Calls for greater collaboration to boost recycling consistency

Specialist recycling charity WRAP has called for greater collaboration efforts between UK councils, packagers and retailers in order to effectively create consistent recycling standards.

Speaking at the Collections Conference in London, WRAP special advisor Chris Mills claimed that councils in the UK currently have too many variations in the ways that they collect their recycling which make it difficult for householders to understand and put into practice.

As we discussed in our recent blog ‘Is the UK confused by recycling rules’ as much as 338,00 tonnes of household waste is rejected from recycling facilities annually across the UK. WRAP claims that this stems from householders being unsure as to what can go into their recycling bins and how best to prepare those items for recycling.

WRAP aims to bring together representatives from councils, waste management companies, packaging companies and retailers to advise on a more consistent approach to recycling rules. WRAP has estimated that the benefits of an aligned approach could lead to around £33m in savings as well as significant reductions in energy wastage and C02 emissions. 

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.

Is artificial intelligence the future of waste disposal?

A pioneering programme in the United States is showing that AI and robotics could play an important role in the future of waste disposal and recycling.

Alpine Waste & Recycling, a facility in Denver, USA has pioneered a project in which a robotic device has been proven to work more efficiently than its human colleagues. The project, which partnered with AMP robotics and the Carton Council of North America, has announced that their robotic machine was able to pick cartons at a rate of 60 per minute - 20 more than human workers found possible.

The robot, named Clarke, after sci-fi author Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, is equipped with spider-like arms and custom grippers which allows it to separate cartons fast and effectively. Designed by AMP robotics founder Matanya Horowitz the robot is able to quickly identify and pick contaminated objects out of the assembly line that are classed as unsuitable and could contaminate a batch of recycling.

This latest robotic trial follows on from Apple’s success with recycling robot ‘Liam’ who currently dissembles 1.2 million phones every year for the tech giant. Apple’s pioneering robotic worker helps to disassemble a variety of apple products extracting valuable aluminium, copper, platinum, silver, tin and gold reducing the need for mining of precious materials.

Where traditional types of sorting technology would rely on coding for it to differentiate between contaminated and uncontaminated materials, robotic systems are able to learn from example and can begin to understand what to look out for by learning from sample materials.

While in theory robotics could be an enormous help in the UK too, where recycling rates have been getting worse, critics are quick to insist that robotic aids remain expensive and cannot yet handle the complexities of waste management.

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.

How to profit from your spring cleaning efforts

Spring cleaning is often traced back to the Iranian Norouz, which is the Persian New Year. On this day Iranians would take part in ‘khooneh tekouni’ which roughly translated means “shaking the house”. Today, spring cleaning is a proud tradition in the UK too and a fantastic way to make your home more peaceful and calm. However, the benefits don’t end at making space. With the rise of online selling sites, more and more people are earning cold, hard cash from the clutter found around their homes.

Cashing in on spring cleaning
In the past car boot sales and garage sales were one of the only ways to get rid of your unwanted belongings locally. While both methods of selling your junk still remain popular, nothing has quite caught on so much in the past few years as the idea of online selling.

Online classifieds
There are numerous websites online where you can sell items from your home. Websites like Gumtree.com allow you to post classified ads with photographs and detailed descriptions to entice buyers. Once you’ve sold an item it is then up to you to arrange a pick up or post your item to the person who has purchased it. Alternatives to Gumtree include PreLoved and Craigslist which are both popular and largely free to use.

Online auction sites
An alternative model to classified ad websites is to use an auction website like eBay known as the ‘World’s Online Marketplace’. Founded in 1995 by French-born Iranian-American computer programmer Pierre Omidyar, eBay today has 167 million users and over 1 billion live listings at any one time. It’s an easy to use website, with minimal fees and an easy to understand model and you may be surprised at what you can actually sell on there.

Specialist sites
Whether its artwork and paintings, gym equipment or musical instruments there is a whole network of websites online where you can sell to specific audiences. If you have an item which you’ve been struggling to sell on a site like eBay which has a massive audience, you may find that you can gather more interest from hunting down a forum or specialist seller website which caters for your specific niche. An example of this is the website Etsy which deals specifically with handmade items. 

Social media
A newcomer to the world of second hand sales is Facebook. Facebook recently launched Facebook Marketplace as an attempt to take on popular companies like eBay & Gumtree. Facebook users have been creating local ‘groups’ and selling items to people nearby for a long time now but their new mobile App makes the process even easier. It allows users to easily buy, sell, trade and barter for items with fellow users.

What to do with everything else?
While it would be nice to think that there is a buyer out there for every piece of junk you find in your home the sad truth is that it can often be harder than you might think. In particular items which are easily available, low cost or broken are not always a straight forward sale and rather than cluttering up your home, or ending up in landfill, should be disposed of in a skip and sorted by a qualified waste management service.

Here at LSPS we have a range of different sized skips to help you with your spring cleaning. Click here to book a skip online or call us on freephone 0800 083 7807 to find out more.

New app helps food suppliers to make use of their food waste

In a week that 40 environmental organisations called for food waste across Europe to be halved within the next 15 years, it seems some progress is already being made.

Supermarket giant ASDA, has launched a new mobile app which provides a platform for suppliers to market their food waste to other people who may find a use for it. The app, which works as an online marketplace, allows for suppliers such as restaurants to pass on leftover ingredients, uneaten waste or vegetable trimmings to others who will be able to find a use for it, rather than it ending up in landfill.

The app, which was launched yesterday at ASDA’s yearly Sustain and Save Exchange conference, aims to battle food wastage in the UK and highlighted the supply chain as one of the biggest offenders, with as much as 45% of food waste coming from it. ASDA hopes that the app will encourage industry leaders to find new uses for their surplus waste by providing a central platform for them to share and trade their waste.

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.

UK economy could gain billions from resource efficiency

New research has suggested that the UK economy could add as much as £76.9billion in value by 2030 if it chose to be more efficient with its resources.

A report by the Aldersgate Group titled ‘Amplifying action on resource efficiency’ has suggested that if the UK was to become more efficient with its materials then it could reduce its carbon and environmental impact while simultaneously boosting productivity and competitiveness.

Drawing its findings from 26 pilot projects in the UK and the Netherlands, the report claims that these projects were able to deliver close to £5m in financial savings through reduced materials consumption and also able to significantly cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

Resource efficiency involves the sustainable management and usage of raw materials and resources throughout their entire life cycle and adopting production and consuming habits that are in line with the physical limits of the planet. Studying these findings, the Aldersgate Group, which includes companies like Sky, Marks & Spencer’s and IKEA, has suggested that adopting resource efficiency models could boost the GVA of the UK by £76.9 billion.

Do you think these new findings will encourage businesses in the UK to adopt a less wasteful approach to their use of materials and resources? Tweet us at @LSPSltd to let us know your thoughts.

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.