Quest for Future Solutions is delighted to be helping to organise the Environment and Sustainability symposium at this year’s Malvern Festival of Innovation. Join us on 10 October to learn about innovation in making cities more liveable – and sustainable; how innovation in the insurance industry can help us stop climate change; innovation that can help us use energy more flexibly, making renewable energy work better for us all; how innovation in actuators can be used to tackle climate change; and how innovation is helping us to recycle critical and strategic elements such as rare earths.
Waste
Is your organization moving waste without a waste carrier’s licence?
The government has just charged an unlicensed waste carrier £965 for driving a tipper truck full of waste without a waste carriers licence. Do you want to take the chance that you could be next?
Anyone carrying waste needs to hold a waste carriers licence or be employed by an organization that does. This includes the transfer of waste between your own sites.
It takes about 5 minutes to apply for a licence and if you’re moving your own waste, it’s free. If you’re transporting someone else’s waste, it costs £154.
You also have a duty of care to ensure that your organization’s waste is being carried by someone with a licence. It’s easy to check the public registers – and worth making a diary note to periodically check that your waste carrier’s licence remains valid.
How will China’s changing stance on importing waste impact on your business?
The Chinese government has recently announced that it will ban the import of all scrap plastics and unsorted paper by the end of the year. Does this pose a threat to your business – are your waste disposal costs going to increase? Might it impact on your ability to send waste for recycling rather than landfill?
Now could be a good time to look for ways to reduce the amount of plastic and paper waste produced. Where do these materials come into your business? Is there a re-use option, eg re-usable pallet jackets instead of shrink wrap? What process gives rise to the waste? Is there an alternative?
If you think it’s worth a closer look, I can help – call me on 07904 389889.
Plastic soup – what can you do?
Recent research has indicated that 85% of all human-made materials found on our beaches are microplastic fibres. These are tiny fibres released from fabrics when they are washed. A domestic washing machine load of poly-cotton will release 137,000 fibres every wash. This figure increases to almost half a million for polyester and almost 3/4 million for acrylic.
Small animals such as shrimp, crab, fish and birds have been found with microplastic fibres in their stomachs, and we know that it’s getting into our food chain.
What can your business do to address this issue? Actions could include changing the fabric you use and/or using filters to capture some of the fibres before they reach our waterways.
Contact Julia on 07904 389889 to explore the options together.
What’s happening to your waste?
With the introduction of reams of waste legislation over the last decade, you may be forgiven for thinking that this is a sector that is well regulated. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Waste crime costs England £1bn a year and the number of illegal waste sites being discovered is soaring (over 1,000 last year – more than the previous two years combined). Illegal waste sites can be deeply unpleasant for local residents, pollute ground and water, make people ill and even kill them.
So, what can you do to make sure that you are not supporting this illegal activity?
- Check that the company removing waste from your site holds an upper tier waste carrier licence. These last for three years (unless rescinded), so make a diary note to check for renewal.
- Ask your waste carrier to confirm the address of the site they will be taking the waste to. Check that the site has a permit to accept the type of waste you are sending to them. These permits are usually open-ended, so check the gov.uk public registers to make sure it is still valid.
- Make sure that every waste transfer is covered by appropriate documentation. In particular, make sure that the correct EWC code is used so that the receiving site knows what they are getting.
- Check that you receive a ‘Part E’ return (which may be a spreadsheet) for all hazardous waste transfers, and that the details on it match those on the hazardous waste consignment notes.
There are a couple of types of hazardous waste that often fall through the cracks:
- Old lights are often removed by electrical contractors, who rarely have the correct documentation in place.
- In a similar way, F-Gas engineers will often take refrigerant gases away when de-gassing plant, and often do not supply the correct paperwork.
If you are not confident that your business has adequate waste controls in place, we can help – call Julia on 07904 389889 to discuss your requirements.
Information source: The Guardian.
Tags: illegal waste, Waste