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5 incredible recycling innovations of 2016

From recycling kiosks and food waste grinders to ethical smart phones, we look back at some of the most impressive innovations in the recycling industry this year.

ecoATM by Outerwall
Despite up to 80% of mobile phones components being made of recyclable materials, many end up either hidden away in drawers or at landfill when they break or the user decides to upgrade to a new model. EcoATM by Outerwall is offering a convenient way for consumers to trade in their phones for cash, on the go. The ecoATM is a kiosk machine installed at supermarkets and busy public areas where you can deposit old mobiles, tablets and mp3 players. Once deposited the machine searches online for the best possible price for your electronics and then if you agree on the price gives you cash on the spot.

BioTrans
This food waste system aims to help restaurants to reduce their food wastage in a convenient way. This system allows chefs to empty food waste and vegetable peelings directly into its tank where it grinds them up. The BioTrans tank is then periodically emptied and waste is transported to plants where it is turned into renewable biomass energy.

Fairphone
Dubbed as an ‘ethical smartphone’ the Fairphone and Fairphone 2 is now available in the UK. The phone which was launched in Amsterdam boasts a design which is focused on reducing e-waste. This means the phones are built to last longer and are much easier to repair and dismantle so that they can eventually be repurposed, rather than ending up in landfill.

Groasis
The Groasis Waterboxx, designed by Pieter Hoff, is a circular device which cleverly captures rainwater and condensation naturally available in the air. It then harnesses the rainwater and condensation to grow plants in almost any climate from California to the Sahara desert.  Hoff also plans to create a biodegradable version of the box too.

BuffetGo
The recently launched BuffetGo app is an excellent method of reducing food waste. This app works in a similar way to food delivery services like JustEat and Deliveroo, however rather than paying for food cooked specifically for you, you pay for a meal made up of leftovers from buffet restaurants that would otherwise have had to throw it away. BuffetGo estimates that they are currently saving over 240,000 portions of food from landfill each day.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Innocent Smoothies to make packaging more sustainable

Innocent, the popular maker of smoothie drinks, has revealed it will be committing to making their packaging more sustainable, launching a new 250ml recyclable smoothie bottle and lid made up of recycled plastics.

The London based company, which is owned Coca-Cola, has announced that they will be making a commitment to increase the percentage of PET in their bottles from 30% to 50%.

The company explained that one of the biggest challenges they had faced was making sure that the quality of the bottles was up to a good enough standard for sale. They are also investigating the option of using bio plastics in their bottles, another sustainable alternative to virgin-oil based plastics.

The company has also made efforts to reduce the footprint of other types of bottles including their 900ml juice carafes, which they have reduced in weight by 10%, estimated to save 1000 tonnes of carbon a year, and their cartons which are sourced from sustainably managed forests.

What is PET?
PET stands for Polyethylene Terephthalate which is a material commonly used for beverage bottles. PET can be reused into new plastic bottles but also as fiber for fabrics like carpet and clothing or for automotive parts like bumpers and door panels.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Sweden begins importing waste to keep recycling plants running

Here in the UK our recycling efforts seem to have gone a long way, putting an end to old practices of simply disposing of waste rather than successfully managing it.

However, currently in the UK we still send as much as 50% of our annual waste to landfills – a figure set to drop to 10% by 2020 but still very high when compared with some high achieving countries like Sweden.

The Scandinavian country of Sweden sources almost 50% of its electricity from renewable energy and has a strong environmental background having begun taxing fossil fuelled based businesses heavily in the early 90’s.

Incredibly Sweden now only sends around 1% of its waste to landfill which means that their recycling plants are in danger of running out of waste to process and therefore could become redundant. To solve this problem Sweden has officially begun accepting waste from other countries in the European Union who are required to reduce their landfill waste. These high-tech recycling plants are particularly important to Sweden as much of the energy created by burning the waste is put back in to Swedish homes to keep them warm during their bitterly cold winters.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Recycling Christmas waste

With Christmas just around the corner, there are a number of ways that you can reduce the impact your celebrations have on the environment.

Christmas parties, huge meals and mountains of presents almost always results in lots of wastage such as packaging, paper, food waste, cans and bottles. If you do decide that you want to get on top of your Christmas recycling then it’s important that you know what you can and can’t recycle throughout the day.

As you all gather under the tree and unwrap your presents and open cards, you should remember that all paper based and cardboard based packaging can be recycled. Foil paper and cards however cannot normally be recycled and must instead go in with your general waste.

As for all the delicious food like turkey, stuffing, mince pies and puddings, be sure to only buy what you expect to eat and never do your purchases on an empty stomach. Last year it’s estimated that 4.2 million Christmas dinners were wasted – so buy a little less this year and enjoy the savings you’ll incur. In Leicester, orange bags can be used for most food packaging such as glass bottles, cartons, drinks cans, food tins, and foil trays, cardboard and plastic containers. You can your compost vegetables but its best to put discarded meat and fish in the general waste bin. Composting meat, fish or dairy can attract pests.

If you’ve bought a real tree instead of an eco-friendly one then you’ll need to have it recycled or disposed of. Most councils tend to arrange street side collections in the surrounding weeks of Christmas for which you should enquire with them directly.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

How to make your Christmas greener


Despite the wastage that is normally associated with it, Christmas doesn’t have to be a burden on the environment.  Here are 5 ways that you can make your Christmas more eco-friendly this year.

1)    Batteries are toxic to the environment and difficult to recycle. So where possible you should look for presents which can be charged with either a USB connector or rechargeable batteries. 

2)    Consider sending an email, social media message or skipping Christmas cards all together this year. After all, it’s estimated that 1 billion Christmas cards end up bins each year across the country. What a waste!

3)    As the cost of clothing continues to plummet, we are finding that many people’s wardrobes are changing with the weather. This means that we have lots of surplus clothes that can unfortunately end up in landfill. If you are trying to have a greener Christmas this year then you should be sure to donate any old clothes that are being edged out of your wardrobe.

4)    Food waste is another big issue at Christmas time and you can certainly do your bit to cut down. You can store away any leftovers that you don’t get through, but you should also consider purchasing a compost bin to get rid of your left over vegetable peelings and other compostable waste.

5)    What would Christmas be without a Christmas tree to put presents underneath? Last year in the UK over 6million trees were purchased in the UK, many of which were thrown out after Christmas. If you purchase a real Christmas tree then always look out to make sure the roots remain, this means it can grow again. However, another solution is to simply purchase a fake Christmas tree which you will be able to reuse.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Coffee cup recycling scheme launches at Costa Coffee

One of the country’s biggest coffee chain stores is set to launch a nationwide recycling scheme to reduce landfill wastage. Costa Coffee is set to install cup collection points in a select number of their stores. These points will enable customers to drop-off their used cups in collection points at 45 outlets across the UK.

As the largest coffee chain in the UK, the company estimates that this scheme could collect at least 30 million cups a year which the company will then transport to a specialist recycling plant rather than allowing them to end up in a landfill.  The 30 million cups given as the minimum estimates comes from the existing number of take-away cups left behind in their stores each day, which is 40.

Costa Coffee is also funding research into cup recyclability programmes to make their cups more eco-friendly and donates 25p to litter charities every time that a customer uses one of their recyclable cups.

Recently, trade associations such as the Environmental Services Association (ESA) pressed for manufacturers of commonly littered items like cigarettes, fast food and chewing gum to be responsible for the cost of cleaning up litter. With this in mind, Costa are one of a number of companies who are turning their attentions to sustainability and looking at ways that they can reduce their impact on the environment. 

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Should manufacturers fit the bill for litter bugs?

Should manufacturers foot the bill for litter bugsA trade association representing the UK’s resource and waste management industry has said that transferring the cost of litter picking could save councils as much as £300 million per annum.

The Environmental Services Association (ESA) has produced a policy paper which suggests companies who create the most frequently littered products could pay for their clean up as a way of helping councils to save money.

The paper claims that councils are spending close to £800 million every year in order to clean litter from public places at a time when budgets are being cut and savings need to be made.

They highlight the problems of smoking litter, fast food litter and chewing gum which are among the most frequently littered materials in the UK. Their paper looks at ways that the producers of these materials could take more responsibility for wastage and even pay the costs of clean ups.

Some of the schemes suggested in the past include asking cigarette manufacturers to foot the bill for the cost of clean ups. This could be done by using money from existing levies to either pay the bill or run campaigns which would seek to change the behaviour of cigarette users.

This follows on from comments from MP’s last year who suggested that fast food outlets, chewing gum manufacturers and tobacco companies should pay for litter clean-ups.

What’s your opinion? Should manufacturers foot the bill for litter bugs, or should the problem be tackled in other ways? Let us know by tweeting us at @lspsltd

Find out the definitive rules on what can and can’t be recycled at home

clip_image002A new set of guidelines published by WRAP is aiming to clear up confusion over the do’s and don’ts of household recycling in England.

The new guidelines published on 12th October have been put together in consultation with a range of sources from local authorities to waste management companies and recyclers in an effort to provide a consistent message for the general public.

This follows on from WRAP’s survey earlier this year that found that two thirds of UK households admitted they were confused by recycling rules.

The new guidelines cover paper, card, mixed paper and card, metal packaging, glass packaging, plastic bottles, mixed plastics, food and drink cartons, food waste and other items in between.

It also includes extensive guidance on how to prepare items for recycling, such as rinsing out certain materials, removing lids or peeling away parts of materials which cannot be recycled.

WRAP now aims to encourage local authorities to share the new guidelines with the public so that a consistent message can be sent out to the public over recycling best practices.

The guidelines can be viewed here in their entirety: http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Recycling%20Guidelines.pdf.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Is the UK confused by recycling rules?

clip_image002Recent reports from the BBC discovered that there are serious problems in England with contaminated recycling. Reportedly as much as 338,000 tonnes of household waste was rejected from recycling facilities in 2014/15 which is an increase of 84% in the last four years.

According to the data, the worst performing areas have been those where combined refuse collections take place. This is where all recycled items are collected together rather than home owners separating them into different categories for collection. In Kirklees, West Yorkshire the rate of rejection was 14.99%, which is far higher than the national average of 3%.

However, despite the increase in rejections there has been an overall increase in national recycling rates in the past four years, rising from 10.7 million tonnes to 11 million tonnes.

With so much waste being contaminated though the question has to be asked, are households aware of what they can and cannot throw out?

Leicester Council has strict rules over the waste it will collect and the following items are banned from general waste bins:

· Aerosol cans

· Asbestos

· Batteries

· Clinical or sanitary waste

· Electrical goods, including fridge/freezer, TV monitors

· Fluorescent tubes

· Hazardous chemicals such as solvent based products, some cleaning products or items contaminated with hazardous chemicals, including used containers

· Oil, petrol, diesel or paraffin, brake fluid, antifreeze or items contaminated with these liquids including containers

· Old cathode ray tube television or computer screens

· Pesticides

· Plasterboard or cement products

· Tyres

· Wood preservatives

Leicester council also provides orange bags which can be used for some of the items not allowed in general waste. Click here for details of what can and can’t go into them.

Here at LSPS (link to: lspsskiphire.co.uk) recycling is of great importance to us and we help businesses and individuals all across Leicestershire to reduce the amount of their waste that ends up at landfill sites. Our Waste Transfer Station is open to traders and has an extensive range of state of the art equipment.

To find out how about we can help with your waste disposal needs please contact us on 0800 083 7807, or visit our website for further information.

Plastic bag charge proving a success across England

Plastic bag charge proving a successFigures have been revealed that show that the new levy introduced on plastic bags is having an impressive impact on the amount of plastic bags being used in supermarkets.

In the six month period following the introduction of charging for plastic bags, it was estimated that 640 million plastic bags were used in major supermarkets across England. However, while this figure may sound high, it is a massive reduction when compared with data from 2014 which shows that 7.64 billion bags were used that year. The current trends mean that there should be a drop of 83% by the time a year has passed.

The charge was introduced in Wales in 2011, Northern Ireland in 2013, Scotland in 2014 and England in 2015. It requires any retailer with over 250 full-time members of staff to charge 5p for a single-use plastic bag.

However, shoppers can buy thicker, reusable ‘bags for life’ which are slightly more expensive but can be returned for a free replacement when they run out.

Why are plastic bags so bad?

- Plastic bags are hazardous to wildlife such as seabirds, sea mammals and fish. The tiny particles are often ingested, and birds often become entrapped

- In England, it costs taxpayers £10 million a year to clean up plastic bag waste

- Plastic bags are inefficient; they use lots of natural resources such as oil in creation but are often used for less than 20 minutes.

- Decomposition is extremely difficult and is said to take up to 1,000 years.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Burden of fly tipping costs Leicester Council £1.7 million

Burden of fly tippingLeicester City Council has revealed that more than £1.7 million was spent on clearing illegal waste between 2010 and 2015, with over 50,000 reports of fly tipping rubbish in that same period.

The council commented to the Leicester Mercury that fly-tipping is not only “a huge drain on the council finances, it is also a massive blight on local neighbourhoods and can have a big impact on people’s lives.”

Fly tipping is illegal in the UK and at present fines can be handed out of up to £50,000 with more serious cases potentially resulting in up to five years imprisonment. However, in addition to these existing rules, Leicester Council is now planning a new project which will allow them to go after medium sized fly tippers and hand them a quick £250 fixed penalty notice. This follows changes in UK law which will hand local authorities greater powers when it comes to tackling the dumping of waste with permission to issue notices of between £150 and £400.

Leicester Council has also underlined the importance of having a valid waste carrier certificate. If you transport, buy, sell, dispose of or arrange for someone else to buy, sell, or dispose of waste then you are required to register for a waste carriers, brokers or dealers license.

Here at LSPS we support businesses and individuals with their waste disposal needs. More information about our waste recycling and disposal services can be found here or alternatively you can call LSPS on our free phone number: 0800 083 7807.

How skips can help landlords to clear flats and houses

clip_image002Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 landlords have a responsibility to dispose of any leftover waste in their properties. If they fail to do so properly they could risk serious fines and even prosecution.

In practice this means that when a tenant ends their lease or is evicted it is then up to the landlord to find a way to dispose of any items that are left behind. This applies to waste in both the interior and exterior of the house and it is usually covers the following:

· Waste that is generated from any improvements, repairs or alterations to a property

· Waste that is left behind after a tenant vacates a property

· Fixtures or fittings that have been supplied as part of the lease

· Waste that is removed on behalf of a tenant, rather than by the tenant.

While costs for clearance can sometimes be recovered from your prior tenants if pursued properly, the waste itself will still need to be dealt with either way and the best way to do this is to hire a skip.

It’s important to remember that fly tipping is a punishable offence and can lead to fines of up to £50,000, while leaving waste in the garden, front or back yard could mean smaller fines of up to £2,500. So hiring a skip to fill up with your tenants leftover waste is usually a sensible move.

Here at LSPS, we operate our own waste transfer station which means that you don’t have to separate any of your rubbish before you throw it in the skip – saving you time and money. Click here to book a skip online or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807 to discuss your needs in more detail.

Leicester business cracks eggshell waste problem

clip_image002A Leicester-based company Just Egg have claimed a massive breakthrough in finding ways to recycle industrial amounts of egg shells.

Just-Egg is a Leicester based egg processing plant run by Pankaj Pancholi. They process hard-boiled eggs which are then used in various different ways such as in salads, mayonnaise and sandwiches and they sell up to 1.5 million eggs a week – which results in lots of egg shell wastage.

While eggshells can be easily composted at home, in an industrial environment they have to be shipped to landfill as the egg waste attached to them can make them rot quickly and smell awful.

However, the process of sending leftover egg shells to landfill is expensive and impractical. So, in an effort to cut-costs and reduce wastage the company has teamed up with Leicester University to look at sustainable alternatives.

Working with the chemistry department at the University of Leicester, their team managed to find a way to separate waste egg shell from the egg white and clean it effectively which means it can now be used as plastic filler and a means of generating further income for the business.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Tackling waste at modern-day festivals

Tackling waste at modern-day festivalsWhenever a large number of people gather there is always likely to be mess left behind. Take the annual Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm for example, where over 500,000 bags of rubbish were collected by an army of 1,800 litter pickers in 2016. This reportedly cost the organisers £780,000. Whilst it is easy for a wildly popular festival like Glastonbury, where tickets sell out almost immediately, to afford to employ so many refuse collectors, it can be much harder for smaller events to manage a large scale clean-up. Here are a few strategies to tackle waste, that won’t break the bank.

Recycling exchanges
Everyone likes freebies and one way you can encourage festival goers to clean up after themselves is to give away products in exchange for a bag of rubbish. For example, Leeds & Reading Festival have been known to offer a free soft drink to each person handing in a full bag of recyclables. Another strategy is to have a small deposit in place on plastic bottles or cups which can be refunded.

Tent recycling
Festival landscapes are transformed into miniature cities overnight, with many festival goers choosing to stay in tents on the festival site, close to the music. However, with low price tents becoming more easily obtainable some people will treat their tent as disposable and leave it behind. One way to tackle this problem is to set up tent donation points near to campsites, where tents and other leftover camping supplies can be donated and perhaps given to charitable organisations to provide shelter for people in need.

Car Sharing
Another way to reduce the carbon footprint of a festival is to encourage visitors and staff to share their journey, which not only can help cut down emissions but can also save attendees money, should they decide to split their costs.

Green spaces
At some festivals, organisers set up dedicated green spaces where any littering is explicitly banned. The reason for this is that the green space then stands out amongst the rest of the festival site and sets an example of cleanliness for others to follow.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Edible beer packaging could help save ocean wildlife

Edible beer packaging could help save ocean wildlifeAn American-based brewery has discovered an innovative way of combating the damage caused by beer packaging to the sea life environment.

Florida based Saltwater Brewery has created six-pack rings for their beer cans which are made up entirely of organic materials and can be composted or ingested by wildlife, such as sea turtles, without any adverse effects.

This is great news for the marine life of our oceans, where it is estimated a hundred thousand animals are entrapped or ingest plastic and die as a result every year, with sea birds, fish, sharks and important plankton all affected.

Currently, most breweries use plastic six-rings to bind together cans of beer for transportation with Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and Polypropylene (PP) the most commonly used.

While other alternatives to plastics do exist such as cardboard carriers, they aren’t as environmentally friendly as Saltwater’s new packaging as they require trees to be chopped down. Saltwater’s packaging is made from entirely digestible materials such as barley and wheat which are leftovers from their brewing process. The brewery hopes that other beer manufacturers will follow suit and drive down the price to make LDPE a thing of the past.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Recycling batteries – why it’s important

Recycling batteries why its importantEU targets agreed to more than a decade ago mean that the countries in the European Union must be collecting and recycling at least 45% of batteries by September 2016, but why it is so important for batteries to be recycled?

Batteries are destructive to the environment
We use batteries in our homes and workplaces for a number of different reasons, using them to power everything from grooming products, to household tools and expensive gadgets. In fact there are around 200 million AA batteries sold every year in the UK.

However what you may not know is that batteries are made up from materials which can be poisonous to the environment, should they end up at a landfill.

Household batteries often contain toxic materials such as mercury and cadmium which can leak from their casings once exposed to air and water. This leakage can be very harmful to water supplies, soil and local wildlife.

What can you do?
While some supermarket chains have introduced battery bins at their stores, the best way that you can stop batteries from ending up at landfill is to reduce your consumption, something which is surprisingly easy to do.

There are a wide range of rechargeable batteries on the market that you can power up again and again without contributing to landfill waste and the harm that it can cause. Alternatively you can use ‘high drain’ batteries which will last longer and therefore drive down your consumption levels.

However, if you wish to stick with cheap throwaway batteries then be sure to drop them off at your local supermarket or other nearest battery bin so that the useful metals such as steel, zinc and manganese can be properly recycled.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS and help individuals across Leicestershire to reduce the amount of waste that ends up at landfill sites. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

Tesco to commit to food waste donation scheme

clip_image002UK supermarket giant Tesco has announced that it will commit to a scheme to donate all of their unsold food waste to local charities. Tesco has teamed up with the food distribution charity FareShare to deliver unsold food which is approaching its best-before date to charity groups across the UK.

Tesco began trialling the scheme last year in 10 stores across the UK but have now committed to a nationwide rollout of the scheme which is said to have generated 50,000 meals over the last month with food that would previously have been sent to animal feed and energy plants.

The move comes after increasing pressure on supermarket chains to tackle food waste, a trend popularised by government legislation in France which forced French supermarket chains to give away their food waste to charities.

FareShare will take surplus food from Tesco stores to their 20 regional centres across the UK where it is then divided up between over 2,000 charities including breakfast clubs, homeless hostels and women’s refuges.

We take recycling seriously at LSPS and help individuals across Leicestershire to reduce the amount of waste that ends up at landfill sites. For more information or to find out how we can help with your waste disposal efforts, please visit our website or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807.

An innovative way of recycling chewing gum

clip_image002In terms of the amount of time and money that it costs, chewing gum is among one of the most draining forms of littering for councils across the UK. The Local Goverment Association which represents councils said that the cost for cleaning up gum from pavements costs around £60 million every year and has urged manufacturers to foot the bill.

While many councils have turned to jet-washing, expensive ad campaigns and providing recycled paper sheets to fold around gum, the problem continues with councils in cities such as Manchester spending almost £40,000 on clean-up operations, removing enough gum to cover a dozen football pitches.

However, an innovative new method of tackling the problem of chewing gum waste has been revealed which involves recycling it than just removing it and send it to landfill sites.

The Gumdrop bin which was thought up by UK designer Anna Bullus promises to tackle gum litter by collecting gum in the street and recycling it into useful products.

The pink bubble shaped bins are placed in strategic spots throughout cities and towns where chewing gum is a big problem and they are shaped like pink bubbles in an attempt to encourage people to dispose of their gum in them. The gum is then recycled into a new plastic polymer called BRGP (Bullus Recycled Gum Polymer) which can be used to make a variety of products including wellington boots, mobile phone covers, stationary, packaging and more ‘Gumdrop’ bins!

For more information on waste recycling and disposal services, please visit our website or call us on our free phone number 0800 083 7807.

3 ways that you can recycle your old clothes

clip_image002Clothing consumption in the UK is rising and it is estimated by Recycle Now that the average home today owns as much as £4000 worth of clothes!

With the introduction of low cost fashion retailers such as Primark and affordable supermarket brands like George, Brits are buying more clothes than they ever have done before. The advent of low cost clothing means that many of us now have an abundance of clothes in our wardrobes which means more than £140m worth of clothing ends up at landfills. However, there is no need to be wasteful with your clothing as it’s very easy to find another home for them. Here are three ways that you can recycle your old clothes.

1 - Donate your clothing to charity

One way that you can dispose of your old shoes, clothes, coats or accessories is to take them to a charity shop. Many high street charity shops such as Oxfam, British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research will be more than happy to accept your clothes provided that the clothes are fit for purpose, clean and that they have enough room in their store.

2 – Use textile banks

Textile banks are commonly found at waste disposal sites and supermarket car parks and are a good way to get rid of unwanted clothes, particularly those which might be broken or damaged. The clothing and footwear that ends up in textile banks is often deconstructed and then used as material for other products.

3 - Make some money

Depending on the type of clothes you are selling and the quality, you may be able to make some money back by selling them online on websites like eBay, ASOS Marketplace and Etsy. You may also be able to find clothes banks in your area that will pay you according to the total weight of the clothes you provide.

Here at LSPS recycling is of great importance to us and we help businesses and individuals to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill. Contact us on 0800 083 7807 or visit our website http://www.lspsskiphire.co.uk/ to find out more about our waste disposal services and domestic skip hire.

Household waste levels rise in the UK

clip_image002The BBC has reported that household waste levels in the UK have risen in almost 60% of council controlled areas in the past three years. Councils have responded by blaming a change from weekly to fortnightly bin collections as well as green waste charges and housing growth.

In Leicester there has been an 18% increase in the average amount of residual household waste, rising from 488.56kg per household to 579kg per household. However, despite the disappointing figures Leicester City Council is among a number of councils taking steps to address the situation of falling recycling levels, such as through their Orange Bag scheme. This popular scheme has increased recycling rates in the area by 5% by replacing green recycling boxes.

Here at LSPS recycling is of great importance to us and we help businesses and individuals all across Leicestershire to reduce the amount of their waste that ends up at landfill sites. Our Waste Transfer Station is open to traders and has an extensive range of state of the art equipment.

To find out how about we can help with your waste disposal needs please contact us on 0800 083 7807, or visit our website for further information.

Tackling contaminated recycling waste

clip_image002In many areas of the UK, recycling centres are battling with the problem of contaminated recycling waste. This is where non-recyclable materials are being found mixed in with waste that should be ready for recycling. Some councils are seeing contamination levels as high as 8%.

The issue here is that sorting through recycling waste in search for contaminates is not straight forward. The waste will generally include paper, glass, cardboard, plastics and metals which are easy to spot. However, some products are made out of multiple materials such as children’s toys which are often made of both metal and plastic. On their own these materials can be recycled but when they are included in one product this is not possible.

This contamination issue has been highlighted since new legislation was introduced in 2015 which stated that recyclable waste had to be checked more thoroughly. However, the contamination issue can be prevented by making sure the right items are put in the right bins in the first place and that they are cleaned beforehand. Nappies and food waste are some of the most commonly found non-recyclable products found at recycling centres.

Most councils will accept:

· Glass in the form of clean bottles and jars

· Metal products such as clean foil, cans and food tins

· Plastics items like clean tubs, shampoo bottles and yogurt pots

· Paper and cardboard products such as clean pizza boxes, food and drink cartons

However, what can and cannot be recycled is likely to vary from council to council, so you must check first before putting items into your recycling bin. To find out what you can put in your recycling bin please visit your local county council’s website. For residents of Leicestershire please visit the Leicestershire County Council website and then navigate to your local district council website from there.

At LSPS, recycling is a major consideration of ours and we are dedicated to recycling as much as possible to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. For information on our waste recycling and waste disposal services please click here or contact us on 0800 083 7807.

Hazardous waste rules changing

clip_image002From 1st April 2016, premises that produce hazardous waste in England will no longer be required to register with the Environment Agency in order to dispose of their waste. The government has implemented this change because they are trying to reduce the amount of red tape businesses have to adhere to and therefore make the process easier.

Presently, businesses must register every year with the Environment Agency if they remove, produce or collect more than 500kg of hazardous waste. The changes from 1st April 2016 will only affect premises in England - premises in Wales will need to continue to register with Natural Resources Wales.

Additionally, the format of the consignment note will change for any quantity of hazardous waste and the old format will no longer be accepted. More information about these changes can be found here and some frequently asked questions about premises registration can be found here

In a previous blog we discussed methods of disposing and what is considered hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is defined as any product that could be harmful to the environment or humans and therefore must be disposed of correctly. This is because the chemicals can cause significant damage to soil, water supplies and the atmosphere.

Households should take any hazardous waste to one Leicestershire’s household waste recycling centres so that it can be disposed of correctly. LSPS does not dispose of hazardous waste but for information on our waste recycling and waste disposal services please click here or contact us on 0800 083 7807.

How to dispose of hazardous waste

Any product which may cause harm to people or the environment is considered hazardous. Waste of this kind can be found in both solid, liquid and gas form and fines of up to £5,000 can be issued to anyone who breaks the law by incorrectly disposing of hazardous waste.

Hazardous waste comes in many forms and a lot of items can be found within the home, such as:

  • Antifreeze
  • Brake fluid
  • Batteries
  • Paint
  • White spirit
  • Glue
  • Gas cylinders
  • Asbestos
  • Fluorescent lights
  • Pesticides
  • Insecticides
  • Weed killers

clip_image002If you wish to dispose of any products like this you should take them to your local recycling centre so they can be disposed of correctly and you should never put items of this kind in your rubbish bin or pour any hazardous liquids down the drain. Hazardous waste needs to be disposed of correctly because the chemicals can contaminate soil, the local water supply and pollute the air we breathe.

Asbestos is particularly harmful causing deadly lung diseases and up until recently it was a product that was widely used in buildings. If you discover asbestos in your home or business premises it must be safely removed by a licensed contractor and it will then be disposed of as hazardous waste. The property owner is responsible for ensuring that asbestos is disposed of safely so that the material does not endanger themselves, their family, employees or anyone else who is likely to come into contact with the material.

At LSPS we do not dispose of hazardous waste but you can take this kind of waste to one of the household waste recycling centres in Leicestershire. For more information on our waste recycling and waste disposal services please click here or contact us on 0800 083 7807.

Is recycling part of your New Year resolutions?

imageQuitting smoking, losing weight and giving up alcohol are perhaps the most common New Year resolutions. An easy to achieve addition could be to live a little greener and recycle more.

A good place to start is not to throw out your old tech equipment. Kindles, iPads, smart phones and HD TV’s are at the top of many people’s wish lists and you may have received some of these as a Christmas gift or picked up a bargain in the sales. However, you should not discard your old tech so hastily. Products such as these often contain toxic chemicals, take up a lot of room in landfill sites and most importantly may contain materials that are reusable. You should firstly consider selling the product or donating it to a charity, but if it is broken there are companies who will take it off your hands and refurbish it or strip it back for parts.

Clothing is another area you could address. If you have clothes that you are never going to wear again consider donating them to charity so someone else can benefit from them. There should be clothing & shoe recycling bins located at the majority of local recycling centres and making a donation can be a great way of freeing up some space in your wardrobe.

General household recycling is fairly straight forward once you have things prepared but you can make the process easier by buying products that can be recycled. Paper, plastic, metal and glass can all be recycled so when you’re shopping consider what the packaging is made from and if it can be easily recycled. Many products are now made from recycled materials which will be highlighted by a label and purchasing these products is a great way to limit the amount of raw materials being used.

To reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill sites, LSPS is dedicated to recycling every possible item. For more information on our waste recycling and waste disposal services please click here or contact us on 0800 083 7807 to find out how we can help.

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