For us here at Printwaste, zero to landfill is simply the right ethical and environmental decision. As well as being zero to landfill ourselves, we work to ensure that any waste streams produced by our clients are managed responsibly and comprehensively, and where possible we help them become zero to landfill too. Here’s how we do it…

Becoming zero to landfill

Becoming zero to landfill will always depend on the supplier you are using, and their methods for tackling and managing your waste. At Printwaste, our priority is providing a sustainable, environment-first disposal route for our customers’ waste streams by turning waste materials back into reusable resources, diverting them away from landfill in the process, and importantly doing so in such a way that the waste doesn’t simply create a new problem somewhere else. This means recycling and recovering as much material as possible.

Supporting our clients to be Zero to Landfill Certified is a four-stage process:

Stage 1: Discovery

At Printwaste, we always start with a fact-finding mission with our clients, understanding your business, your processes, your sites, and your waste streams. This helps us to understand what waste you produce and how it will need to be managed if it isn’t buried in landfill. At this point, we will:

• Discuss your environmental goals and aspirations. Not just for your waste, but for your whole business. Carbon, resource use, health & wellbeing, waste; there are many different things that might be driving your business goals.
• Visit your site(s) to understand the current waste management processes, including:
  • Collection frequency, bin types, and quantities. Our aim is to find the perfect balance between these three elements to ensure you are getting maximum value-for-money, all whilst minimising the carbon footprint for your business.
  • Material types. Often businesses recycle what they have always recycled, so we like to understand the types of waste you produce, how these materials are managed currently, and where they end up on the waste hierarchy
  • Check your waste with our simple yet effective segregation audit. We collect a random sample general waste bin from your premises and separate the waste into their unique streams. This helps us to identify what is simply and easily recyclable, and we typically find at least 40% of the waste in each bin is recyclable through standard processes. From this we can improve recycling rates by introducing proper segregation and educational tools, ultimately ensuring recyclable materials are recycled.

Stage 2: Suggestions

Our auditing process helps us to combine our expertise with your unique circumstances and allows us to make recommendations that support and enhance your environmental commitments. This may be changing the way that materials are sorted or collected, identifying additional types of waste that can be repurposed through recycling, recommending changes in your supply chain to minimise the amount of waste created, changing your bin setup to be more practical and encourage recycling, or just finding a new, more environmentally conscious method of managing your waste. Our aim is to help you simplify your waste management, to increase the volume and breadth of the materials that can be recycled, as well as support your business to meet its overall environmental objectives in a more effective way. Working with Laithwaite’s Wine for example, a simple switch from dispersed 1,100L bins to a central compactor not only increased the recyclable volumes, but also reduced staff management time spent wheeling bins around the warehouse.

Stage 3: Getting started

Once you’re happy with our suggestions and service setup, it’s time to get started. As well as delivering any relevant bins for your collections, you’ll be assigned an account manager to support you on your zero to landfill journey. As well as supporting you day to day, your account manager will help you on your journey of continuous improvement too.

Stage 4: Certification and constant improvement

The great thing is that we are a zero to landfill business, which means that as soon as you start working with us, we innovate appropriate management processes to divert your waste away from landfill. We also pledge to offer you the most environmentally friendly option for your waste and will consult with you on what this is and where it goes. If we manage ALL of your waste from your site, that’s it, you’re a zero to landfill business too.

You’ll get a zero to landfill certificate straightaway, and then we will provide an annual audit and certificate that gives you a breakdown of what waste was collected, and how it was managed. You’ll also be supported with ongoing reviews of your waste, to help you continue to manage it in the most effective way for your business, and to manage new waste streams that are added into your business over time. If required, we even offer monthly or quarterly reporting to enable you to track and record your environmental performance for your customers, stakeholders, and staff.

Why aren’t all our clients zero to landfill?

Nearly all of them are! At Printwaste, our priority policy is to avoid landfill, so if a business is using us as their exclusive supplier across all of their sites, they too can become a zero to landfill business.
The only exceptions are of course those who use multiple suppliers across their sites, or those who have an international base that we can’t service. They may of course still be zero to landfill businesses in these instances, but this is not something that we are able to accurately measure. We can only certify for the waste that we collect.