that they are inhibiting the recycling process by putting the wrong type of plastics in their bins. This means that even with the best will in the world, we aren’t doing very well at genuinely making a difference to the way we treat plastics after use.

Another problem with plastic is that it requires the excavation of natural oils. This is an issue because oil is a limited resource and once it is gone, that’s it. Plus, oil fields are notoriously dangerous and pollute the surrounding environment. If we can avoid drilling for new oil by recycling, this is a goal worth aiming for.

COULD THE ENZYME BE THE ANSWER?

So given all of this, how could something as small an enzyme possibly help?

It seems that the enzyme is capable of breaking down the complex polymers forming the PET into their constituent molecules: terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. This has been described as a similar process to the enzymes used in your biological washing machine powder to break down dirt. Crucially, terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol are not harmful to the environment. 

In one of the original stories from 2016, New Scientist reported that E. coli could also make an entrance as this bacteria secretes the terephthalic acid making it a viable way of recycling the plastic. If this could be done safely and on a large scale, it could make a huge difference to the way we clean up waste plastic and recycle it.

The scientists working on the enzyme have already, fortuitously, found a way to make it around 20% more efficient. This is great news because, as Prof John McGeehan told the Guardian, it means that there is room for further optimization. For example, if they could find a bacteria that could work at around 70*c, when PET becomes viscous, this would further enhance the enzyme’s ability.

Another suggestion is that since this plastic eating enzyme has clearly evolved in the 70 years since PET was discovered, it is reasonable to assume that there are other bacteria that could achieve the same results with other types of plastic. And with a bit of luck, scientists will be able to find and harness these other enzymes too. 

ARE THERE ANY POTENTIAL FLAWS?

The main flaw at the moment is that the enzyme still takes a long time to work. Though it is far shorter than the potentially 100s of years it would otherwise take, this still isn’t quite fast enough for the rate at which we are producing and disposing of plastics. This means that for now, reducing the amount we rely on plastic is still a top priority. 

Another potential flaw can be applied to any new organism entering an ecosystem. Until we are certain that there won’t be any other repercussions of developing and releasing (for want of a better word) the bacteria and enzyme into the ocean, it’s best not to do it. This is a key concern of Prof Adisa Azapagic, also quoted in the Guardian article referenced above. 

Though there is still plenty of research to be done and there are a lot of things we don’t yet know, it is difficult not to feel optimistic about this enzyme. If there is the potential to use bacteria to recycle plastic as well as to clean up the environment, that could have a significant impact on our general health as well as that of the planet. 

Until that time, we should all make a concerted effort to separate our waste into recyclable materials so what can be recycled now is. This is a concern for both homeowners and for businesses and business must also take responsibility for their waste in accordance with their duty of care. 

The more we can all do to ensure that the waste we produce is properly treated, the better off we will be. And hopefully, when the scientists stumble across their next big breakthrough, they won’t be looking at a mountain of waste but a molehill.

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Duty of Care: How to deal with your waste legally

Our priority is giving you the chance to comply with your duty of care by taking all the management issues on for you. We will ensure that your duty of care is carried down the chain and that you will never be at risk of failing to comply. You can be sure about your waste with Waste Sure. Whether you are a small business or a national corporation, you have a legal obligation to comply with duty of care regulations. This means that you are fully responsible for disposing of your waste in the correct way.  

Even if you think that your waste is hardly worth worrying about, it all adds up and, given the number of small businesses there are, it is important that everyone does their bit to protect our environment. You can help by ensuring that you set a good example for businesses around you and understanding exactly what your duty of care is.

Estimates suggest that 90% of the organisations breaking the law are small businesses who simply don’t know how to fulfil their duty of care. Unfortunately, not knowing the law is not an excuse for failing to comply so now is the time to educate yourself and find out exactly what you should be doing.

WHAT IS MY DUTY OF CARE?

Your duty of care is outlined in detail in Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990

The basics you need to know are:

Anyone who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of waste must ensure that the waste is properly processed in accordance to the law

You must ensure that if you transfer the waste to another person that they are authorized to take the waste from you and that their vehicle is authorized too

If you fail to comply with your duty of care, your business could be presented with an uncapped fine and you may be held personally liable too. This means that you could also be fined and in some extreme cases prison sentences have been imposed.

WHO DOES THE DUTY OF CARE APPLY TO?

The waste duty of care can be applied to any waste holder. This includes:

Waste producer

Waste carrier

Waste dealer

Waste broker

Waste manager

It can also be applied to householders though, in the majority of circumstances, a householder’s waste is taken care of by the local council. Essentially, this means that if you have an old washing machine to get rid of, you will call the council for a collection rather than dump in down a quiet lane.

It is important to know who the duty of care applies to because it is your responsibility to ensure that the waste is properly managed throughout the entire chain. This means that if you produce waste, you need to be sure that the waste carrier who takes the waste away and the waste manager who disposes of the waste are also complying with their duty of care. 

EXAMPLE

You have a factory that produces waste paper mill sludge. You need to dispose of the paper mill sludge safely and in accordance with your duty of care. You are the waste producer.

You call a waste dealer who wants to buy your paper mill sludge and sell it for landspreading. They agree to buy from you and you arrange for a waste broker to send someone to collect the waste.

A waste carrier arrives and loads the paper mill sludge onto their truck. 

The waste carrier then takes the waste directly to a farmer who wants to spread the paper mill sludge on his land. The farmer becomes a waste manager as he spreads the paper mill sludge on his land, thus disposing of the waste.

In this scenario, you need to ensure that everyone in the chain is handling the waste properly in accordance with their duty of care. Even though the waste dealer never actually sees the paper mill sludge, they too have a duty of care going down the line to the farmer.   

WHY IS THE DUTY OF CARE IMPORTANT?

Aside from avoiding fines, complying with your duty of care is important for protecting the environment as well as more energy efficient. Plus, if you have a waste product that could be recycled or reused by someone else, you could make a small profit on it by complying with your duty of care. 

As in the example above, the paper mill complied fully with their duty of care and in doing so, they benefited from a small profit and the farmer benefitted from the waste which he used on his land. The environment also benefited because the waste was used to improve the land fertility rather than dumped in landfill or burned for energy reclamation. 

The more everyone can do to make sure that their duty of care is complied with along the chain and that the best practises are always followed, the better our environment will be and the more everyone will benefit.

RIGHT WASTE, RIGHT PLACE

As so many people are unaware of what their duty of care is, and 50% of SMEs do not understand what their responsibilities are, the Right Waste, Right Place campaign has been set up to deal with some of the misunderstandings. 

Dealing with your waste properly and efficiently doesn’t have to cost you any more. In fact, disposing of your waste correctly is likely to be much cheaper for your business as well as the environment. 

Right Waste, Right Place is a great website for all kinds of sources explaining the duty of care in more depth and answering specific queries, but you can also contact us at Waste Sure and we will be more than happy to help you with your own needs.

HOW CAN WASTE SURE HELP?

We have plenty of experience in ensuring that large and small companies follow their duty of care to the letter and can offer a variety of smart ways to dispose of your waste in the best possible way. We will look for areas where your waste could be reused or recycled for a fraction of the cost of landfill and can also advise on the best way of dealing with any hazardous waste you may have. 

Our priority is giving you the chance to comply with your duty of care by taking all the management issues on for you. We will ensure that your duty of care is carried down the chain and that you will never be at risk of failing to comply. 

You can be sure about your waste with WasteSURE.