Go to previous story
Email to a friend
Print articleFive waste streams were selected to be the focus for the second year of the Waste Protocols project (2007/08), a partnership project between industry, the Environment Agency and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme). The Project will make the waste easier to recycle and reuse.
Martin Brocklehurst, Head of External Programmes for the Environment Agency ?According to industry figures, it currently costs them around ?150m each year to landfill these five types of waste.
?The Waste Protocols Project will look at the current environmental risk posed by the five type of waste chosen today and wherever possible remove the need for companies to hold the permits and licences that they need.
?Part of our work is to set out an agreed standard for the treating and handling of a type of waste. If these are followed by the businesses that produce or reprocess the waste it gets rid of the 'waste' tag, making the waste derived products more marketable and attractive to buyers.?
By helping businesses and companies sell on their waste products, the Waste Protocols Project will cut down the tonnes of waste sent to landfill each year and associated green house gas emissions, whilst also reducing their costs. This is obviously good news, especially for a waste such as gypsum found in old plasterboard which can create environmental problems when it ends up in a landfill.
The five waste streams selected to go forward as part of the Waste Protocol project are:
* steel slag from steel manufacture, which can be reused in construction and building materials and as an agricultural fertiliser,
* gypsum from waste plasterboard which can be used to make new plasterboard and in cement products,
* incinerator bottom ash which is made up from glass, porcelain, brick, gravel, sand, slag and ash from household waste that is burnt in incinerators, and can be used as aggregate in construction materials.
* paper mill ash which is produced when sludge from paper making is burnt for energy recovery and the ash can be used as an aggregate.
* uncontaminated top soil from greenfields and development sites can be reused on a wide range of horticultural and leisure sites such as parks, golf courses and football pitches.
The five waste types were chosen by the Project from a shortlist of eight nominated by business and industries. Applicants were asked to provide information about what the waste is like, how much of it is currently being produced, how much the waste costs to dispose of and how much it's worth once it has been recycled.
In addition, the Project will also work on the preparation of a standard to cover anaerobic digestate, which is produced from a wide range of source segregated organic substances such as food waste. Anaerobic digestate can be used as a replacement fertiliser.
WRAP's Director of Organics Dr Richard Swannell commented:
?Earlier this year we produced the first Quality Protocol, for compost which allowed producers to create a type of compost which is no longer classed as a waste, making it a more attractive product to those who buy it.?
?This first protocol is testament to what is achievable through the collaborative working approach shown by the Environment Agency, WRAP business and industry. The five wastes we have announced today will go some way in helping reduce the amount of waste disposed in landfills every year as well as helping to create valuable products.?
Ten different wastes were the focus of the first year of the project. Work is on-going but the waste streams included:
Flat glass from windows and windscreens which can be recycled into items such as new flat glass, filtration media, and an additive which makes paint reflective.
Rubber crumb and shred from old tyres which can be used on golf courses and other sport pitches as well as asphalt surfaces.
Plastics from construction and demolition projects such as PVC window frames and plastic gutters which can be recycled into an incredible range of products from pallets to bin bags.
The Waste Protocols Project is a joint project between WRAP and the Environment Agency funded by Defra's Business Resource Efficiency & Waste (BREW) programme. The project was launched in May 2006.
