All posts by Alasdair

Albion’s ABC’s of Waste Management – D

Duty of Care

As a business, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that you produce, store, transport and dispose of your business waste without harming the environment. This is called your Duty of Care.

Your Duty of Care has no time limit and you are specifically responsible for your waste from when you produce it until you have transferred it to an authorised person. It also extends across the entire management chain of your waste. You must:

  • Segregate, store and transport your waste appropriately and securely, making sure that you do not cause any pollution or harm to human health.
  • Check that your waste is transported and handled by people or businesses that are authorised to do so.
  • Complete waste transfer notes, including a full, accurate description of the waste, to document all waste you transfer, and keep them as a record for at least two years.

How can Albion Environmental help your business?

  • Classify your waste in accordance with WM3 guidance to enable an accurate description and European Waste Catalogue code to be applied.
  • Sample waste soils, aggregates and fines to enable them to be classified, stored and handled appropriately.
  • Undertake waste audits and process reviews to ensure your waste is being managed in accordance with your Duty of Care obligations.
  • Aid in the development of a waste and resource management plan for your business or site to help minimise waste volumes and maximise the reuse and recycling of resources. 

For further information about the Duty of Care Regulations and how Albion can help please do not hesitate to contact andrew@albion-environmental.co.uk.

Scotland’s Landfill Ban – are we really ready?

The 2021 Biodegradable waste to landfill ban is rapidly approaching with less than 26 months before it is implemented, but is Scotland really ready?

The current industry consensus is that there is a shortfall in alternative capacity of 900,000 tonnes in the first year. It may end up being less than this once the exact definition of “biodegradable waste” is fully understood but it also may be much more than this if some of the Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities hit construction and commissioning delays. But let’s assume the shortfall is 900,000 tonnes per annum, what are the possible options for the waste industry in Scotland.

Well assuming no new capacity for EfW or compliant treatment facilities come on stream before 2021 (this will be highly unlikely as they would need to be in the construction phase by now to be ready by 2021) there are really just two options –

  • Refuse derived fuel (RDF) – produce RDF and export to mainland Europe. The total RDF exported from the UK to Europe in 2017 was 3,201 thousand tonnes. This is a slight decline in 2016 figures (3,213 thousand tonnes) and a decline in the rate of increase of RDF exports has long been predicted as more opportunities arise on the domestic energy from waste market and incinerators in Europe begin to reach capacity. Added to this is the forthcoming complications and uncertainty with BREXIT.
  • Landfill in rest of the UK – this would be the only other viable alternative.

So looking at each option in turn, what are the issues

  • Scotland’s share of the RDF market has historically been limited. It is difficult to obtain publicly available figures but estimates from RDF producers in Scotland is it is limited to a few hundred thousand tonnes of RDF per year. To meet the shortfall we will need to increase capacity by a magnitude of three or four times. Not just at the facilities where RDF is produced but also port facilities for storage prior to shipment. Also to meet this requirement would require a further 257 shipments (5 per week) of circa 3,500 tonnes per shipment.
  • Even if an increase in capacity was possible would there be viable markets, what would be the cost (Facilities in Europe would know that Scottish companies had little or no alternative) and will export of RDF even be permitted under BREXIT changes.

The more likely scenario is that waste would be exported for disposal to north of England, however similar problems would exist –

  • Can sites in north England cope with additional 900,000 tonnes per annum of waste?
  • What gate price are they likely to charge knowing full well that Scottish companies had little or no alternative?
  • Additional haulage cost probably in region of £15/25 per tonne depending on location of landfill sites
  • England and Wales landfill tax rate for first three months of 2021 will be £94.15, probably increasing to over £100/tonne from 1st April 2021. So for simply figures 900,000tonnes at £100/tonne = £90million pound landfill tax. So £90million per annum to HMRC rather than to Revenue Scotland (circa £17 cost to each person in Scotland).  

And let’s not forget about the environmental impact of shipping 900,000tonnes of waste across the country. An additional 45 thousand bulk vehicle movements per annum, working out at just under 1,000 vehicle movements per week and the associated emissions.

So in answer to the question posed – “Scotland’s Landfill Ban – are we really ready?” the simple answer is no.

The most effective , efficient, logical and sensible option would be to delay the ban until the requisite infrastructure is in place.

If the ban is not delayed, the much harder question is what can we do to comply with the landfill ban without imposing a significant economic burden on the people and businesses in Scotland?

For all your waste management requirements including Landfill and RDF contact Albion Environmental on 01292 610 428 or  info@albion-environmental.co.uk

New Office

Three years since we moved to our new offices. The new offices were chosen to accommodate our growing team and we have grown so much since our move. We also have a classroom training facility/meeting room which is available to rent. For further information please contact Gail on 01292 610428

office buildingTraining Room

Congratulations to IOSH Managing Safely Candidates

IOSH

Albion Environmental Ltd recently delivered an IOSH Managing Safely 4 Day Course at our training centre in Ayr.  We are delighted to announce that all the below candidates have successfully achieved this award and will be issued with their official IOSH certificates.

Jim Brown – Talisker Bay International Ltd

John Gamble – South Ayrshire Council

James Gillespie – South Ayrshire Council

Natalia Lozano – Albion Environmental Ltd

Steven McIver – Damm Environmental

Robin Murray – Ekko Glass

Albion deliver various courses please follow the below link to our training calendar or call Gail Martin on 01292 610428 for details.

https://www.albion-environmental.co.uk/events-calendar

Scottish Recycling Fund

The Scottish Recycling Fund is a limited fund (£3.8M over 3 years) that has been established by Zero Waste
Scotland and Scottish Enterprise to develop or expand:
• sorting, reuse/repair and reprocessing capacity for eligible waste materials in Scotland
• remanufacturing facilities in Scotland

Waste Materials Eligible for the fund;
• Plastics
• Tyres
• Textiles
• Glass
• Industrial food & drink processing waste
• Waste electrical and electronic equipment
• Plasterboard

The fund is able to offer loans, repayable over a 3-5 year period on commercial terms, to organisations that are interested in developing the relevant infrastructure in Scotland. While loans are primarily for capital investment, they can include working capital.

Who can apply?
Any business that is seeking to develop material sorting, reuse /repair, reprocessing and remanufacturing infrastructure in Scotland can apply, provided the project meets the following criteria:
• it contributes towards the building of additional sorting, reuse/repair or reprocessing capacity for an eligible waste material (as listed above) or towards the establishment of additional remanufacturing capacity
• it diverts eligible waste material from landfill or energy recovery; OR it will produce high value products from eligible waste materials; OR it will produce certified remanufactured products
• a proportion of the eligible waste materials to be recycled are from the Scottish waste stream
OR, for remanufactured products, supplied from Scottish businesses
• funding is required for purchase of assets (but can be for working capital)
• the infrastructure funded will be in Scotland
• Projects are ineligible if an interest is held in it by any individual employed by Zero Waste  Scotland or Scottish Enterprise.

What kind of projects can be funded?
Priority projects are those which add value to materials/products in Scotland and make a significant contribution to the overall objectives of the fund listed above.

Projects which divert materials for energy recovery, for example contaminated plastics to oil facilities will be considered, but these will be lower priority. Applications for energy recovery projects will, as a minimum, need to provide evidence that they target only those materials that cannot be economically recycled higher up the waste hierarchy.

Some simple examples of eligible projects are as follows:
• Separation and reprocessing of plastic from waste electrical equipment into new products
• Enhancing reprocessing of plasterboard to produce recycled material suitable for inclusion in plasterboard products or other applications (such as road surfaces)
• Setting up a WEEE reuse and repair facility
• Installing an anaerobic digestion facility at a dairy to process the effluent and generate renewable energy
• Developing a new remanufacturing facility for diesel engines

What are the terms of the loan available?
• Applicants will be eligible to apply for one loan per project.
• The extent of any loan offered will be subject to the specific circumstances of the applicant, and in any event will be for a minimum of £50,000 and a maximum of £1.9m. The maximum loan term is five years.
• Loan applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis and charged a commercial rate of interest.
• ZWS will work with companies to identify potential projects which meet the fund objectives and, where appropriate, refer to Scottish Enterprise for their consideration for funding.
• Scottish Enterprise will have responsibility for administering the fund and undertaking the
• commercial transactions including: assessing loan applications, undertaking due diligence, making loan decisions and awards and managing repayments.

How can you apply?
Please follow the link to access the Expression of Interest Form and Zero Waste Scotland will contact you within five working days to discuss your proposed project.

http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/scottish-recycling-fund-eoi

Loan funding is not the only support available to businesses wishing to develop a project. Both Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Enterprise can offer additional support to help you progress your project. This could include helping you to shape your funding proposition, providing technical advice, or potentially offering small grants.

Albion Environmental Consultancy
Albion Environmental Ltd provides a comprehensive service to assist clients in gaining grants and support funding. Depending on the area and size of the company grants can be secured for capital expenditure, operational costs and to provide assistance with staff training. For more information about our services, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we will be happy to help.