All Covid-19 restrictions in the UK have now come to an end so you might be considering a return to the office if you currently work from home. If your business is stepping away from remote working, it’s possible you will need to consider your commercial waste management needs.
Effective waste management is vital for any business. Not only does it reduce the presence of waste materials in the workplace, but it provides an opportunity to enhance your company’s sustainability credentials if you choose a Zero to Landfill recycling provider. With the strive to become a net zero company by 2050 at the top of the agenda for many businesses, an effective recycling solution is important. So, stop searching for recycling companies near me and read on to discover which DCW waste management solution will be relevant to you.
Plastic recycling
Does your business generate bulky plastic waste? You will need to hire a specialist plastics waste recycling company to ensure materials are disposed of safely and responsibly.
We all know that plastic has a negative effect on the environment and the UK is guilty of generating tons of the stuff. In fact, we generate over two million metric tons of plastic waste each year in the UK. That’s roughly 36kg per person. This wouldn’t be so bad if the plastic waste was being recycled responsibly within a circular economy but unfortunately, just 43.8% of plastic packaging waste is recycled (source: Statista).
Due to the lack of plastic recycling facilities in the UK, much of the material is sent overseas but DCW is striving to keep the plastic waste South West businesses generate in the region to be processed and recycled responsibly.
DCW Polymers is our specialist plastics reprocessing plant in Exeter. It is the only centre of its kind south of Bridgwater and recycles specialist plastics as well as common industrial packaging, turning waste plastics back into plastic granules. This material then goes back into the manufacturing process and reduces the need for virgin plastic products to be made.
Much of the plastic that we recycle at DCW Polymers goes into the making of our recycled plastic furniture range. A sustainable alternative to timber, the furniture is available in a variety of styles from benches to dining sets, coffee tables to fence posts and decking. Made entirely from waste plastic collected from businesses across the South West, the furniture is maintenance free, long-lasting and will not rot, splinter or corrode.
Our plastics recycling service is suitable for businesses which produce a significant amount of plastic waste regularly, particularly bulky plastic items. We can provide businesses with a regular collection or a one-off service. For example, if you run a nursery or playgroup which has old plastic playhouses or large plastic toys that you need to dispose of, DCW Polymers’ service would suit you down to a tee.
Other bulky plastics we can recycle include plastic bins, garden furniture, pallet crates and even larger items such as kayaks and fuel tanks.
Confidential waste disposal
The tax year end presents the perfect opportunity to sort through archived files and dispose of sensitive and confidential data that you don’t need anymore. A tidy office is a tidy mind, and you don’t need files dated from the 1990’s occupying valuable cupboard space!
It’s also important to dispose of old data regularly so that it’s not at risk of being stolen as one NHS Trust knows all too well. In 2010, computer hard drives containing confidential patient information were stolen from Brighton General Hospital. As these hard drives were meant to be safely destroyed before they were stolen, the Brighton Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust was fined a whopping £325,000 (source: BBC News).
Don’t let that be you. It might be tempting to dispose of confidential paper waste in your normal recycling bin or chuck bulky hard drives into your general waste but if you do, you will be breaking the law and might end up with a hefty fine.
No, we’re not overreacting. Under the Data Protection Act (1998) and the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), businesses have a strict duty to ensure all data they destroy is handled securely. This means that you must ensure that your waste management company adheres to the British Standard 15713:2009 Secure Destruction of Confidential Material. As holders of this accreditation, DCW provides a data destruction service which securely handles destruction loads of any size from individual sacks or containers, to skips up to 40 cubic yards.
All DCW data waste employees are DBS-checked and experienced at handling confidential waste produced by UK businesses. We visit your premises and transport your waste in a secure vehicle to our data destruction centre just outside Ivybridge. Afterwards, you will receive full documentation that your waste has been handled and processed securely so that you can rest assured you are complying with the law.
It’s hard to think of a company which can’t benefit from our confidential waste recycling service as the likelihood is that all businesses produce sensitive data, but you may need a regular service if you are a solicitor, lawyer, HR personnel, estate agent or work within local government.
WEEE recycling
Did you know that electrical waste is the biggest waste stream in the world? The UK alone produces 57.4 million tonnes of Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE), greater than the weight of the Great Wall of China (source: Circular). This is alarming, particularly when you consider that WEEE houses valuable raw materials such as gold, silver and palladium.
WEEE recycling is something we are truly passionate about at DCW. We want to encourage people in the UK to recycle their old electronic equipment and we have acquired the assets for a national WEEE recycling brand. Now, we can offer our Zero to Landfill electrical recycling service to customers nationwide. Read more on this story here.
Like confidential data, businesses are required by law to dispose of WEEE safely. The Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 are intended to reduce the amount of electric and electronic equipment waste ending up in landfill and to recycle as much material from WEEE as possible.
Since 2004, DCW has provided a fully compliant WEEE recycling collection service to businesses to ensure they meet their own obligations under the evolving regulations. After DCW collects and processes your WEEE, it gets re-processed in the UK at licenced facilities, contributing to a more circular economy.
In this modern digital age, many businesses will require a WEEE recycling service from time to time, but businesses such as IT support, technology, software and manufacturing companies may require a more frequent service. If your business has unwanted electricals, or old IT equipment or phones, DCW’s WEEE recycling service could be an option for you.
Equipment hire
Large businesses which work from warehouses or companies which predominantly operate outdoors such as tree surgeons or garden maintenance may find DCW’s equipment hire service more relevant.
Not only do we provide reliable Zero to Landfill recycling services, but we can give our customers the tools to collect and sort their waste responsibly too. Baler rental, packing equipment and rubbish skips in a variety of sizes are all accessible from DCW.
So, what’s available? Our JPG98 is our 26 cubic metre portable packer available to purchase or rent. This packer can compact on a ration up to 5-1, creating considerable savings and maintaining a tidy waste compound. Our ACM packer is a portable waste compactor complete with bin lift to handle up to 1,100 litre bins. Now that’s what we call a storage solution.
Customers who own gardening, tree surgery and carpentry businesses love our skips. Our range of skips to hire come in a variety of sizes and can handle both pre-sorted and mixed waste of all kinds. From six to 40 cubic yards, a variety of sizes are available to rent from us at competitive prices.
We hope you have found this run-down of just some of our services useful and remember, we offer an extensive list of recycling services from glass to general waste, hazardous materials to wood recycling. Just hover over the ‘recycling’ tab at the top of this web page to view a full list of our services.
To find out more and receive a quote, please contact our friendly team on 01392 361300 or email sales@dcw.co.uk.