Session 1
What are the issues currently preventing us from closing the environmental/economic loop
from waste materials we collect?
- Variable markets
- Technology – fast moving/obsolescence
- Lack of legislation
- Public attitudes
- Culture – the word ‘waste’
- Financial implications
- History of the waste industry
- Current statutory duties
-Focussed on individual agencies
- Location of arisings vs markets
- Transportation/quantities
- Quality of material
- Constrained markets
- Industry awareness
- Culture of sharing good practice
- Health and safety – electrical goods/furniture/textiles
- ‘Traditional’ attitudes
- Contamination and variable quality
- Specification of materials
- Seasonal/fluctuating supply
- Lack of manufacturing base
- Lack of finance/venture capital
- Labour costs for manufacturing
- Globalisation of industry
- EU subsidy
- Definition of waste
- Scale of economics
- Point of separation
- Sources of finance
- Financial performance
- Linking targets to capacity
- Local authority/business links (lack of)
Session 2
What do we need to do to close the loop?
- Bring together funding
- Awareness
- Disseminating knowledge
- Economic strategy
- ‘new’ partners
- Identify materials in waste stream
- Identify users of virgin material
- Consider and map geographic location of industries/materials
- Building forums to link waste/materials/economic development
- Improve collection/dissemination and use of data – brokerage
- Marketing the activity of materials re-use/exchange
- Raising public awareness
- Raising business awareness
- Build in recycling in design of new goods
- Explore reuse markets
- Put incentives into the system – lobby for change
- ‘Bend’ legislation
- Lobby for integrated legislation (non tax adverse)
- Change terminology eg ‘banks’ not ‘bins’
- Bridge contractural and legislative divide
- Raise quality of materials
- Streaming at collection
- Understanding
- New specification
- Networking/sharing good practice
- Local authorities ‘own activities’
- ‘Buffering’ against fluctuating supply
- ingenuity in financing
-exploring opportunities/partnerships
- Business link approach
- Risk. Speculation
Materials
Timber - qualities
combustible, composite, painted, hard, floats, decorative, compostable, porous, low
volume, springy, treated, warm, durable, splinters
- possible uses
compost bins, boats, shuttering & shoring, building, landscaping,
‘horsey’ culture, combine with plastic
Textiles and shoes - qualities
smelly, absorbent, varied, warm, composite, waterproof, insulating, soft, fashionable,
combustible, compostable
- possible uses
floor tiles, playground surface, flocking, sound absorbency, decorative material,
furnishings, roof insulation, new fabric
Tyres - qualities
rubbery! buoyant, composite, heavy/dense, consistent, inert, springy, waterproof, black
- possible uses
safety products, artificial reefs/sea defence, architectural, roof tiles, pyrolysis,
packaging, asphalt, shoe soles
Electrical- qualities
diverse, bulky, composite, fashionable, reusable, hazardous – electrical materials,
valuable, metal-rich
- possible uses
elements of whole, reuse of components, direct reuse
Three solutions/ideas
Shoe soles
Selling to shoe industry – cost
Re-tooling – significantly investment
Consistent quality
Market research – ‘sustainable’ shoe
Health issue
Specialist footwear – climbing shoes, ski boots, army boots
- New manufacturer
- Sportswear
Check sources/quantity
Financing – disposal costs
Source finding
Source advice – SEEDA
Shoes into floor tile substrate
Non-fussy use
Big market – opportunity to expand (vs carpet)
Market research
?Toxic material/metals
Funding required
Shuttering/shoring - timber sheets, chip board
Non-fussy but big use
Big industry – cost aware
Market research required
Check sources/quantity/consistency
Sources of funding required
