The Official BIFM Information Service Partner

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1 The Official BIFM Information Service Partner

2 01 Introduction Sustainability and a company s environmental credentials have become ever more important, with many investors considering performance in these areas as important as financial metrics. Zero to Landfill is a concept whereby the redesign of resource life cycles is encouraged so that all products are reused and are not sent to landfill sites. It forms part of the bigger sustainability agenda which is being actively promoted across the globe. A definition which has been widely accepted used by experts in the field is: Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste eliminates all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health. [Source: The Zero Waste International Alliance] TEXT ABSTRACT Zero waste can represent an economical alternative to waste systems. In industry this process includes creating commodities out of traditional waste products, essentially making old outputs new inputs for similar or different industrial sectors. An example might be the cycle of a glass milk bottle. The primary input (or resource) is silica-sand, which is formed into glass and then into a bottle. The bottle is filled with milk and distributed to the consumer. At this point, normal waste methods would see the bottle disposed in a landfill or similar. But with a zerowaste method, the bottle can be washed, refilled, and resold. The only material wasted is the wash water and energy loss has been minimised. Zero waste can represent an economical alternative to waste systems, where new resources are continually required to replenish wasted raw materials. It can also represent an environmental alternative to waste since waste contributes a significant amount of pollution in the world. Waste itself is defined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations should include 1994 the as allocation Any substance of responsibilities which constitutes and a scrap arrangements material or for an putting effluent the or policy other into unwanted effect. All surplus of the substance arising from the application of any process and any substance or article which requires to be disposed of as being broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoiled. Problems with Landfill The concerns with landfill are numerous. Currently the UK sends approximately 48% of its waste to landfill 1. One issue is the amount of space that landfill requires and as most waste items going to landfill take hundreds, if not thousands of years to biodegrade, the space required for landfill increases year on year if there is no intervention. Decomposing rubbish gives off methane, a greenhouse gas twenty times as powerful as CO 2. Around 27% of the UK s methane emissions are from landfill 2. In addition, some medical research has linked proximity to landfill sites to lung, throat, and prostate cancers, asthma, kidney damage, and to increased risk of birth defects including cleft palate, low birth weight and premature birth 3. 1 this type is commonly referred to as Planned Preventive 2 Surrey County Council 3 PAGE 1 >BARBOUR SAFE IN OUR KKNOWLEDGE Zero to Landfill

3 Failure to move to a Zero to Landfill goal is not an option according to the EU. Communities may have concerns about the location of landfill sites, complain about the odour, which in some cases have been known to travel some distance from the source. There is also evidence that property prices can be adversely affected by their proximity to landfill sites. Failure to move to a Zero to Landfill goal is not an option according to the EU who point to the fact that the least best option is landfill, recognising that even incinerating waste and generating power/electricity or harvesting methane would be preferable. The Government s Role The UK policy on waste management is devolved to administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland within the context of the overall national policy. In England and Wales, first tier local authorities where they exist (eg city or district councils) are responsible for waste collection and county councils (or unitary authorities where there is no county council) are responsible for waste disposal. The Environment Agency is responsible for applying and enforcing waste management law. In Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is the enforcing authority. The Waste Strategy for England 2007 was published on 24 May 2007 setting out how England will address key challenges for waste policy. A revised Waste Strategy from the Coalition Government was published in May Scotland published its Zero Waste Plan in June 2010, the Northern Ireland Waste Strategy was published in 2006 and Towards Zero Waste was published by the Welsh Assembly in June As a strategy, the Government promotes product design and manufacture that enables easier upgrades, repair and recycling at end of life. This helps prevent waste and improve sustainability by reducing the need for primary production of resources. These efforts are mainly targeted at products with high carbon and environmental impacts, such as food, metals, plastics, textiles and wood. Central Government s sets targets for waste reduction and works in partnership with local authorities and business in all parts of the economy to encourage and spread best practice in waste prevention and resource management, and so reap the economic and environmental benefits for society and the economy. A key aim of the review is the decoupling of waste from economic growth and in doing so, the Government measures the amount of raw materials used and waste produced, as well as measuring the amount of raw materials used and commercial and industrial waste produced per unit of Gross Value Added (GVA) to show how quickly the country is moving to a zero waste economy. Legislation Waste management law seeks to regulate the production, re-use, recycling, recovery and disposal of waste in order to protect human health and the environment. The main legislation relating to the management of waste includes: The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 Environmental Protection Act 1990, Part II Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/1056) Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/894) List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/895) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/3538) UK legislation on waste and related matters has been formulated in part to address our responsibilities under European Directives, including: EC Directive 2006/12/EC on waste EC Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste EC Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste Directive 1993/31/EC (the EC landfill directive) provides the overarching framework for collection, transport, recovery and disposal and waste and includes a common definition of waste. The Directive requires all member states to ensure that waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health or causing harm to the environment, and includes permitting, registration and inspection provisions. It also requires member states to encourage prevention or reduction of waste production, and the recovery of waste by means of recycling, re-use or reclamation or any other process with a view to extracting secondary raw materials or the use of waste as a source of energy. One of the most far-reaching requirements is to reduce the national quantities of landfilled biodegradable municipal waste to 75%, 50% and 35% of the amount produced in 1995 by 2010, 2013 and 2020 respectively. The first of these targets has been met 4. The current target for reduction of waste to landfill in the United Kingdom as a whole is to reduce from 17,844,000 tonnes in 2013 to 12,491,000 tonnes in Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee 5 PAGE 32 BARBOUR > ENVIRONMENT, SAFE IN OUR KKNOWLEDGE Zero to Landfill

4 Businesses can cut costs by reducing landfill tax, ensure compliance with legislative requirements and contribute to environmental improvements. In each area of the UK, it is generally a criminal offence to: deposit controlled waste, or knowingly cause or knowingly permit controlled waste to be deposited in or on any land unless a waste management licence authorising the deposit is in force and the deposit is in accordance with the licence treat, keep or dispose of controlled waste, or knowingly cause or knowingly permit controlled waste to be treated, kept or disposed of in or on any land or by means of any mobile plant except under and in accordance with a waste management licence treat, keep or dispose of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health. There is also a duty of care, which requires any person in the waste chain from production to disposal to prevent any other person in the chain committing an offence, to prevent the escape of waste from his control, and to ensure that waste is transferred to a properly licensed person. Key Facts and Figures The UK generates approximately 290 million tonnes of waste per year 6 commerce and industry in England produced 47.9 million tonnes of waste in 2009, compared with 67.9 million tonnes in 2002/3 7 52% of commercial and industrial waste was recycled or reused (in England) in 2009 compared with 42% in 2002/3 8 UK recycling saves more 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year 9 landfill tax increases the costs of waste collections to business 50% of local authority collected waste generated in the UK was sent to landfill in 2010/11, compared to an EU-27 average of 40% 10 according to RecycleNow, UK recycling saves more than 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year which is the equivalent to reducing the number of cars on the road by 5 million the UK produced in 2009 approximately 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink waste, 7.0 million tonnes of which was food. In England this could generate at least 3-5 TWh electricity per year by 2020 (a heat equivalent of 6-10TWh) 11 the diversion of biodegradable wastes to AD can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill. For example, capturing the biogas from one tonne of food waste will save between 0.5 and 1 tonne of CO 2 equivalent 12 the UK water industry treats 66% of sewage sludge by AD, generating in the region of 1TWh per year of electricity in direct emissions from the waste management greenhouse gas inventory sector in the UK accounted for 3.2% of the UK s total estimated emissions of greenhouse gases in 2009, or 17.9 Mt CO 2 e compared to 59 Mt CO 2 e in Of the 2008 total, 89% arises from landfill, 10% from waste-water handling and 2% from waste incineration (these figures are rounded) 14. Benefits to Business By reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, businesses can cut costs by reducing landfill tax, ensure compliance with legislative requirements and contribute to environmental improvements. They can also meet their commitments to their sustainability objectives and maintain investor confidence. Ways to Achieve Zero to Landfill The hierarchy of waste management is as follows: 1. Reduce 2. Reuse 3. Recycle Hazardous Waste It should be noted that certain hazardous waste cannot be reused or recycled and in these cases the waste must be disposed of at correctly authorised sites. It must also meet the Landfill Directive requirements and the landfill permit conditions which include pre-treatment requirements. Hazardous waste is essentially waste that contains hazardous properties which if mismanaged has the potential to cause greater harm to the environment and human health than non-hazardous. As a result, strict controls apply from the point of its production, to its movement, management, and recovery or disposal. Examples of hazardous waste can include certain agricultural waste, asbestos, pharmaceuticals, clinical waste, oil and emulsions, certain types of sludge, batteries, paints, lacquers are varnishes. These are just a few and a complete list can be found contained within the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations Hazardous waste can also be identified as hazardous by the properties it contains and/or by the properties can render the, hazardous (for example, toxic, carcinogenic, flammable etc). The full list is also listed with the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations PAGE 3 BARBOUR > ENVIRONMENT, SAFE IN OUR KKNOWLEDGE Zero to Landfill

5 Green procurement usually goes hand in hand with waste minimisation. Hazardous waste accounts only for a small percentage of total waste arising (in 2008 around 3% of waste arising in England and Wales were hazardous waste), but the amounts of hazardous waste produced are still significant, with around 4.8 million tonnes arising in England and Wales in The Government working together with industry is aiming to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated in the UK and the hazardousness of such waste. 1. Reduce (Green Purchasing) Green purchasing is the selection of products and services that minimise environmental impacts and purchasing to promote productive use of resources and materials. This involves integrating environmental considerations into all stages of the purchasing process: from avoiding unnecessary purchases, buying products that can be recycled and which use less packaging to considering specifications for business contracts and whole life costing. Items can also be purchased with another role in mind for the item at a time when the original use of the item has ceased. Green purchasing includes not only recycled paper but most areas of business activity including construction, furniture, IT equipment, rechargeable batteries and transport. The European Commission s main guidance document is called Buying Green and is designed to help public authorities to buy goods and services with a lower environmental impact. It is also a reference for policy makers, and businesses responding to green tenders. The price of green products has often been regarded as a barrier to green purchasing. Some products may be more expensive, but many are of equal or better price than their non-green equivalents. Price often depends on supply and demand; the more that is purchased in general, the cheaper the product becomes. Specifications reflecting performance needs, comparison shopping, bulk purchase, competitive bid processes and whole life costing are the best ways to control costs. Furthermore, green procurement usually goes hand in hand with waste minimisation, meaning you use less in the first place. 2. Reuse Items are not disposed of; they are simply used for an alternative purpose or passed on to be used by others. Whilst the concept of reusing materials is more relevant to a domestic environment, it also applies to business. Computers, IT equipment and many other items such as furniture can be donated to organisations that have a need for them, for example, charity shops, schools and community centres. 3. Recycling Recycling is processing waste materials into new products and helps the Zero to Landfill concept by preventing waste of potentially useful materials and pollution from landfill. Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. Materials to be recycled can be collected from the premises or taken to recycling centres, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing. In the strictest sense, recycling of a material would produce a fresh supply of the same material - for example, used office paper would be converted into new office paper, or used foamed polystyrene into new polystyrene. However, this is often difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so recycling of many products or materials involves their reuse in producing different materials (eg cardboard) instead. Another form of recycling is the salvage of certain materials from complex products, either due to their intrinsic value (eg, lead from car batteries, or gold from computer components), or due to their hazardous nature (eg, removal and reuse of mercury from various items). Critics dispute the net economic and environmental benefits of recycling over its costs, Specifically they argue that the costs and energy used in collection and transportation detract from (and outweigh) the costs and energy saved in the production process; also that the jobs produced by the recycling industry can be a poor trade for the jobs lost in logging, mining, and other industries associated with virgin production; and that materials such as paper pulp can only be recycled a few times before material degradation prevents further recycling. Supporters of recycling dispute each of these claims, and the validity of arguments from both sides has led to enduring controversy. Composting is another form of recycling (although is also classified as waste which is reused ) whereby food and garden waste degrades into compost which can then be reused in a domestic environment but also for agriculture. Over 20 million tonnes of food waste is produced each year in the UK, with most of it going to landfill 16. This disposal comes at a cost, both to the environment and to business. In landfill, food waste breaks down to produce methane (a potent greenhouse gas) and businesses face an annuallyincreasing tax on anything they dispose of in landfill. Date of Issue: November , 16 Building materials can be reused in new buildings or given to architectural salvage yards for resale. PAGE 34 BARBOUR > ENVIRONMENT, SAFE IN OUR KKNOWLEDGE Zero to Landfill

6 Disclaimer Barbour is a trading division and trading name of UBM Information Limited (UBMi). It has published this Guide in order to help the promotion of good practice amongst knowledgeable and competent specialists in the subject covered by this Guide. By using this Guide, the user acknowledges, accepts and agrees to the following: UBMi does not give any condition, warranty or other term, or accept any duty of care or liability, in connection with the quality or fitness for purpose of this Guide, or any loss or damage resulting from reliance on it, and it excludes all these. When deciding whether or how to act, the user should always obtain appropriate professional advice and should not rely on any information, advice or recommendation in this Guide, however it has been expressed. The user is responsible for obtaining professional advice, and acknowledges that any defects in this Guide would be detected by a knowledgeable and competent specialist providing that advice. Any use of this Guide by any person is subject to UBMi s user terms for Barbour services, and by using it the user is accepting those terms, and agreeing to be bound by them, on behalf of the user and all other persons for whom the user undertakes any work. The user waives (and agrees to waive) all claims for loss or damage which it might otherwise have against UBMi in connection with this Guide other than those arising out of a liability which UBMi has for personal injury (whether fatal or otherwise) resulting from negligence. PAGE 45 BARBOUR > ENVIRONMENT, SAFE IN OUR KKNOWLEDGE Private Water Supplies Zero to > Landfill 01