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

A 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 12^th 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?

Recent 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

Figures 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

Leicester 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

Under 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

A 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

Whenever 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.