FMJ.CO.UK WASTE MANAGEMENT FOCUS
APRIL 2020 33
“Our research has also found that the
most common place for people to look
to for recycling information is on the bins
themselves. Veolia is encouraging the
pairing of clearer signage across locations
with consistent labelling to ensure a
reduction in the imbalance of recycling in
the workplace.”
DO ORGANISATIONS PAY ENOUGH
ATTENTION TO THE IDEA OF REDUCING
SINGLE-USE PLASTIC WASTE?
An increasing preoccupation is reducing the
use of single-use plastic. Legislation is being
introduced to ban the supply of plastic
straws, stirrers and cotton buds(6), while the
budget included a plastic packaging tax to
come into force from April 2022(7).
Michael Taylor of Mitie believes there are
many companies who wrongly think that
just sending single-use plastics for recycling
is the answer. “The real solution is to
drastically reduce the amount of single-use
plastic used in the first place, rather than
simply increase recycling rates.
“We recently teamed up with Bidfood to
organise a series of interactive awareness
sessions for over 1,000 school pupils. They
spent time learning about the impact of
single-use plastic and created sculptures of
sea creatures out of plastic waste donated
from nine Bidfood depots. There’s nothing
like the irony of an octopus made out
of plastic bottles to hammer home the
importance of reducing single-use plastic
waste.”
Because there is also a lot of confusion
among organisations on what they should
use as an alternative to single-use plastic
bottles and plastic-coated cups, B&M Waste
run bimonthly waste training workshops
named ‘The War on Plastic’.
Says Williams: “One of the biggest
questions we are asked is should we swap
from plastic cups to a bioplastic made from
cornstarch? There is a lot of information
online and much of it conflicting in advice.
To answer this, consider where the waste
is going once the cup is discarded. For
example, can the packaging go into
recycling bins once discarded or does it go
into food waste? Can your waste provider
provide evidence that the bioplastic is
suitable for the method of collection and the
end destination?
“At the end of the day, it is still single use,
and this is to be avoided as you will still end
up paying for its disposal. The only way to
reduce all single-use waste is to provide
containers that are reusable, enforce fees
for single-use products and build into your
business a culture where reuse is rewarded
and recognised.”
Edward Eagle of Veolia says that the UK
currently fails to recycle 40 per cent of
plastic bottles because they aren’t placed
in the right bins – meaning over 240,000
tonnes of bottles are not being recycled
every year. “Reverse vending, a solution
aimed to tackle the plastic waste problem
by providing an additional incentive to
recycle, is backed by research which shows
81 per cent of people would go out of their
way to deposit a bottle or can this way.”
WHAT CAN FMS DO TO IMPROVE WASTE
MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE?
In the FMJ/Grundon survey, nearly 40 per
cent said they wanted more help
with employee education and
employment. “It’s up to all
of us in the industry to
step up,” says Williams,
who advises there
is no ‘one size
fits all’ solution
to engaging
with customers’
workforces. In
most cases a
bespoke approach
is required.
“However, there
are some common
themes which we find
help to educate employees,
assist with engagement and help
to drive improved waste management
performance.
“We believe in a partnership approach,
taking our knowledge and expertise of the
waste industry and marrying that with the
knowledge and expertise that each FM will
have of their own sector. By then working
together, we can make sure we all take the
best approach that will achieve the highest
results.”
Taylor argues that it’s all about changing
the behaviour of the people that use
their buildings and then monitoring and
measuring these changes to keep the
momentum going.
He also advises that individually assessing
the waste coming on to or being produced
at a site can lead to successful tailored
solutions.
“For one client, we installed newspaper
bins in their reception area so people could
put their morning newspaper into the
right bin as soon as they enter the o ice.
Sounds simple, but many people put
their newspaper into confidential waste
recycling without realising the impact
this has. It’s a little-known fact that
a piece of paper can be recycled
up to seven times. However,
the quality reduces with each
recycling round, so you really
want to keep the highest
paper qualities separate,
as mixing them with lower
grade paper will reduce
the quality of the newly
recycled paper, and therefore
the number of times it can be
repurposed.”
Edward Griggs says that to
Reverse vending, a solution
aimed to tackle the plastic waste
problem by providing an additional incentive
to recycle, is backed by research
recycle e ectively, you need to
which shows 81 per cent of people
would go out of their way to deposit
create quality waste streams and
eliminate contamination – and much of
the onus to do this is on the end user. He
believes education is key to achieving this.
“Waste specialists and FMs need to work
in partnership not only to provide the right
facilities and create an e icient disposal
process, but to inform and engage end users
to use them correctly.
“Motivation can also play a huge part in
achieving this. By raising awareness of the
a bottle or can this way.”