The Waste Framework Directive details how it would like businesses to look at their waste streams. This has been introduced to help companies think more carefully how they deal with waste. They would like companies to put more of a priority of how it is dealt with. By recycling, recovery, using it to create energy and disposing of items so they do not end up in a landfill site.
If you produce, import, collect, transport, recover or dispose of waste or you operate as a waste dealer or broker then Regulation 12 of WEWR states that you must “take all reasonable measures to apply the waste hierarchy when the waste is transferred”. If you have an environmental permit for a job that creates waste, the permit conditions stipulates that you apply the waste hierarchy.
There are ways in which you can save money:-
- Reduce – avoid unnecessary material coming into your business in the first place. You could have a meeting with your supplier in order to change the packaging, design or weight
- Reuse – the reuse of certain packaging’s e.g. Cardboard boxes or wooden pallets
- Recycling – most materials can be recycled now e.g. Woods, metals, plastics, cardboard & paper etc.
- Recovery – this could be that if you have wood chippings a local biomass company would be grateful for the supply of fuel
- Disposal – If you cannot recycle then sending waste materials to landfill sites which is the least green option.
This information is taken from our monthly Environmental Advice newsletter, sent to all Hawksafe clients, via email. This month’s newsletter also covers current issues relating to these topics:
- Waste carrier licenses
- Paper recycling
- Renewable heat installations (RHI)
- Biomass boilers