RECYCLING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
DON’T WASTE THE OPPORTUNITY
Ryan Lloyd, Editor of Tomorrow’s FM, speaks to Dr Stephen Wise, Chief Strategic Development Officer at Advetec, on why he believes the solution to staff shortages crippling the waste collection sector lies in innovation.
There are few industries that haven’t been affected by employee shortages throughout the pandemic, with spikes in consumer demand and increased levels of absence creating the perfect storm for staffing issues. From logistics and retail to education and care, employers have grappled with how to handle mass absences and the impact this has on both service delivery and the general public.
One of the latest sectors to hit the headlines due to Covid-related shortages is waste collection, with the Omicron variant causing havoc with collections and leaving overflowing bins up and down the country. Local authorities in Manchester, Essex, Somerset and Buckinghamshire have announced reduced services or a complete suspension of waste collections as a result of diminished staff numbers – a crisis which prompted the government to warn public sector leaders to prepare for a record number of employees being unable to work.
According to Dr Stephen Wise, as well as sparking debate around recruitment and calling the Covid self-isolation period into question, the issue could also be the catalyst for more innovative thinking about waste processing.
He says: “For businesses generating waste that must be collected and removed from site, particularly waste that includes organic matter, dramatically reduced collections will become untenable quickly. Not only that, overflowing bins and recycling points have the potential to pose serious risk to public health and even force some businesses to close as waste mounts up.”
Running alongside the problem of reduced collections is the journey that the vast majority of commercial waste takes. Despite increased efforts to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’, up to 50% of ‘forgotten’ commercial waste still goes to landfill or incineration. This 50% is made up of mixed residual waste – a half empty drinks bottle, a yoghurt pot or a sandwich wrapper with crusts in, for
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example. This waste can’t be segregated or sorted for recycling because it contains contamination such as an organic fraction and is therefore sent to landfill or incineration – with devastating effects on the environment.
However, by taking more responsibility for their waste, managing its treatment strategically and embracing innovation, organisations have the power to transform their green credentials – and reduce pressures on waste collectors, too. Thanks to advancements in biotechnology, organisations can reduce the mass and volume of the residual waste stream on site – which means considerably less collections are required.
Stephen continues: “Doing more to process waste on site is an optimum solution. By removing the organic fraction of mixed residual waste on-site with biotechnology, waste becomes stable – no longer impacting public health – and its mass and volume are reduced by 50% and up to 80% respectively, which makes it easier to store (and for longer) and fewer waste collections are required. While this can help to tackle staff shortages quickly, be they due to Covid or a lack of HGV drivers, it also supports longer term ESG goals as CO2 is reduced with fewer waste lorries on the road and less organic waste going to landfill or Energy from Waste plants.
“Almost two years in, the pandemic continues to remind us of the need to be agile. The UK’s waste industry is no exception. Nationwide staff shortages present real operational challenges, but they are also the stimulus to build more resilience, innovation and sustainability into the UK’s waste infrastructure. This decentralised approach to waste management not only has the power to help businesses weather the storm as Covid continues to impact society, but is an essential part of future-proofing waste management strategies and accelerating the journey to net zero.”
www.advetec.com
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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