WRAP Launches Recycling Trials for SMEs
16 February 2007
A series of feasibility trials to encourage small and medium sized businesses to recycle their waste have been launched across the UK, funded by WRAP
The overall aim of the trials, which will run for six months, is to develop convenient and cost effective services to make it easier for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to recycle.
Forming part of WRAP’s SME Recycling Programme, the trials will assess recycling schemes for the construction and commercial food industries, site-specific services for business parks and industrial estates and collection schemes for small retailers and offices.
The trials will evaluate a range of issues involved in providing SMEs with effective recycling schemes. Factors assessed will include effective ways to recruit SMEs on to recycling services, collection techniques and frequencies and charging mechanisms.
The results will build on the knowledge gained during the first series of trials undertaken last year.
Commercial food waste trials will investigate the best methods of diverting food waste from landfill for a range of different businesses. Bexley Council will work with local restaurants, cafes and takeaways to develop convenient collection services for their food waste and ECT Recycling will collect kitchen waste from restaurants, pubs, cafes and takeaways in the Bristol and Bath areas.
Urban Mines is project managing trials in West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Greater Manchester, which focus on collecting and composting food waste from commercial food manufacturers and processors. The Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry (CESHI) at Oxford Brookes University will also be working with six hotels that will be composting their food waste on site.
Five of the trials will investigate the best method of collecting recyclable waste from business parks and industrial estates. Axion Recycling and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council will target 12 industrial estates in the Stockport area to encourage them to recycle paper, cardboard and plastic through the use of shared collection facilities on the estates. Groundwork Yorkshire and the Humber will be providing a recycling facility for businesses at the Langthwaite Grange Industrial Estate, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and The Laundry, part of Bioregional Development Group, will be working with multi-tenancy buildings in central London to reduce office waste and encourage recycling.
In Wales, Bridgend County Borough Council is working in partnership with Greenwood Services Ltd, Groundwork Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot to boost recycling on the Brackla/Litchard Industrial Estate in Bridgend by collecting mixed recyclables such as paper, glass, cans, plastic and cardboard.
In Scotland, LEEP Recycling, part of the sustainable development charity Changeworks, will be targeting 15 business parks and industrial estates in Edinburgh and Lothian to collect mixed recyclables. The businesses can choose from 1,100 litre bins or desk-high boxes for smaller quantities of materials and either regular pick-ups or on demand collections.
Three schemes will collect general recyclables from small businesses. Mid Devon Community Recycling aims to provide a flexible recycling service for small businesses in more rural areas and First Mile, based in central London, is targeting small city-based retailers and offices to develop an appropriate recycling collection service for businesses who have little or no storage space.
In Scotland, LEEP Recycling aims to collect redundant IT equipment such as PCs, laptops, printers, faxes and monitors from 150 small businesses. Working in partnership with Restructa, who specialise in recycling redundant computers, the scheme will have no minimum collection quantity, to encourage businesses with only a small amount of equipment to participate.
For the construction sector, a trial, managed by Axion Recycling, will offer smaller building companies three recycling service options - drop off facilities, collection by skips or collection in bulk bags - to suit the size of business and site being worked on. The trials will take place in Lymm, near Warrington, Manchester, and Peterborough and materials collected will include timber, glass, plasterboard, cardboard packaging, plastic and aggregates.
Liz Morrish, WRAP’s SME Recycling Programme Manager, said:
“SMEs cover a vast range of businesses that all have different recycling needs - either because of the relative low quantity of recyclable materials they produce, the space available to store materials or their location. These feasibility trials will give us a much better picture of the kind of recycling services that will work cost effectively for SMEs and therefore encourage these businesses to start recycling their waste.”
Forming part of WRAP’s SME Recycling Programme, the trials will assess recycling schemes for the construction and commercial food industries, site-specific services for business parks and industrial estates and collection schemes for small retailers and offices.
The trials will evaluate a range of issues involved in providing SMEs with effective recycling schemes. Factors assessed will include effective ways to recruit SMEs on to recycling services, collection techniques and frequencies and charging mechanisms.
The results will build on the knowledge gained during the first series of trials undertaken last year.
Commercial food waste trials will investigate the best methods of diverting food waste from landfill for a range of different businesses. Bexley Council will work with local restaurants, cafes and takeaways to develop convenient collection services for their food waste and ECT Recycling will collect kitchen waste from restaurants, pubs, cafes and takeaways in the Bristol and Bath areas.
Urban Mines is project managing trials in West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Greater Manchester, which focus on collecting and composting food waste from commercial food manufacturers and processors. The Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry (CESHI) at Oxford Brookes University will also be working with six hotels that will be composting their food waste on site.
Five of the trials will investigate the best method of collecting recyclable waste from business parks and industrial estates. Axion Recycling and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council will target 12 industrial estates in the Stockport area to encourage them to recycle paper, cardboard and plastic through the use of shared collection facilities on the estates. Groundwork Yorkshire and the Humber will be providing a recycling facility for businesses at the Langthwaite Grange Industrial Estate, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and The Laundry, part of Bioregional Development Group, will be working with multi-tenancy buildings in central London to reduce office waste and encourage recycling.
In Wales, Bridgend County Borough Council is working in partnership with Greenwood Services Ltd, Groundwork Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot to boost recycling on the Brackla/Litchard Industrial Estate in Bridgend by collecting mixed recyclables such as paper, glass, cans, plastic and cardboard.
In Scotland, LEEP Recycling, part of the sustainable development charity Changeworks, will be targeting 15 business parks and industrial estates in Edinburgh and Lothian to collect mixed recyclables. The businesses can choose from 1,100 litre bins or desk-high boxes for smaller quantities of materials and either regular pick-ups or on demand collections.
Three schemes will collect general recyclables from small businesses. Mid Devon Community Recycling aims to provide a flexible recycling service for small businesses in more rural areas and First Mile, based in central London, is targeting small city-based retailers and offices to develop an appropriate recycling collection service for businesses who have little or no storage space.
In Scotland, LEEP Recycling aims to collect redundant IT equipment such as PCs, laptops, printers, faxes and monitors from 150 small businesses. Working in partnership with Restructa, who specialise in recycling redundant computers, the scheme will have no minimum collection quantity, to encourage businesses with only a small amount of equipment to participate.
For the construction sector, a trial, managed by Axion Recycling, will offer smaller building companies three recycling service options - drop off facilities, collection by skips or collection in bulk bags - to suit the size of business and site being worked on. The trials will take place in Lymm, near Warrington, Manchester, and Peterborough and materials collected will include timber, glass, plasterboard, cardboard packaging, plastic and aggregates.
Liz Morrish, WRAP’s SME Recycling Programme Manager, said:
“SMEs cover a vast range of businesses that all have different recycling needs - either because of the relative low quantity of recyclable materials they produce, the space available to store materials or their location. These feasibility trials will give us a much better picture of the kind of recycling services that will work cost effectively for SMEs and therefore encourage these businesses to start recycling their waste.”
Editor's notes:
1. WRAP works in partnership to encourage and enable businesses and consumers to be more efficient in their use of materials and recycle more things more often. This helps to minimise landfill, reduce carbon emissions and improve our environment.
2. Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by Government funding from Defra and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
3. Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
Denise Raven
Ptarmigan Consultants
OX16 0AH
Tel: 0113 242 1155
denise@ptarmiganpr.co.uk
Press Office
Media Relations Manager
WRAP,
The Old Academy,
21 Horse Fair,
Banbury
OX16 0AH
Tel: 01295 819928
press.office@wrap.org.uk
