Forget the environment for a moment!

16th August 2008

The declaration of compliance for 2007 has now been approved by the Environment Agency affirming WeeeCare's dominance as the most popular compliance scheme.

Forget the environment for a moment!

1st August 2008

To survive, let alone prosper, in business today needs an iron determination to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Reducing your carbon footprint may seem a long way from the day-to-day challenge of running your business efficiently and profitably but is it? It could be the quickest way to improve your bottom line. The simplest way to reduce your carbon footprint is to save energy – and, therefore, money. However, we know how difficult it is to spare the time to tackle problems that are not core to your business. So WasteCare is offering existing customers a free service, EcoCare, to calculate your carbon footprint and identify easy costsaving opportunities. In return, the only payment we will require from you is a (small) share of the easy savings identified. You can decide up front what ‘easy’ means: savings made without any capital investment; savings producing a payback within 10 years or, most likely, somewhere in between. Every business has its own financial model, which is why EcoCare leaves it to you to identify. Our qualified adviser will visit your site to carry out a comprehensive survey. For a medium-sized enterprise employing 100- 200 people, this should take only two to three hours. We will identify where energy is being wasted and focus on the key areas where savings can be made. These could include heating, cooling, lighting, equipment efficiency and management. Our report will estimate your carbon footprint and highlight those savings that can be made according to your own criteria. If significant potential savings are identified outside these criteria, but where financial support may be obtainable, they will also be reported. Energy costs are at a record high and are likely to rise further, so reducing your energy consumption and fuel bills will also cut your carbon footprint. We appreciate that telling you to reduce the temperature of your office or to switch off computers at night could be insulting your intelligence, but the impact of a few novel ideas might surprise you. For example, a new technology can reduce your total electricity bill by at least 10% at a stroke; or how about a simple process which can cut equipment operating costs by 30% or more – and which has a pay-back time of less than a year!

Challenge our experts

1st August 2008

Our first rule at WasteCare is: The answer is “yes – what’s the question?” To ensure we can follow up the answer with the correct solution, every customer gets a dedicated account manager who is trained in the customer’s own industry sector. Thus each account manager is able to provide technical information and support as well as quote for virtually any type of waste. So – put them to the test. We will give you a free bottle of Champagne if you can get your account manager to give a negative response to a waste problem.

FreightSafe - Its in the name

28th August 2008

WasteCare has added another new service to its portfolio – Freightsafe. Increased legislation and a more litigious society means staff training has never been more important. Freightsafe provides dangerous goods training for both the waste industry and anyone involved in the movement of hazardous substances Originally launched in 2006 by Ian Gascoyne, who has some 30 years industrial chemical and waste handling experience, the service has recently been brought under the WasteCare umbrella. The carriage and handling of dangerous goods is a broad subject covering a wide range of industrial chemicals and materials used in an equally wide range of applications. Courses are geared to the specific needs of the employees involved, whether they be drivers, materials handlers or dangerous goods safety advisers. Drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods are required to be formally trained in the safe carriage and handling of the materials concerned. They must also be trained to handle the associated documentation. The training requirement for staff involved in handling dangerous goods is satisfied by a one or two-day course, while a small informal study group over four days is more appropriate for dangerous goods safety advisers. Freightsafe can also provide a consultancy service to oversee the regulatory aspects of the handling of dangerous goods, including technical support and the preparation of an annual dangerous goods report. Its offering includes site waste surveys covering waste classification, handling and storage. A formal report highlights compliance with the key regulatory issues and areas where improvements may be possible, including cost-savings relating to improved handling and alternative waste disposal options.

WasteCare supports environmental excellence

20th August 2008

There is no sign yet that life is going to get any easier in the printing industry: after many years of technical development and over-supply, only the fittest will survive. Productivity and efficiency alone are not enough. Product quality now needs to be combined with quality in management, production and environmental standards. The British Printing Industries Federation’s Annual Excellence Awards are one way in which the industry can benchmark progress and encourage print companies to strive for quality. WasteCare has supported the BPIF for many years and is proud to be associated with the Environmental Excellence Award in 2008. This year has seen the largest number of entrants for this prestigious award, proving that the environment is firmly on the agenda. Following independent judging, the winners were announced at the Awards ceremony at the London Hilton, Park Lane, on 30 June. They were Stratförs (winner) with Horner Bros Print Group and Park Communications the runners-up.

Widnes - A year on

20th August 2008

WasteCare has set a new benchmark for the waste industry by fully licensing its new 18,000 sq ft Widnes facility in just six months. It has also achieved both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accreditation. Michael Whittaker, the site manager, has built a team from scratch. “Being able to service the North West from here has reduced collection miles by more than 40%,” he explains. “Our customers are getting a faster response and we are reducing our carbon footprint virtually every week.” We are planning to increase vehicle numbers to 15 at the site and introduce the new PackCare container re-lining service later in the year

BatteryBack up and running

16th August 2008

BatteryBack is fully charged and operating. Morrisons and Bradford Metropolitan District Council have launched a joint BatteryBack initiative at stores, schools, public buildings and civic amenity sites (see story below) and more than 200 BatteryCans have now been ordered by retailers, local authorities and large commercial premises. As a result – and following the Government’s indication of its thinking in relation to the new Battery Recycling Regulations – we have now ordered a further 1,000 BatteryCans for immediate distribution. Our www.batteryback.org website already gives the locations of more than 1,000 free collection points for all types of batteries. If one enters one’s postcode, the website identifies the locations of the ten nearest public access collection points. Currently, these are mainly civic amenity sites, but the list will be updated as more sites are opened. Britain is obliged to increase battery recycling from the current level of 2.8% a year to 25% by 2012. This means that the UK will need more than 80,000 collection points throughout the country, according to our calculations. WasteCare is at present the only recycling company in the UK offering the free BatteryBack solution. Consequently, we aim to open at least 2,000 trial sites by this October, when the Government’s draft Regulations are expected to be published. Thereafter, the roll-out will be speeded up.

Morrisons launches Bradford BatteryCan trial

15th August 2008

Morrisons has been quick to recognise the need to offer its customers an environmentallyfriendly way to dispose of their used batteries. With the introduction of the Battery Recycling Regulations only months away, Morrisons, a major retailer of batteries, is providing a simple solution, which is currently being trialled in the Bradford area. The plan involves offering free disposal for all types of portable battery. At the same time, Bradford Metropolitan District Council is to provide a similar BatteryCan collection service to schools and public buildings throughout the district to coincide with the Morrisons store trials. To encourage schools it is planned that those collecting the most batteries per pupil, will be offered laptop computers.

WeeeCare throw down the gauntlet

WeeeCare has already established itself as the UK's most popular Weee Compliance scheme having signed up nearly a third of weee producers in the first year. Combining simplicity with both guaranteed and fixed low compliance costs has proved a winning combination. "Having a successful and established weee collection and recycling business gave us a huge advantage at the outset" explains Simon Perfect, Commercial Director of WeeeCare Plc. " not only did we have a low cost base but we could predict accurately the costs going forward. Our only mistake was accepting the EA figures for waste recovered."
Following revelations that initial figures were overstated, WeeeCare retrospectively reduced their underwritten evidence costs by over a third. WeeeCare have now relied on their own assessment for 2009 and this week have announced their new membership and evidence costs. "We are delighted we have been able to reduce the underwritten fees on all B2B as well as the majority of B2C categories for 2009" said Perfect. With compliance costs as low as £1.25 a tonne, WeeeCare clearly mean business. For producers wishing to switch to WeeeCare for 2009, they need only to pay the £220 (<£1 million TO) or £445 (>£1 million TO) EA fee before the 15 October. However, some producers were caught out last year in not reading the small print of their exisiting contract and did not give notice in time, being trapped with high costs for another year. Some schemes require at least 3 months notice to quit.
To check whether you are getting the best deal WeeeCare have kindly published their evidence charges for both 2008 and 2009.   
To find out more visit www.weeecare.com 

WeeeCare takes axe to compliance costs

1st May 2008

WeeeCare has become the most popular of all the UK producer compliance schemes – with more than 950 members - by not only offering guaranteed costs going forward, but also by charging prices that are only a fraction of those of other schemes. Now WeeeCare has announced further cost reductions for all B2B members. As Simon Perfect, Commercial Director, explains: " the 2008 compliance costs were calculated last September based on assumptions on WEEE arising. However, the level of obligated waste generated by end users has been lower than the EA  originally predicted. Based on current data, our liabilities for underwriting certain categories of B2B WEEE will be substantially below expectations. “We are, therefore, passing on the benefit to our members by extending the period of cover by four months to 30 April 2009 (which equates to a retrospective saving on our previously published prices of 33.3%).” In addition, WeeeCare is further reducing the underwritten fees for the most affected categories as follows: Category 6 electrical tools reduces by a total of 64.2 per cent.
Category 8 medical equipment reduces by a total of 43.5 per cent.
Category 13 gas discharge lamps reduces by a total of 73.4 per cent. For example, the new reduced cost for B2B fluorescent tubes equates to less than 0.5p per lamp compared with up to15p per lamp currently being charged by Recolight - ie, a saving of more than 96%. Simon adds: “Although we expect WEEE volumes to increase as the year progresses, we will monitor developments carefully to ensure all our members pay no more than the absolute minimum. “Increased popularity and demand for our scheme can only help to keep costs down for the future.

Costs will be reviewed quarterly to ensure WeeeCare members’ interests are best served. For further details on our underwritten (fixed cost) scheme, please contact admin@weeecare.com.

Switching a negative into a positive

5th May 2008

WeeeCare, in conjunction with Remploy, is ready to launch a consortium with battery manufacturers, importers, major retailers and other stakeholders to operate the UK’s first free national recovery scheme for all types of batteries. The scheme will be operated by BatteryBack, a not-for-profit company which has been set up in readiness for the expected introduction of the new Battery Recycling Regulations in the autumn, when the European Battery Directive comes into force. This Directive states that 25 per cent of all batteries must be recycled by 2012, rising to 45 per cent by 2016.  Currently, the UK recycles less than 3 per cent of portable batteries, with more than 30,000 tonnes of batteries being discarded every year. BatteryBack will provide BatteryCans – specially-designed collection canisters of various sizes – at local authority civic amenity sites, schools, supermarkets and other retailers. Peter Hunt, Chief Executive of WasteCare, WeeeCare’s parent company, said:  “WasteCare has been collecting batteries for many years, so we are now extending our WeeeCollect operation to handle all types of batteries from as many sites as possible throughout the UK. “ Remploy is the largest employer in Britain of disabled personnel and, with the help of Government funding, is gearing up to provide low-cost sorting and pre-treatment of portable batteries. “By combining battery collections with our existing national service, we believe we have the lowest collection cost structure in Europe, so the cost to retailers will be zero, whilst we expect the cost to producers to be no more than one pence per battery produced, less than a third of the cost being charged in most other EU countries,” Mr Hunt added. Subject to the final details of the Battery Recycling Regulations, BatteryBack plans to launch a low-cost compliance scheme for all manufacturers and importers of batteries. For further information on Battery Back, go to www.batteryback.co.uk.

WasteCare to the Rescue

23rd March 2008

We were called in to retrieve the diesel in the boats tanks, before it could spill out and cause an ecological disaster.
A team from our Livingston depot got there in time and successfully drained the tanks.

Mission Accomplished!

WEEE for free

WeeeCare has launched Weee4free -  a unique free collection service to all retailers. The new service offers free collection, treatment and recovery of all types of household WEEE from anywhere in Britain. It takes advantage of WeeeCare’s dedicated collection fleet of more than 100 vehicles. Simon Perfect, Commercial Director of WeeeCare, explains: “We believe many retailers are missing an opportunity to not only provide an improved service to their customers but also to save money. Retailers who are also producers, as defined by the regulations, can get a double benefit by meeting their recycling obligation with customer returns as well. “We will, therefore, collect retailer takeback and household WEEE for free.  In fact, we will even pay retailers for any waste that can be refurbished and resold.” WeeeCare is also rolling out a doorstep service across the country for the collection of large household waste electrical items direct from end-users. To find out more about this free service, call 0844 800 2004.

Beating the Drum

15th April 2008

PackCare, the wholly-owned WasteCare subsidiary specialising in the collection, reconditioning and recycling of commercial packaging, has stolen a march on its competitors by launching a new fixed-cost national collection service. The company is the only recycler in the UK offering to collect all types of industrial containers – regardless of quantity, content and condition - from anywhere in the country, whilst at the same time offering cash back for refurbishable packaging. WasteCare Chief Executive Peter Hunt commented: “Following our acquisition of E. Pease & Son, PackCare now offers a total recycling solution for all industrial and commercial packaging. “The combination of Pease’s expertise in reconditioning containers and WasteCare’s national collection fleet of more than 100 trucks based at 11 regional sites means we can offer a very attractive one-stop shop service to industry – particularly food producers, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers and distributors.” The new collection scheme complements WasteCare’s existing wide range of waste services. For further information – go to: www.packcare.co.uk

WEEE are the greatest

27th Feb 2008

WeeeCare not only managed to retain it’s position as the compliance scheme with the largest membership, it now with over 840 registered members including British Electric Lamps, Aldi and netto also achieved 100% retention of the previously signed up members who are still active. With further enrolment WeeeCare look to push the 1000 member count by the middle of 2008. For more information, true compliance cost online and electronic applications.

Off the Rails

20th Feb 2008

Network Rail divides their national infrastructure into 5 areas. At their first time of tendering, we have secured an exclusive contract for collection of all hazardous wastes from all their trackside facilities from the LNE and Kent regions. Initial container deliveries, site clearances and collections have been made from all sites involved. We have been credited for turning an environmentally hazardous rail network into one of compliance and production and transport have played a large part.

All becomes clear to Autoglass

10th Jan 2008

During the Q3 of last year, Autoglass tendered a hazardous waste service for all 131 of their UK and Southern Ireland sites. During Q4 the decision was made and we won the tender, by the end of Jan 08 we had successfully rolled out the service to every site. The customers’ expectations are high and with the focused help of each depot, we have equaled their requirements. Initial collections have already begun, although the annual spend is unclear as Autoglass has never undertaken such as service.

WeeeCollect for Businesses free

Jan 2008

WeeeCare has teamed up with City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council to launch a specially-designed B2B collection service for businesses in the district. Called WeeeCollect, the service will be rolled out to other local authorities later in the year.  Fred Twiddy, Bradford’s Waste Services Manager, explains that businesses will not just be recycling their WEEE, they will also be improving national recycling rates and helping to reduce the amount of environmentally hazardous waste sent to landfill. Peter Hunt, Chief Executive of WasteCare, WeeeCare’s parent company, said: “Businesses can call us and we will collect any volume and type of WEEE.  Obligated waste will be collected free, while there will be a small fixed fee for non-obligated waste.  The waste will then be treated and recycled free.” Obligated WEEE is defined in the WEEE Regulations as discarded electrical and electronic equipment which was first put on the market after 13 August 2005 or is being replaced with a new item. To arrange a collection, businesses need to telephone 0844 800 2004.

Data Muddle

Jan 08

More than four months after the first compliance period ended, the Environment Authority (EA) has still to publish the final weights of WEEE collected in the UK. This information is needed so that compliance schemes can advise producers on their evidence requirements for 2007 and the cost of their individual responsibility. There is a major muddle over the relevant data.  One compliance scheme has overstated its collections by a factor of 1,000, while SEPA had previously understated the volume collected in Scotland - affecting the cost to all other schemes by more than 17 per cent. As a result, the EA has extended the deadline for compliance schemes to report their final figures  from the end of January until the end of April, triggering a cash-flow  crisis across the country as those companies handling waste from civic amenity sites have been unable to get paid since last July. Fortunately, WeeeCare members need not worry. Firstly, WeeeCare has balanced its members’ need for evidence with physical recycling of WEEE and, secondly, has introduced underwritten fees so all members can lock in the cost and remove any exposure to market swings.

Onsite treatment of photo-waste

25th Nov 2007

The long awaited decision on whether photographic laboratories and mini-labs are permitted to treat waste photo chemicals on-site without a license has now been reached. The Environment Agency's Low Risk Activity Group on Tuesday 9 October has considered arguments both for and against allowing the discharge of photo waste to drain after on-site treatment. After careful consideration of the impact to the environment and potential risk to health the committee has decided that this activity is subject to Regulation and cannot be considered low risk. The implication of this decision is that any business wishing to operate on-site equipment for the treatment of photographic chemicals will require both specific discharge consent as well as a full waste management license. The EA have stresses that they will prosecute existing operations if they fail to apply for the appropriate licenses. This ruling is likely to have impact on other sectors, subject to future rulings by the LRAG.

WasteCare Online

Four years after its launch, WasteCare-online remains the only instant online waste recycling solution. Recently expanded to cover every known waste stream, waste producers are able to obtain an instant quote, arrange a collection anywhere in Britain and Ireland, then track the waste all the way to recovery.  www.wastecare.co.uk.