Business excellence through resource efficiency (betre): An evaluation of the UKs highest recruiting, facilitated self-help waste minimisation project

The business excellence through resource efficiency (betre) project aimed to increase awareness of the benefits of waste minimisation for SMEs in West Sussex, South East England. The programme was run by the West Sussex Sustainable Business Partnership, a collaboration of all West Sussex Local Authorities, the Environment Agency and EcoSys (a service provider). Betre provided a range of free business support and advice over an 18-month period including; workshops, newsletters, audits, grants and a technical Helpline. Information on environmental compliance and Best Practice for waste minimisation, recycling, energy and water efficiency was disseminated. All activities were linked with the UK government's Best Practice programmes. Although company recruitment was initially slow, betre was ultimately extremely successful at attracting companies to join; with 308 recruited. This is probably the most successful recruitment to a project, of this type, in the UK to date. Over half of the business members became actively involved and attended training events or had environmental audits. There were over 200 improvement actions identified by 64 of the participating companies. These resulted in estimated cost savings of at least £215 000 per annum. In addition, actions taken to prevent pollution and ensure compliance with environmental legislation have the potential to save businesses a further £204 000 in possible penalties. The environmental impact of the project has been significant, with reductions identified in waste (1437 tonnes), water (62 933 m³) and energy (15 million kW h—equivalent to 668 tonnes CO₂). In addition to actions with directly measurable results, betre has stimulated long-term benefits by addressing pollution prevention and compliance, through the formulation of environmental policies and from the adoption of Environmental Management Systems. One of the key learning points is that it may have been better to devote less time to running training events and instead to have diverted this time to increased business support, mainly through audits. To capitalise on this success, a new project is being planned to disseminate Best Practice.     

Analysis of the role of waste minimisation clubs in reducing industrial water demand in the UK

As a result of the UK Government's waste policy, which increasingly encourages sustainable development, and the realisation that water in the UK cannot be treated as an unlimited resource, there is growing interest in reducing the demand for water by industry. A series of industrial waste minimisation clubs have been set up within the country. This paper identifies the effectiveness of these clubs in reducing the demand for water. An overview of some of the clubs show how there is a major discrepancy between potential and implemented water savings, whilst a more detailed analysis of three specific examples show how water demand and cost to the company can be reduced, with the project paying for itself within around 1 year. It appears that companies are able to reduce water consumption by approximately 30%. If this level of saving was taken up by the entire industrial sector in England and Wales, water consumption could be reduced by approximately 1500 Ml/day. This reduction would be more significant in regions of lower rainfall, for example East Anglia and Southeast England.     

English county councils and their agenda for waste minimisation

Minimisation is the top priority of the waste management hierarchy, which is one of the guiding principals for national solid waste management planning throughout the developed world. As such it should be encouraged as a means for reducing wastes which require treatment and disposal, whether they be household, commercial or industrial in source. This paper suggests that minimisation is not being given the necessary policy frameworks or legislation within which to develop in the UK, and questions whether minimisation is being afforded the respect and attention, from all levels, that is due the most preferable waste option according to the hierarchy. This theme is investigated by surveying the county councils of England as a representative sample of waste disposal authorities in England, and former waste regulation authorities. They are responsible for guiding local and district waste policy and are the regional waste planners in the UK. If they are not seriously taking on board the message of minimisation, then there is little chance that it will succeed without further legislative developments. Some 59% of English counties have a minimisation policy, whilst only 47% have participated in and supported a minimisation programme or trial within their region. The majority of these developments have occurred within the last three years, and 78% of counties who have participated in a programme have found it a successful venture. By 1999 79% of English counties will have been actively involved in a minimisation programme in their region, which is a positive scenario. This trend must continue if waste minimisation is to become the key theme of future sustainable waste management in the UK as was intended by declarations at the Rio '92 conference and in subsequent UK Government policy and strategy.     

Waste minimisation in practice

One of the major hindrances to waste minimisation on a construction site is the difficulty in establishing a methodology and using this methodology to benchmark future construction projects. This paper introduces SMARTWaste, a software tool that has been used to audit, reduce and target waste arisings on a construction site. This tool tries to link the construction process and the waste hierarchy. That is reducing waste on a construction site rather than landfilling it. Three applications of the SMARTWaste software will be discussed using case studies from three different types of construction. An evaluation of these case studies shows that, by implementing a waste minimisation scheme on-site, you can improve material recovery for reuse. Also, by using the waste arisings as a benchmark you can reduce your waste arisings on future sites. Application of SMARTWaste or a similar waste minimisation tool on a wider basis could reduce waste arisings and could result in a built environment that consumed less natural resources and energy, and also produced less pollution and waste. Such a built environment would be environmentally and socially more responsive and responsible.     

Monitoring the dispersal of contaminants by wildlife at nuclear weapons production and waste storage facilities

Professor of wildlife biology in the department of biological sciences, California State University. Dr K. Shawn Smallwood is a systems ecologist and may be contacted at 109 Luz Place, Davis, CA 95616, USA. Dr Jan Beyea is a physical scientist with Consulting in the Public Interest, 53 Clinton Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530, USA. The US Government produced and acquired approximately 111 t of plutonium in support of its nuclear weapons programme. Verified reports of the loss of nuclear material into the environment, including loss by animals, has raised questions regarding the monitoring programmes in place on the nuclear facilities. Given these concerns regarding the fate of stored nuclear waste, the authors conducted a review of the wildlife monitoring programme used at nuclear weapons and storage facilities by (1) reviewing the key facets of the monitoring used at the facilities, (2) evaluating published and unpublished data from the facilities and (3) incorporating data from personal site visits. The study concentrated on the Department of Energy's Hanford Reservation in rural south–central Washington and the Rocky Flats Plant in central Colorado. Based on the review, it is concluded that an improved and rigorous environmental surveillance and monitoring programme is needed at both locations. The site surveys identified frequent instances of intrusion into burial sites by animals, most of which had gone unreported by Hanford and Rocky Flats personnel. It was apparent that a significant source of potential contamination was not being adequately monitored at the nuclear waste sites. It is recommended that the development of a systematic, well-planned programme of monitoring animal intrusion on burial sites be considered, coupled with improved training for responsible personnel.     

Business environmental initiatives: Beyond waste reduction and recycling

Xerox was one of the first U.S. companies to discover that environmentally sound practices not only result in good community relations, but also often more than pay for themselves. This article presents ideas and guidelines companies can use in their waste reduction and recycling programs. Implementing a waste reduction and recycling program is an important step toward improved environmental performance. Given the numerous ways businesses affect the environment—through purchasing, manufacturing, and resource consumption—waste reduction and recycling are just two of many potential environmental measures. This article will highlight further initiatives your business can take toward sustainable development, defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.     

A critical review of a key Waste Strategy Initiative in England: Zero Waste Places Projects 2008-2009

In 2007, in England, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published Waste Strategy 2007 for England. To help drive the required behaviour change for increased sustainable practice the Government in England signalled up in the Strategy the intention to launch a Zero Waste Places (ZWP) initiative to develop innovative and exemplary practice. By inviting places (including cities, towns and rural communities) to bid for ZWP status, the successful applicants were then expected to become exemplars of good environmental practice on all waste issues. The ZWP programme commenced in October 2008 with the selection of 6 distinct places based upon an application by a partnership containing a Local Authority or in one case a Regional Development Agency. The places ranged in size from the very small (one street of 201 properties) to a Region of England (5 million population). These 6 were chosen from an initial list of 12 applicants via a rigorous selection process against fixed criteria that were designed to support Zero Waste practice. The funding was £70,258 and the mean was £11,709. The overall assessment suggests that the Local Authorities and their project partners rose to the challenge of zero waste and in most cases met or even exceeded their objectives (meeting at least 80% of aims and planned actions) and achieved high value for money in terms of Government funded initiatives. Evaluation suggested that there is a requirement to link, in the future, ZWP initiatives with other recent developments such as Transition Towns, Eco-Town and Total Place developments within Local Authorities. A Certificated Standard for ZWP was developed and is perceived as being both useful and valuable and it is hoped that it will spur a large number of new ZWP applications.     

Economic appraisal and evaluation of UK waste minimisation clubs: proposals to inform the design of sustainable clubs

Waste minimisation clubs have been established for some 12 years in the UK. During that time, they have been significant driving forces in disseminating sustainable waste management practices in industry and commerce. Clubs have also demonstrated that they can achieve significant reductions in levels of waste. However, data on the economic benefits of these clubs remain scanty and disparate. In addition, no standard methodology has developed to assess whether the investment costs of clubs can be justified on grounds of either economic welfare or sustainable development, despite the theoretical advantages from doing so. Against this background, the paper considers the need for economic appraisal and evaluation of waste minimisation clubs and discusses how these methods could be applied to the creation of clubs that will be sustainable over time.     

Analysis of the implementation of effective waste management practices in construction projects and sites

In this paper, the implementation of effective waste management practices in construction projects and sites is analyzed, using data from a survey answered by 74 Spanish construction companies based in Catalonia. Most commonly implemented practices were found to be on-site cleanliness and order, correct storage of raw materials, and prioritization of the nearest authorized waste managers. The least widespread practices were the use of a mobile crusher on site, the creation of individualized drawings for each construction site, and the dissemination of the contents of the waste management plan to all workers, to help them to meet its requirements. Waste regulations for construction and demolition, and the corresponding construction waste management facilities, were designed before the recession in the Spanish construction sector. Current waste generation rates are still below predicted levels, and the infrastructure was designed for five times more waste generation. Even so, the percentage of reused and recycled waste currently amounts to 43%. Survey respondents highlighted various instruments and measures that would make the management of construction and demolition waste more sustainable. Most of the opportunities identified by construction firms are within the scope of government and related to a combined system of bonus and penalties and the establishment of environmental awareness and training programmes for all the stakeholders. Within the scope of authorized waste managers, firms suggested improvements such as the standardization of fees, a reduction of the time until the issue of waste management certificates, a higher number of inspections, and a change in the current model of a few large construction waste management facilities. This research is useful to better understand the current status of construction and demolition waste management in construction projects and sites. Thus, the results of this research will guide policy makers and relevant stakeholders such as contractors, clients, architects and engineers to achieve the EU target of recovering 70% of construction and demolition waste in 2020. In this sense, reliable information can help governments and professional associations to set future C&D waste management regulations, training programmes and dissemination tools, inspections, etc.     

Action research and residential waste minimisation in Palmerston North,New Zealand

This research adds an action research approach to mixed methods to understand the drivers and barriers to residential waste minimisation in Palmerston North, New Zealand. While local, national, and global structural barriers persisted outside the participants’ immediate control, action research enhanced waste minimisation practices within the limits of these structural barriers. The reflexive and collaborative principles of action research allowed research participants to identify individualised needs and challenges. Thus, the research proceeded according to the participants’ circumstances. Some of the key drivers included a sense of accountability, active learning, social support, convenience, affordability, and access to information and resources. The participants also offered recommendations to the City Council, producers, and policy-makers to enhance residential waste minimisation in Palmerston North. While the value-action gap persists in purely quantitative waste research seeking to understand and change waste behaviour, action research was beneficial as it added a more nuanced understanding of participants’ waste behaviours. It also contextualised waste-related practices and attitudes in a specific locale.     

Household food waste: the implications of consumer choice in food from purchase to disposal

Food and food-related waste is a high priority in terms of waste minimisation in New Zealand. Over the summer of 2012–2013, a survey of 147 participants was conducted on a range of views and practices related to environmental challenges and understandings. The survey, undertaken in Palmerston North, New Zealand, captured a wide socio-demographic. This article focuses on respondents’ food practices from purchase, to plate, to disposal and the environmental implications of these practices. The survey data have allowed an enriched understanding of both individual and structural level challenges as well as incentives towards improving environmental practices in relation to household food waste minimisation. The results indicated that, in keeping with other research in this area, food waste increases according to the number of individuals in a household, and in particular the number of younger people. Also, while the majority of participants were at least “somewhat concerned” about their households’ environmental impact, over three quarters of participant households put food waste into their rubbish bin. Some solutions and directions to further progress research, policy, and practice in this area are offered, and include the need for more direct and personalised communication regarding waste minimisation, along with the provision of kerbside food waste collections. It is clear that individual- or household-level changes are important and must be supported systemically by both local body and state level legislation and initiatives, if there is to be any substantial decline in food waste going to landfill.     

Risk Communication and the Waste-to-energy Incinerator Environmental Impact Assessment Process: A UK Case Study of Public Involvement

With a view to suggesting ways in which we might arrive at a more socially acceptable waste management facility siting process, this paper considers the effectiveness of a more innovative approach to risk communication for a planned municipal waste-to-energy incinerator in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK. The risk communication programme involved a contact group process designed to enable key members of the local community to participate in structured and informed discussions about the proposal before it was submitted as a planning application to the competent authority. The paper concludes that the communication model was dominated by the findings of technical assessments and that it provided only limited opportunities for interested stakeholders to participate fairly and competently in the development process.     

Waste‐to‐energy recovery potential: A case study at Jaipur railway station

A study was conducted at the Jaipur railway station in Jaipur, India, to give the perspectives of the actual waste management practices there. Required information was collected from the stakeholders by means of semi‐structured questionnaires, individual and group interviews, and recorded, official data regarding waste generation, collection, transportation, and disposal. Further quantitative and compositional analyses were performed by means of surveys and measurements. Field visits were made for collection of waste samples for quantification and for the study of its management. The field data were compiled and analyzed by sorting the waste into different components. It was found that 1.8 tons of solid waste is collected per day, and a considerable percentage of it comprises paper, plastic, and glass. Excluding the inerts, which are irrelevant from the point of view of energy saving and recovery potential, the average moisture content was found to be 3.38%. From the perspective of life cycle analysis, the option of composting or recycling would give savings of 28.33 gigajoules (GJ) per day over landfilling, while combustion would give savings of 2.97 GJ per day in comparison to landfilling. Analysis based on a compositional model gives a heat value of 8,157.87 kilojoules per kilogram, which amounts to 14.68 GJ of energy per day.     

An economic modelling approach to the design and delivery of sustainable waste minimisation clubs: Prospects in the new policy framework

Since the early 1990s, waste minimisation clubs have been important sources of information for industry in the UK on clean technology and sustainable waste management practice. Despite this contribution, concern has grown about the declining number of clubs, their performance and the likelihood that they will continue to play a key role in national policy.This paper examines the evidence available and provides estimates of how the numbers varied in England since the first clubs were formed. The results presented indicate that, after initial expansion, numbers went into decline. The paper then explores, using economic theory, why this pattern should have developed and suggests it to be a function of how clubs were designed and managed. The results of the analysis are used to propose alterations in how future clubs could be designed so that they continue to contribute effectively to the development of sustainable waste management in UK industry. These lessons are of value to policy in both the UK and other countries considering the development of this important tool of waste strategy. The paper concludes with a number of suggestions for future research.     

An evaluation of four key methods for monitoring household waste prevention campaigns in the UK

Household waste prevention in England has been recognised in national strategy as a key component for future sustainable practice. To support the policy agenda, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in England has funded an extensive programme of fundamental research in the area. The specific research aim reported on here, in this Defra funded project, was to trial and assess methods for monitoring and evaluating approaches detailed in the National Resource and Waste Forum (NRWF)’s Household Waste Prevention Toolkit. The methods that formed the basis for the four research Objectives for the project were: using pilot and control areas (core Objective), tracking waste arisings, measuring specific activities and declared awareness and behaviour surveys. A primary objective of this research was to quantify the direct waste tonnage impacts of implementing a targeted household waste campaign in Dorset County, UK. A key performance indicator chosen for this assessment was the weight of waste collected at the kerbside from households. In an area where a waste prevention campaign is well planned and implemented then reductions in household waste arisings in pilot areas can be in the region of 2% per annum. This method for monitoring can be used, in the hands of an expert project team, to communicate to the public the direct benefits of waste prevention. It was found that there are a wide range of factors that need to be taken into account in the UK, and that these had hitherto been given little prominence, such as careful matching of pilot and control areas – this proved problematical in this research. However, a range of techniques used to support the methods, e.g. doorstepping surveys and focus groups could not show clear attributable waste prevention impacts but their findings could be used to direct new future messages to the public. The most successful and measurable campaign activities that were revealed by evaluation were: mail preference registrations, Home composting and doorstepping. An expert evaluation of all major methods found that no clear preference was revealed as to which were the most useful. None of the methods were judged very poor neither very good, all had major issues about their use. Tracking waste arisings and focus groups were assessed to be the best techniques in terms of input effort to output value. It is likely that waste prevention teams for household waste will need very careful training in the cost-effective use of the NRWF Toolkit before they are competent to apply it to a given place; the issues are more complex than were first thought.     

Making a stronger case for industrial energy efficiency by quantifying non-energy benefits

This paper describes a more compelling case for industry to promote the non-energy benefits of energy efficiency investments. We do this in two ways to actively appeal to chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs) primary responsibility: to enhance shareholder value. First, we describe the use of a project-by-project corporate financial analysis approach to quantify a broader range of productivity benefits that stem from investments in energy-efficient technologies, including waste reduction and pollution prevention. Second, and perhaps just as important, we present such information in corporate financial terms. These standard, widely-accepted analysis procedures are more credible to industry than the economic modeling done in the past because they are structured in the same way corporate financial analysts perform discounted cashflow investment analyses on individual projects. Case studies including such financial analyses, which quantify both energy and non-energy benefits from investments in energy-efficient technologies, are presented. Experience shows that energy efficiency projects’ non-energy benefits often exceed the value of energy savings, so energy savings should be viewed more correctly as part of the total benefits, rather than the focus of the results. Quantifying the total benefits of energy efficiency projects helps companies understand the financial opportunities of investments in energy-efficient technologies. Making a case for investing in energy-efficient technologies based on energy savings alone has not always proven successful. Evidence suggests, however, that industrial decision makers will understand energy efficiency investments as part of a broader set of parameters that affect company productivity and profitability.     

Corporate social responsibility, partnerships, and institutional change: The case of mining companies in South Africa

Internationally and in South Africa, mining companies are increasingly referring to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and partnerships in terms of the business case, or the expectation that being responsible and collaborating with stakeholders is good for profits. Based on a case study of platinum and chrome mining in South Africa, this article argues that the business case is circumscribed by companies’ institutional context. In the past, mining companies’ dominant interpretation of CSR has been in terms of charitable donations and support to good causes. These efforts have not alleviated the contribution of mining companies to growing social problems around the mines, primarily because they have not impacted on core business practices and have not contributed to necessary cross‐sectoral collaboration. Recently, however, there has been an important transition involving the broadening of the interpretation of CSR and increasing commitment to these issues amongst corporate leadership. Though market‐based incentives have contributed to this, the key driver has been the State's legislated transformation programme premised on State sovereignty over mineral resources. Hence, while the interrelationship between companies and their institutional context has, in the past, brought about a vicious cycle of irresponsibility and minimal collaboration, this cycle may be reversed into a virtuous one, driven in particular by the State. The broader implication is that references to a business case for CSR and partnerships cannot be relied upon independently of continued efforts at shaping the public sector context of companies.     

‘The biggest challenge is that we have to tell people how to sort.’ Waste management and the processes of negotiation of environmental citizenship in Slovenia

ABSTRACT

This article departs from the concept of environmental citizenship. Focus is on the experiences of representatives for Slovenian municipal waste management companies and business sector service companies engaged in the collection and recycling of electronic waste, and their attempts to increase the amount of separately collected municipal waste. They do so by engaging the Slovenian citizens to undertake separate sorting. Theoretically, the focus is on the processes of negotiating citizen engagement and, more specifically, attempts to incentivise the separate sorting of municipal waste which, it is argued, also helps foster the image of a particular kind of citizen. This article understands the informants’ experiences as being intimately linked to, and constitutive of, contemporary waste management discourses where attention is increasingly paid to the activities and behaviours of individual citizens. Noteworthy, while the concept of environmental citizenship can be said to allow citizens to practise sustainability (a concept that is otherwise seemingly quite abstract), the waste management policies of today seem to be increasingly relying on this active citizenship. It is at the intersection of these phenomenon that the negotiation practices of Slovenian waste management authorities happen.     

A review of the PGM industry,deposit models and exploration practices: Implications for Australia's PGM potential

Australia is prospective for platinum group metal (PGM) mineralisation (in particular primary magmatic reef, primary magmatic by-product, late magmatic and hydrothermal, and alluvial placer type) but its known PGM endowment is negligible compared to that of South Africa, Russia, the USA and Canada. Most Australian PGM projects are operated by mid-cap or junior companies and form part of larger, more diverse project portfolios held by these explorers. Most projects were ‘hot’ while market conditions were favourable. However, as other metals became ‘fashionable’ and market conditions for PGM changed, so did the focus of these companies. Pure PGM companies are rare in Australia. The search for and development of PGM-only deposits in Australia are high risk business activities. No new primary PGM deposits have been discovered since the mid to late 1980s and none of the significant deposits that were discovered or evaluated in the 1980s have been mined. This review suggests that at least several A$10 million but more likely several A$100 million were sunk into PGM exploration and development projects but none advanced to the mining stage. The viability of Australian PGM projects is very sensitive to (1) metal prices, (2) the US$/A$ exchange rate, and (3) large capital expenditure requirements relative to the small size of Australian PGM-only deposits. Most PGM-only projects were initiated at times of high PGM prices. However, advanced exploration, feasibility studies and project development always lagged behind the price booms. South Africa, Russia and Canada contain approximately 98% of the known global PGM reserves. This situation has a very negative effect on the Australian PGM industry as the well-endowed nations continue to receive the lion's share of exploration spend and new projects.     

DECISION-MAKING IN THE DEVLOPMENT OF URBAN WATERFRONTS FOR PARK/BUSINESS USE1

Abstract: Opportunities for the development of an amalgam of park and leisure-oriented commercial establishments in urban-core waterfont settings exist in many U.S. cities. Public awareness of the need to enhance the environmental quality of these waterfont areas has resulted in a demand for planning and implementation action. However, the lack of understanding of urban political systems has been an inhibiting factor in the development of this park/ business concept. The major factors that influence the decision-making process leading to the development of urban-core waterfronts for park/business use are identified inthis paper. Understanding this decision-making process can aid project implementation and avoid waste of planning effort in time, dollars, and productivity.