As a city council, we are committed to recycle where possible- it’s important we all take steps to protect our planet. As with many councils across the country, the pandemic has had an impact on our waste teams and on residents recycling habits. For example, some areas of the city have seen increases in side waste and poor recycling. However, we have carried out a number of recent interventions that are increasing and promoting recycling rates in Stoke-on-Trent. Waste key workers also heroically carried on collecting our rubbish while the world slowed down around them.

We have worked extensively with local partners, including community groups and educational establishments to address questions around waste service provision, raise awareness of recycling and arrange litter picks in the local area. Representatives from waste also attended a multi-departmental day in one of our local parks last September to showcase our services and vehicles. This event gave members of the public the opportunity to see our recycling trailer, allowing them to understand more about the importance of recycling and how it is carried out.

A contamination database (extracted from Bartec software) uses pivot tables that can be used to rank streets and areas from greatest to least contaminated recycling bins, or filter by highest to lowest type of contaminant in recycling bins. This allows targeted work by area or type of contamination.

By engaging with local communities, we have also improved waste collection and recycling rates. For example, a recent trial on several streets saw domestic properties have their 180l wheelie bins removed and replaced with 6 x 1100 litre containers for general waste and 3 x 770 litre containers for recycling. The containers were located at 3 agreed communal collections points. The trial project, implemented in November 2021, has been very successful and will continue for the foreseeable future.

A number of communication channels, including social media and email bulletins, have also been used to promote effective recycling to residents. We have informed residents on sustainable practices and how to reduce, re-use and recycle. This includes information on recycling Halloween pumpkins, keeping batteries out of household waste to prevent fires and a campaign for Recycling Week 2021.

There is always further work to be done to educate the public on how to recycle more and effectively to reduce contamination. As a city council we will continue to engage with residents and local partners to further increase recycling amongst our residents.

Did you know that each year in Staffordshire we recycle about 217,000 tons of rubbish? That’s the equivalent weight of over 16,500 school buses!

Our recycling is broken down into:

• 170,000 tons that gets recycled at home
• and 47,000 tons of recycling that is taken to the county’s household waste recycling centres.

Staffordshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres take over 42 different types of materials such as paint, wood, textiles, large furniture, electrical items and batteries.

Learn more about what happens to your recycling and sign up to get FREE helpful tips about recycling straight into your inbox so you can live a greener more sustainable life. You can also follow the Waste Savvy Staffs page on Facebook to get daily tips.

Trade Waste and Recycling

Did you know…We offer a Trade Waste Recycling Scheme at our Household Waste Recycling centres? Simply speak to one of the site staff who will be able to check your materials and provide you with a quotation based on our trade waste fees and charges.

Next week on the 24^th March at 2-3pm, Staffordshire Business Environment Network are holding a FREE talk all about Business Waste Management and Recycling Solutions in Staffordshire.

Guest blog by Jane Finnemore, Development Manager in the Recycling and Waste Services Team at the Borough Council.

The focus for the event this year seems to be on people who stepped up during the pandemic on the frontline, and our crews certainly did that. We were all very overwhelmed by the sudden rush of messages to crews from residents grateful to them for continuing to collect – seeing how much of an essential service they were suddenly. We’ve worked really hard to keep our crews safe, and of course, they’ve had their own fears and health worries, just like everyone else – but they carried on collecting, regardless. Of course, with so many people working from home or on furlough, waste volumes we were collecting from homes rose quite a lot. We did our best to support our local business waste customers, too, as it was clear that local business people were under incredible stress in such a period of uncertainty. We’ve been delighted to welcome so many of those customers back.

I think some of the biggest heroes of the pandemic have been our residents. In a pretty scary situation and unfamiliar new ‘normal’ they set about decluttering their houses into our various collection services, and then embraced our new recycling service – launched early, during the pandemic. We’ve increased our recycling tonnages, and many people who found the previous service a bit complicated are now using it, too. The new recycling service is much simpler to use, and residents are certainly reflecting that. When we were able to restart our food waste collections residents quickly got back in the habit, with new users doubling the tonnages we collect. Our residents really have the recycling habit, and I think it’s our job to keep explaining why it’s so important. We have a tiny contamination issue here, much less than many neighbouring councils, so we know that our good relationship with residents and simple service is working, and that know how important it is to get things right.

Recycling saves materials from being wasted and gives them multiple new uses. That’s so important for saving resources, reducing carbon, and getting us to net zero. We really are in a climate emergency, and everything we do to promote environmental sustainability is crucial. We want to make it easy for everyone to do that from home. I’ve never lost my excitement that the things I put into my recycling bin at home can turn into renewed versions of themselves, or something totally different, and while that’s usually here in the UK, it can be somewhere else in the world, too. Things we don’t want anymore are resources that prevent mining, extraction, deforestation and pollution here and abroad – they are raw materials with a whole range of potential new uses. It’s our job at the Council to convey that potential to residents, and make it easy for them to do their bit.

The waste industry is in exciting times, waiting for the DEFRA consultation results which will give us an England-wide strategy that will shape collections and new statutory responsibilities, not just for us as a council, but for businesses, too. We’ll have a lot to plan and deliver. The next few years will see transformative changes, and it’s brilliant to think that we’ll be able to start working with businesses locally on the same journey we’ve embarked on with our residents.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of speaking with the founder of ‘Laundry Efficiency’, Colin Oakley. This year, Laundry Efficiency, located in Cannock Staffordshire, was awarded the prestigious Queen Award for Sustainable Development for their outstanding efforts to make the world a greener place. As COP26 is taking place next month in Glasgow this is the perfect opportunity for businesses to become leaders in tackling climate change issues and promoting sustainability within the workplace. British Chambers of Commerce published their latest data showing that only 11% of more than 1000 businesses surveyed in the UK are measuring their carbon footprint. Therefore, Staffordshire Chambers wants to share the efforts made by local businesses to start influencing change in our region.

Laundry Efficiency has been operating for the last 40 years helping laundry owners drive efficiency gains, increase productivity and reduce their costs in the process. By using ozone technology, the company has managed to transform the traditional ways in which laundry services operate. Implementing this process into washing and drying clothes eliminates all use of chemicals. As well as using less water and electricity, the time in which it takes to complete a full wash is halved. This means that laundry services are able to increase their efficiency by 50% as well as reduce prices for customers, all at the same time as reducing the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere.

Colin Oakley, founder of Laundry Efficiency said: “We have seen the benefits that our system has brought to launderettes across the whole country as well as internationally. We have companies in Germany, France and Italy who have started using our ozone technology and can now never look back. Not only is the system 50% more efficient, saving water, electricity and time but customers have noticed that garments last twice as long and appear a lot cleaner.

“Our systems have seen companies reduce their carbon emissions by 21%, if every launderette in the UK used our technology, we’d reach Net Zero a lot faster. Once you install our system, you’ll realise the snowball effect of saving almost immediately.”

Farming Efficiency, also developed by Colin and Operational Manager, Graham Oakley, uses the same ozone technology delivering incredible yield improvements, lower crop losses and chemical savings to mushroom farms. Farm owners across the UK have said that by using ozone, mushrooms are a lot whiter, stronger and healthier. Ozone has been scientifically proven to achieve a level of cleanliness that no other machine can achieve; this means that once installed correctly ozone technology can be used in many different sectors helping to reduce the overall carbon emissions that we collectively produce as a country.

Sara Williams, CEO of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce said: “To have a business so local to the chambers that is changing the way other UK businesses operate for the better is truly a pleasure. The work that Laundry Efficiency has done to promote sustainability will undoubtedly inspire many other businesses to follow in their footsteps and initiate a plan towards becoming green. I am confident that over the next few months and years the Chambers will be able to support other local businesses take these steps.”

To find out more about ozone technology visit www.theefficiencygroup.global or call 01543 871067.

If you would like to talk to us about any business issues or about projects that your business is working on towards achieving Net Zero in 2030 get in touch by emailing us at info@staffordshirechamber.co.uk or call us on 01782 202222