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Waste Management Hierarchy
05.10.11
The way we treat waste - domestic, commercial and industrial - is changing. In all walks of life there is a move towards less disposal to landfill and more re-use and recycling and crucially, waste prevention. For businesses this should be seen not as a hindrance, but as an opportunity.
The Opportunities for your Business
The way we treat waste - domestic, commercial and industrial - is changing. In all walks of life there is a move towards less disposal to landfill and more re-use and recycling and crucially, waste prevention. For businesses this should be seen not as a hindrance, but as an opportunity.
The Waste Regulations 2011, which implement the EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98, insist that businesses now need to consider the waste management hierarchy which pushes disposal at landfill lower down the list of options, and pushes re-use and recycling higher up, with prevention at the very top. The idea is to drive fundamental change in the way business regards its waste, and ultimately to lead to a future where less waste is generated at source.
Of course, it is impossible to think there could ever be a time when there is no waste at all, but the push for less waste, and better waste management is one we should all welcome.
Businesses dealing with waste must now consider the waste hierarchy of; prevention, preparation for re-use, recycling, recovery, or disposal, and from 1st October 2011 must declare on waste transfer notes that this has been done. This new legal requirement will help to change the culture of waste management, but it is a change which will directly benefit businesses.
In the first instance, businesses will increasingly look towards generating less waste. The financial implications of this should are obvious. Making your business more efficient saves you money. Cutting back on packaging or paper use, for instance, cuts your out costs.
Where there is no option for eliminating or reducing waste at source, we will see more and more an increase in re-use and recycling. While re-use is the easier option for some businesses to implement, re-use, as well as recycling usually requires the help of third party specialist companies. However, preparation for handing waste over for re-use and recycling is something which can often be organised between partners and neighbouring businesses, further helping to generate economic savings.
Further down the hierarchy, recovery almost always requires the employment of a third party specialist, as does disposal.
When applying the waste management hierarchy, businesses, estate managers and business communities are well advised to seek out a specialist service supplier who can help with all rungs on the hierarchy ladder and who can provide a range of integrated solutions which will further help to drive down costs to businesses. PHS Wastemanagement offers industry leading waste management solutions, including difficult to handle solutions and recycling.
For more information contact us on 02920 809090
