The future of waste management: there is no waste


By Ian Wakelin, CEO, Biffa


Increased legislation and increased landfill costs have led to more people recognising the value of waste and rapid development of markets for recycled material. What’s needed now is speedy development of the infrastructure and technology to realise the value of that waste, says Biffa’s chief executive Ian Wakelin.


With increasing legislation and rising costs it’s perhaps not surprising that businesses are thinking more and more about what happens to their waste. If nothing else, they want to protect themselves from long-term cost increases as landfill tax continues to escalate by £8 a tonne per year.


But there is more to it than simply meeting obligations and safeguarding against rising landfill costs: there is a huge opportunity out there to realise the true value of waste. The term ‘waste’ itself is becoming redundant as new uses for our materials – from new materials to renewable energy – develop.


Gone are the days when people did very little in the way of recycling, both at home and work. Most waste materials can be recycled – it’s just a matter of markets developing to the point where it is commercially viable. And the drive amongst businesses of varying sizes towards achieving the elusive ‘zero waste to landfill’ is more prominent than ever before. Big businesses are already showing their customers they are committed to sustainable practices. Consumers are demanding it, customers are demanding it, and there is an overall desire to ‘do the right thing’. But how do they ‘do the right thing’?


Traditional recycling For some time now, ‘Dry Mixed Recyclables’ (DMR) – cardboard, paper, metal cans and plastic bottles –have become mainstream. Whether it’s separated at source or co-mingled, the same materials are being collected at the kerbside or offered at bring banks. Now the focus is changing towards businesses. People are used to recycling at home now, so they want to be able to recycle at work as well.


And its not just big businesses that can divert large amounts of waste from landfill. Small businesses can do it too. Biffa prides itself on offering tailored solutions for its customers which truly meet their needs. Waste is complex after all: there is no one size fits all solution for all businesses.


Co-mingled vs source segregated Collecting these items co-mingled or source segregated is a much debated issue. At the end of the day the most important thing is to separate these dry recyclables from the rest of the residual waste, and make it as easy as possible for people to do so. Research has shown time and time again that making it easy for people drives increased recycling rates. For example, Biffa’s ‘big Red bin’ service for schools and offices makes it straightforward for staff and children to recycle a whole range of materials including cardboard, paper, magazines, metal cans and plastic bottles.


Some claim that co-mingling reduces the final quality of recyclables as processed at materials recycling facilities (MRFs). Biffa is devoted to creating a high quality recyclate and to achieve this has invested many millions of pounds in state-of-the-art MRFs. Our ‘super’ MRFs across the country are highly sophisticated and use a variety of technologies to separate the waste into single material streams which are of a very high quality. In terms of plastic we are taking it to the next level. We don’t just separate it out from other materials. We are able to separate the mixed plastics into different types and colours at our dedicated Biffa Polymers facility too, creating a high quality and high value secondary material. We offer co-mingled collections to all of our customers because it works. Our customers like it because of its ease of use and it saves space. We like it because it lifts recycling tonnage. And in terms of quality our MRF- sorted comingled recyclates sell for the same price as source segregated material. So it’s clear that either way produces high quality standards.


New markets Recycling DMR has been mainstream for some time, and even though there is still more to do in terms of increasing collection and recycling rates, there are new markets which until recently were relatively vacant. The push towards 100% landfill diversion is driving the development of technology to recycle or recover as much value as possible from other types of waste which traditionally have not been recycled. Big on the agenda at the moment is the matter of food waste. And with an estimated 15 million tonnes of food waste thrown away by the UK each year – half of which


ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE |137|


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