FOCUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
TOWARDS A ZERO
WASTE FUTURE
Many facilities managers are struggling to meet increasingly stringent commercial
and industrial recycling rates. We asked a panel of waste management specialists
how FMs can achieve compliance and improve effi ciencies
There has been a growing drive in
recent years for organisations to
reduce the amount of waste they send
to landfill. In 2018, the government
published its Resources and Waste
Strategy for England (see References,
note 1). This builds on its 25 Year
Environment Plan, setting out a policy
framework which looks to ensure
resources are used more e iciently,
and waste minimised and deployed as a
valuable source of raw materials(2). Much
of the strategy focuses on the top end of
the waste hierarchy – waste prevention
and reuse(3).
FMJ and Grundon Waste Management
have run a joint survey on waste
management practices among FMs for the
last three years. One of the key findings is
that the greatest barrier to improving waste
and recycling performance is the lack of
awareness of stakeholders.
Says Scott Williams, Head of Contract
32 APRIL 2020
Management at Grundon Waste
Management: “Time and again we hear
that the inability to engage sta with the
need to recycle, combined with physical
restrictions such as lack of space for extra
bins and so on, are the biggest barriers to
increasing segregation of waste. This was
backed up by our 2020 FM survey results
showing 38.35 per cent and 24.27 per cent
respectively(4) – and it is the third time in a
row that sta engagement has topped the
list of challenges.”
Allied to this, adds Edward Griggs, Head
of Waste Supply and Subcontractors for
phs Group, is people’s frequent failure
to manage the segregation of waste and
ensure that streams such as food and paper
avoid contamination, especially if they
come from a mixed-waste environment –
whether a canteen, workplace or public bin.
He says: “To recycle e ectively, you need to
create quality waste streams and eliminate
contamination – and much of the onus to do
this is on the end user.”
Says Michael Taylor, MD of Mitie Waste:
“The biggest challenge for many of our
customers is managing waste segregation,
rather than a specific material. While many
companies used to have di erent bins
for di erent materials, this has changed
over time with many companies now
having one ‘catch all’ recycling bin which is
segregated later. People don’t always follow
the system properly, and this has created
a big challenge for waste companies.
For example, when people throw away
recyclable plastic contaminated with food,
the entire bin is contaminated.”
HOW DO YOU EDUCATE END USERS TO
RECYCLE PROPERLY?
Says Scott Williams: “We understand that for
FMs, sometimes employee engagement can
seem like yet another job to do on a neverending
list, and we’ve also been told there’s
a degree of uncertainty among employees
about what happens to the items that are
sent for recycling. This more than anything
shows why it is so important to share
positive facts and figures to help inspire
greater engagement.”
According to Jayne Kennedy, National
Marketing and Social Value Manager for
B&M Waste Services, increasing engagement
and education doesn’t just apply to
employees, but also visitors, cleaning
teams, external contractors and clients.
“Businesses should produce waste needs
signage which is universally recognised and
breaks through language barriers – clear
concise messaging about what can and
cannot be recycled and, most importantly,
a commitment to removing or reducing
waste overall.”
Interestingly, a recent YouGov survey
found a huge disparity between habits
at home, in the o ice and when out and
about(5). In fact, the public are nearly 50
per cent more likely to always recycle at
home compared to when out, and almost
twice as likely to always recycle at home
than at work. This leaves a huge amount of
materials going to waste.
Explains Edward Eagle, National
Development Manager, Veolia UK and
Ireland: “Education and outreach is
imperative in our waste mission. Aside from
operations, sustaining business continuity
and stakeholder engagement are crucial to
successful waste management, and in many
organisations this o en involves multiple
stakeholders. Facilities managers must
receive the correct support and information
to regulate sites and align all employees to
act sustainably, regardless of whether they
are in the front o ice, back o ice or are on
the ground.