Businesses operate in cities across the UK for a number of different reasons. While one company may call Liverpool home for supply chain reasons, another may benefit from its university links.
Every city differs in what sectors dominate the local economy, meaning the makeup of every city’s waste streams will be completely different, too. Whether business or domestic, local councils will create a waste management plan that aims to keep the city clean.
Unfortunately, waste management plans on this scale don’t always work for everyone. So we thought it would be interesting to compare UK cities’ waste management systems, seeing the categories where some excel, whereas others fail.
Who handles the waste?
Many councils understand it’s their duty to organise the management of household waste for their residents. But when it comes to business waste management, they tend to relinquish control and leave it to private companies. That’s the case for cities such as London, Manchester, and Liverpool. Businesses must contact and organise their waste management plans alone, hopefully signing a contract that best fits their business needs.
But this isn’t always the case. Some cities provide businesses with commercial waste management services themselves. Newcastle City Council provides commercial waste management to businesses in the city.
Meanwhile, Birmingham has partnered with private waste management company to provide a structured solution, benefiting from the professional service of a private company. An approach like this may be best for public sector organisations and educational institutions that rely on public funding.
This also affects the next factor…
Collection frequency
Some businesses create waste on a much larger scale than others, requiring more frequent waste collections to ensure effective management. If your business relies on private waste management services, you’re likely signed into a contract determining your pickup schedule based on your requirements. In cities like Manchester, Leeds, and London, this is the only option for businesses.
Manchester specifically is entirely reliant on private waste management companies, not even offering a city-wide minimum service to ensure cleanliness and tidiness.
This might fit your business well, but depending on the growth or regression of your business, you may need added flexibility to ensure your waste is handled correctly.
Newcastle supports businesses by offering 7-day collections management of general waste and 5-day a week collections of separated recyclable waste. This can be beneficial to many businesses, but it does not cover management of hazardous waste streams like GRP, clinical waste and chemicals. It’s essential to understand how your waste can, and can’t be collected. This way you can change the areas that falter, while keeping the services that work for you.
Waste streams
Certain cities lack the facilities to process and recycle waste locally, resulting in high transport costs for your business waste. Agecko can research the available waste services within your city and create a bespoke plan to reduce the carbon emissions and high costs created during transportation.
For example, Manchester does not have a central waste facility for all waste disposal, instead having 20 household waste recycling sites, however these do not take commercial business waste. Instead it must go to one of eight SUEZ sites. Having less of these sites in the city means waste has to travel further to be sustainably recycled. Businesses need to research and manage multiple streams independently.
In Leeds, a wide range of waste streams are accepted, and businesses even have access to transfer stations for specialised waste disposal. Sectors such as healthcare and science for example, can benefit from Leeds’ diverse and regulated waste management options, including hazardous waste.
Recycling
With increasing pressure on businesses to meet ESG goals, cities like Birmingham, where councils are involved with commercial business waste recycling and energy recovery, are benefiting the carbon-conscious businesses located there. By making it difficult for businesses to sustainably manage their waste, whether due to cost, transportation, or scheduling, you risk increasing carbon emissions and waste to landfill.
Conclusion
The business waste management services available to you differ completely based on where you operate. It’s important to have a waste management partner who can find the most efficient, most cost-effective, and most sustainable waste management services to help your business thrive.
Your local waste management services might be the best for your business, or they might not. They may cover most of your waste streams, but not all of them. The same goes for private waste companies too. A waste audit from Agecko can get to the source of your business’s waste streams, and create a bespoke waste management plan to ensure your waste is collected, transported, recycled and repurposed sustainably. Begin your journey to zero waste to landfill today. Contact Agecko.
