SOCIAL - BLOG
IWFM Rising FMs - On the 18th May, in
celebration of Facilities Show and all
things FM, Rising FMs are hosting their
own networking event at the Novotel Hotel,
just a stones throw from the Excel! To book
your ticket please follow https://lnkd.in/
ePCTzpeE
@CIBSE What does the Building Safety Bill
mean for you? CIBSE launch new training
designed to support building services
professionals in preparing for and complying
with the most significant reform to building
regulations in 50 years. Find out more via
https://buff.ly/3KsnM24
Nigel Lucker linkedin.com/in/nigel-lucker-
21a45914 Director of Estates and Facilities
at the University of Suffolk WORLD FM
DAY 2022 What are you planning to do to
celebrate this year’s #WorldFMDay2022
on 11 May?? This year looks at
#Leadingasustainablefuture to acknowledge
the fabulous role facilities managers play
as change agents in this area. World FM
Day on 11th May gives you all the chance to
celebrate with your front line FM teams and
senior leadership teams and to thank them
for the great work that they do. Don’t let the
chance pass you by…. Get planning…
@mitie Mitie has launched its new @
MitieCleaning Centre of Excellence. Made up
of six zones, it demonstrates best practice
in the sector, from UV light disinfection
systems and robotics to enzyme cleaning
products. http://wearemit.ie/mrR750IUkiB
#MitieCleaningHygiene | #Innovation | #CHCE
Neil Usher @workessence It’s funny how the
office is the easy target – everything that’s
wrong with an organisation – and the easy
fix, renovate it and everything will be alright
– when in reality neither is true.
ICE @ICE_engineers We’re joining @theCIOB,
@talklandscape, @RIBA, @RICSnews, and
@RTPIPlanners in committing to collaborate
to create more #diversity, #equality and
#inclusion in the #BuiltEnvironment sector.
Find out more about the signed memorandum
of understanding. https://bit.ly/38rYl3k.
18 MAY 2022
BLOG FROM OWEN GEORGE, DIVISIONAL COMMERCIAL & RESOURCE
STRATEGY MANAGER AT GRUNDON WASTE MANAGEMENT
SUSTAINABILITY
IS ABOUT MAKING
GOOD DECISIONS,
YOU JUST NEED TO
DIG A BIT DEEPER
When facilities managers are tasked
with how best they can meet their
organisation’s environmental goals,
they will invariably be shown a plethora
of interesting and innovative options that
promise the earth – in all senses of the word.
As with many things, it’s not always that
simple.
Long-term changes that really deliver practical
solutions are about so much more than signing
on the dotted line and embracing new ideas
– compostable, biodegradable or disposable
packaging and products to name just a few.
These products may be made from materials
such as sugar starch, palm leaves, wood pulp or
other plant-based materials, but how easy is it in
reality to dispose of them?
If you do your homework first, you’ll actually
find out that limited treatment facilities do exist,
but they may well be hundreds of miles away
– adding, of course, to your carbon footprint
as you have to transport the products to take
them there. And what about the value of those
materials? You are presumably paying a premium
price to ‘go green’ but then you’re dipping into
your budget for their waste treatment, both
financially and environmentally. Not as viable a
solution on either count.
Contrast that with products made from PET
(polyethylene terephthalate), one of the most
commonly used plastic packaging materials in
the world. Right now, PET is worth around £550
per tonne – its value has doubled recently, driven
by supplier demand and the plastics tax. The
beauty of PET is that it is 100 per cent recyclable
and it can be used over and over again. Even
better, depending on volumes and providing the
plastic is clean and correctly segregated, it can
earn you money back from your waste collector
in the form of a rebate.
As a waste management services provider, we
are not evangelical about plastic – and of course
we tread the fine line of self-interest – we too
are on a continuing journey towards improving
our own environmental credentials, something
we take very seriously. What we do know and
understand however, is that sometimes using
a product which is tried, tested and totally
recyclable may provide a better solution.
Packaging is another hot topic right now and
it will be interesting to see what happens with
the arrival of next year’s Extended Producer
Responsibility (EPR) legislation (part of the
Owen George, Grundon Waste Management
Government’s new Environment Bill). Designed
to reform existing UK Packaging Waste
Regulations, it means packaging producers will
pay the full cost of managing packaging once
it becomes waste. The idea is to encourage
producers to use less packaging and more
recyclable materials, thereby reducing the
amount of hard to recycle packaging on the
market and cutting the amount of fossil fuels
used to produce it.
Depending on the recyclability of the
packaging used, businesses will have to pay a
modulated fee to take account of its higher (or
lower) level of recycling di iculty. Much of the
packaging we see currently features materials
such as multi-polymers and inner and outer
labels that either can’t be recycled or requires
very specialist treatment. Remember the
fuss over what became known as the ‘waste
mountain of co ee cups’, which highlighted
the fact some seven million takeaway paper
co ee cups are thrown away every day because
their waterproof lining means they can only be
recycled at specialist facilities.
I see EPR as being the most significant change
in recycling governance since the introduction
of the Landfill Tax and the impact it is likely to
have on both the types of materials and the
value of recyclables in the marketplace will be
profound. It is so radical that it is causing a huge
amount of uncertainty, and there’s no doubt
additional investment will be needed in sorting
and capturing facilities to handle the increased
collection streams. As a business we continue to
invest in new and innovative ways to handle such
changes.
For facilities managers, the decisions they
have to make in the drive towards improving
sustainability will continue to become more
complex and the challenges of making the right
decision will be many and varied. Very o en
there is no completely right answer – which is
why it’s important to ask questions, to talk to the
real experts who really understand the best way
to treat all these fancy new materials, and invest
in long-term solutions rather than quick hits.
Owen George will take part in the Facilities
Show workshop session: Sustainability in FM and
achieving Environmental, Social and Governance
3:00pm - 3:45pm Wednesday 18th May.
ADVICE & OPINION
/mrR750IUkiB
/3KsnM24
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/38rYl3k
