Waste management: realising the opportunities!

22 Jun 2018

Scottish businesses spend on average a whopping £7,000 a year on waste. This is why the production and management of trade waste is constantly highlighted as a key issue of concern. No business wants to spend more than necessary on anything, so it makes sense to look at ways of preventing or reducing waste generation at source by reviewing existing waste management practices. This will help you not only make savings on waste collection costs, but identify additional opportunities to achieve savings on raw material costs.

Since the introduction of the new waste legislation, businesses have faced many challenges in order to comply with the changes, mainly in terms of increased waste costs or lack of space to accommodate bins, however the many benefits and opportunities that have arisen as a result of these changes should not be overlooked or underestimated as businesses can save money and become more efficient by reducing waste and dealing with any remaining waste more effectively, in addition to making a contribution towards helping the environment.

The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 require businesses to comply with the following:

• All businesses, public sector and not-for-profit organisations are required to present metal, plastic, glass, paper and card (including cardboard) for separate collection from 1 January 2014.
• Food businesses (except in rural areas) which produce over 50 kg of food waste per week to present that food waste for separate collection from 1 January 2014.
• Food businesses (except in rural areas) which produce over 5 kg of food waste per week to present that food waste for separate collection from 1 January 2016.
• A ban on any metal, plastic, glass, paper, card and food collected separately for recycling from going to incineration or landfill from 1 January 2014.
• A ban on biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill from 1 January 2021.

To comply with the above regulations as well as identify and realise the available opportunities, Zero Waste Scotland have developed an Improving Waste Management: How-to Guide for Business Groups. It equips trade associations and other business support with the tools to carry out their own waste management review among individual businesses of all sizes to identify cost saving opportunities and improved practices.

The guide takes you through the steps of collecting and analysing waste data from businesses, identifying and prioritising opportunities for action, in addition to providing you with lots of useful tools, templates and further guidance along the way to turn opportunities into reality.

It goes without saying though that the old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ is still very relevant; whereby preventing waste in the first place reduces waste costs even more.

For further information on how to reduce waste, visit the Resource Efficient Scotland website.

Alison McRae, Senior Director, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce