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?

A 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