Happened on this lovely educational song by Jack Johnson. It starts about a minute and half into the video. It’s a great little song to teach children about Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. You can watch another version on You Tube here – it gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day! “Because three it’s the magic number… Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!”
Waste Management » Sift BlogArchive for the ‘Waste Management’ CategoryThe 3R’s from Jack JohnsonWednesday, July 21st, 2010 by AdminComspec’s New WebsiteTuesday, July 20th, 2010 by Admin
Reducing waste to landfill at workMonday, July 19th, 2010 by Admin Martha Stewart Living Test Kitchen Waste Station While catching up on some blog reading over the weekend I spied the above inspiring yet simple waste station in the test kitchen of Martha Stewart Living Omnidmedia in New York via Martha Stewart’s blog. You can just see that there are more bins on the other side as well. I love the Landfill sign “This is quit-zies no take backs” and that they have a bin for the chickens! What is great about this waste station is that it works within the function of that particular work space – the test kitchen; it includes a bin for organic waste (for the chickens) as well as the other types of waste recycling or recovery. Not only does the signage fit with the MSL brand but it is also super simple and easy to see what goes where. When it comes to reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill from businesses and organisations it is interesting to note two things: 1) Anecdotal research* suggests that household waste accounts for about 3.8% of all waste to landfill (the rest is commercial and industrial and construction and demolition) and 2) for some reason those who recycle at home may not necessarily recycle at work. This shows that our next step to reduce waste to landfill needs to come in the commercial and industrial and construction and demolition areas. And the first easy step is to set up easy and efficient waste management in your own business. For some this might mean they have access to council provided bins or bags for others this will mean hiring bins from independent waste management businesses. Know the types of waste you produce and what the best way is to 1) reduce it and 2) to recycle it. Promote the benefits to reducing waste and installing an efficient waste management system to ensure buy in from all levels of the oraganisation. There will be benefits to the bottom line with cost savings for procurement (buying less paper) and waste managment (reducing to a smaller bin). Make it relevant to your staff, easy to use and understand and possibly a little fun with some good signage. Lots of internal communications on the hows and whys is important. It is also good to consider all types of workers in your business and organisation and how they produce waste. If you have people that spend most of their time on the road install a couple of small bags in their vehicles to take the rubbish. Office bound workers can walk a short distance to a centralised waste station on each floor or house the waste station in the cafeteria or work kitchen. It is also important that those who empty the waste bins understand the importance of ensuring the right waste goes into the right bin that is collected by your council – don’t forget to talk to the cleaners too. You could even promote this to your customers, suppliers and visitors. Work with suppliers to reduce packaging, work with customers to move to less packaging for your own product or service and promote the waste management system to visitors so they know what to do with the waste they might bring with them (like lunch packaging!). Recognition and awareness of the waste your business or organisation produces, reducing that waste and then moving to a long term efficient waste system will have benefits for the environment, for the bottom line and for your brand value. Here are some other waste station ideas:  MSL recycling centre  Recycling Frame from Matteria Shop via BLtd  Re-Nest Recycling Station  Recycle Bins from Lowes  The SIFT Office Waste System - Organics, Landfill, Recycling I have noticed that a lot of the links I have included are American based. There are some great New Zealand companies around that provide different bins for different uses for waste management and even just suping up some old cardboard boxes will do the trick. For Cantabrians try Agpac who stock Urba bins. You can get an organics bin like the one in the SIFT photo as well as great stackable bins for all your different waste streams. We would love to see any creative or just plain practical office or business recycling. Send us your photos and we will post them here on the SIFT blog. Images: MSL Recycling Centre, Matteria Shop Frame, Re-Nest Recycling Station, Lowes. *From Richard Lloyd at Becon Wooden kitchen utensils instead of plasticTuesday, July 6th, 2010 by Admin ScanWood Modern Wood Utensils On the quest to reducing our waste we need to find other solutions and this is one new one we have come across recently. A month or so ago a plastic spatula tool (for flipping pancakes and pulling poached eggs out of the water) broke. The head split from the handle. Thinking that plastic was the only option I trundled off to my local kitchen store and picked up a new one with a metal handle (about $20). The old one consciously went to landfill (glue wouldn’t have fixed it). The old spatula had lasted years – the new one within a few uses started to fall apart. And scarily the plastic was coming off the end or melting and could possibly be leaving plastic in our food. So not a good idea. I had read too much from Beth at Fake Plastic Fish to worry about the chemicals from plastic leaching into our food not to try to find a new solution (a change away from plastic had started in other areas but I like to not buy new until the old is too old to use first!). Then recenlty on a trip to the lovely Meditteranean Food Warehouse I discovered a wooden pasta turner. It was made of beechwood but made in China. Lightbulb moment (LED styles) and I thought maybe there is another option. And last weekend I discovered ScanWood and replaced the plastic spatula with a lovely wooden one also made of beechwood but this time from Denmark (and ony $6 (super cheap compared to the plastic)). So although when you think of wood you think of trees and then trees being cut down and not being used to store carbon if the product is made of sustainably harvested wood (more research required here especially for the China made models) wood is still the better option over plastic. Oil as we know goes into to making plastic. Oil is a fossil fuel that humans have burnt leading to global warming and plastic takes hundreds of years, to break down in landfill. Plastic is not the better option (especially if the product falls apart faster than it should). Wood on the other hand will not melt into my food, can be loving looked after with some olive oil every so often, will break down over a much shorter time when it does get to landfill and if you buy the right product comes from sustainably harvested wood. It also looks and feels a lot nicer in your kitchen.
 Olive Wood Utensils from ScanWood So the practical action for this week is to purchase wooden kitchen utensils over plastic. If you need to consume purchase good quality that will last a long time, doesn’t leach into your food or negatively impact the environment and makes life nicer! A new found love of wood has led to thinking about buying wood turned bowls as well instead of using plastic mixing bowls and to find local wood turners who are making wooden kitchen utensils from local wood instead of buying imported product. And now, of course there is the problem with all of the plastic utensils at home. Others can use them so they will be given away instead of throwing them out. Unfortunately, plastic kitchen utensils can not be recycled.
Another good wood product for home cleaning (instead of plastic) is the wood scrubbing brushes from EcoStore. You can get replaceable heads and it cleans much better than any plastic scrubbing brush and lasts just as long. Mixed with a little Dr Bronner liquid castille soap and it makes kitchen cleaning super easy. The wood used is beechwood and the the bristles are made from a vegetable fibre. EcoStore import the product from Germany.  EcoStore Wooden Clothes Pegs EcoStore also have lovely old-fashioned wooden clothes pegs too (although you could probably find these second hand). Do you have any other ideas for reducing plastic use/waste? Practical Action – Visit the Super Shed or your local ReSell ShedThursday, June 17th, 2010 by AdminIt seems to be a bit of a mantra but to reduce your waste you need to reduce your consumption. And then if do need to buy something see if you can get it vintage or second hand. Today we visited the Super Shed in Pages Rd (Christchurch) to see what they had to offer (and also to do a bit of vintage foraging). If you can’t make it to Christchurch see if your local District Council or community group runs a Re-Sell shed (or check out TradeMe and other second hand stores for bargains). The Super Shed is super full of a mix of homewares, furniture, electronics, old suitcases, crockery, cutlery, books, plastic (lots of plastic), vacuum hoses and heads, bags, beds, bed heads, tools, garden ware (lots of great outside seating for the summer), personal entertainment and lighting. You do really have to pick through it to find the gems. I picked up a retro/industrial light shade (very utilitarian) for only $5 and I know others have picked up things like fake gilded mirrors, egg cups, glass jars, frames (that were repainted) and even placemats (the Super Shed has three bins just for placemats). Outside you can also find toilets, sinks, umbrellas and lots of plastic pots for gardening. As we were leaving the next customer was buying an old style push mower that only had a bit of rust on it and someone else had a bag of Retro Christmas decorations. If you are willing to pick through some of the dross there are definitely bargains to be had. With some creativity you can even update old furniture just with new paint and handles. Worth a look before you buy new. And to think that all that is contained within the Super Shed was “thrown out” by someone. The items are pulled out of the waste to landfill stream and sold on to people in the community for a new life. We wonder where people thought their goods would go or if they even thought about it! You can read more about the Super Shed here. Here are a few photos from the visit:
Did you miss out on funding from the WMF?Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 by Admin Source: Flickr speckled_beckle's photostream Yesterday, most of the 164 applications for funding for waste project(s) from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund would have received a letter telling them their application has been turned down. Congratulations to the 29 who did make it through to the next stage – we are interested to see what these projects are. If this was you and your project is based in Canterbury have you thought about approaching the Sustainable Initiatives Fund for assistance? The purpose of the Waste Minimisation Fund is not too dissimilar to the objectives of the Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust. The WMF was developed to boost New Zealand’s performance in waste minimisation through educational, promotional, technological or infrastructure projects. The objectives of the Sustainable Initiatitives Fund Trust are about reducing or avoiding waste that goes specifically to Canterbury’s landfills through new technology/process or recovering new waste streams or by developing new products or technologies out of recovered materials. Other sub-objectives include creating useful sustainable educational applications from the products or technologies that are developed and/or creating sustainable energy products out of waste and/or creating sustainable job opportunties and contributing positively to Canterbury’s economy. The Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust is apart of a new generation of social lenders with the primary motivation of reducing negative environmental impacts – decreasing waste to landfill. We have a number of projects on the go at the moment that are a mix of grants, loans and equity investments and cover a range of waste streams and issues. You can check out more of our past projects here. We had a board meeting yesterday and again the board reiterated that projects need to show their reduction in environmental impact first and foremost. We are super keen to see the waste reduction numbers for the waste stream your project deals with. If you have an idea that requires financial assistance we may be able to help. Call myself (Olivia Day, General Manager) to discuss if you are eligible and if we can help. Our number is 03 3655655. CCC2 Materials Recovery Facility Site VisitMonday, June 14th, 2010 by AdminFirst thing last Tuesday morning I arrived at the CCC2 Materials Recovery Facility in Parkhouse Road. The sky was super dark and it was really cold (arrived in a hail storm) but the tour of the massive recyclables sorting machine was still very informative (the MRF machine is housed in a 4000 square metre building). The photos are not the best due to the bad light but it gives you an idea. It was put in place about 15 months ago and can process all of Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimak’s recyclables. Each stage of the machine does a different process and there is still some hand sorting in some areas (like pulling out clothes, floppy plastic and in one case a toy plastic gun!). Clothes are the biggest contaminant of recyclable bins – we as yet have no facility to recycle textiles and fabrics. A basic run down is that all of the trucks come in to the park and dump the recyclables that have come from the yellow bins into a big pile at one end. This is then scooped up and placed on a movable floor. At different points there are different types of screens and separators so that different types of waste drop down onto another conveyer to go into their respecitive piles and there are even magnets to pull out the metals. Small items like bits of glass also drop down into their own conveyer belt and there is a large glass pile at the end of the process. This glass is used for such things as grit blasting and filtration systems. Nearly at the end of the process there is an optical sorter that can determine the different types of plastic (HDPE, PET etc) through the use of infared scanning and group them so they are separated (making it easier to on-sell) and then right at the end is the baler to bale up all of the different types of wastes (for local and international recyclers). CCC have done a great video of the whole process which shows you much better than the photos below. You can watch a video of the process here. Here are the photos from the site visit:
 Pile of Rubbish for Recovery  Pile of rubbish behind an 7ft metal wall  Rubbish moving up the conveyer belt (there were about 4 of these inclines)  Rubbish moving through the recovery sorting process  The separate glass conveyer  Looking back from the baler end of the process  A final conveyer belt  The pile of glass outside Becon Dry Waste RMF site visitTuesday, June 8th, 2010 by AdminLast Friday I visited the Becon Dry Waste Recovered Materials Facility in Woolston. The Becon Dry Waste RMF is the only one in New Zealand and is housed in one of the remaining buildings from the old Anderson’s Foundry. It is an impressive building with its old industrial peaked roofing and large industrial hanging lights. The waste processing machine doesn’t seem to fit right with the old style of the building but as Director Richard Lloyd agreed it is good to reuse an old building rather than build new – in-keeping with his business of reuse and recycling. Richard Lloyd estimates that of the total amount of waste going to Kate Valley Landfill approximately a third could still be recovered and recycled. Richard has developed a site that has the potential to process more dry waste than they are currently taking (Becon is only processing 30% of the current Christchurch market at the moment). The Becon RMF focusses on construction, demolition and industrial dry waste streams. When asked what the spilt between household waste and commercial waste is Richard stated a surprising 3.8% for just households! Although, Richard stated that “kerbside recycling punches above it’s weight class…as it is a valuable educational tool.” So, the bulk of waste that the citizens of Canterbury produce is business, construction or demolition related. Items such as concrete, glass, untreated timber, packaging and plastics are all included. Richard Lloyd is passionate about his business, about recovering wastes and making the environment a better place for his children. Here are some photos from the visit:
 The Start of the Recovery Process  The sorting machine  Sorted piles of plastic and timber  Baled Paper  Becon Director Richard Lloyd with chipped timber  What can't be recovered goes to Kate Valley Landfill You can see more photos from the visit on our Flickr site here. *All images Copyright SIFT Mastagard’s new Eco-Recycling PlantWednesday, June 2nd, 2010 by AdminOn Monday afternoon I attended the opening of Mastagard and Southern Demolition’s new Eco-Recycling Plant. Centrally located just down from AMI Stadium on Wilsons Road the new transfer recycling facility is a joint venture between Mastagard and Southern Demolition. It will take paper, cardboard, magazines, plastic film, plastic bottles, timber, steel, Gib board, concrete and green waste “leaving the bear minimum going to landfill”. Mastagard sees this new transfer facility as a solution to increasing recycling and reuse of waste products. The eco-recycling transfer station is open to businesses, waste operators and the community. It was a rather chilly afternoon for the opening but the highlight was the Hon. Rodney Hide (National MP) arriving in a Canterbury Waste Services truck! He said that he is “proud and pleased to declare the new transfer station open” and “it is good to see businesses making money while doing good”. Mastagard’s General Manager Sebastian Stapleton sees the need for “responsible and progressive leadership within our industry”. We agree that the waste industry does need start taking the lead (and to work collaboratively) on providing solutions for reducing our impact on the environment – this new eco-recycling transfer facility is a good example of this. Ofcourse as we have said before the best way to reduce waste is to reduce consumption. Here are a few key quotes from Mastagard General Manager Sebastian Stapleton:
Mastagard have recovered materials processing sites across the city (they also collect all of the recyclables from Westland). Their Wigram site processes construction and demolition materials such as Gib board which is turned into powder for use in fertiliser and concrete which is separated into grades for re-use in roading and construction. Their Bromley site processes cardboard and organics as well as plastics such as the Plasback Product Stewardship Scheme collection of baleage wrap. The plastics recycling facility was opened last year and you can see photos from that launch here. Southern Demolition is the South Island’s largest demolition and demolition waste recoverer. Congratulations to Mastagard and Southern Demolition for taking Canterbury a step closer towards a sustainable future. Their work in waste recovery along with all the other industry players will help us to reduce our waste and the impact that has on our environment. You can view photos of my site visit to Mastagard’s Bromley processing station here. Photos below from the launch are from my phone so not too good. Good photos to come.
 Hon. Rodney Hide arriving  Emcee Jim Hopkins and Mastagard GM Sebastian Stapleton  Hon. Rodney Hide and Emcee Jim Hopkins  Baled Gloss Paper from Mastagard  HDPE Plastic Milk Bottles from Mastagard  HDPE Recycled Plastic Pellets from Mastagard  Plastic Waste film from Mastagard Waimakariri District profile and some Friday FavouritesFriday, May 28th, 2010 by Admin Waimakaririr River Source: Teara.govt.nz A productive (but rainy) week this week. As well as progressing a number of projects SIFT also spent some time meeting a some more people who work with waste and waste minimisation in Christchurch and Canterbury. Notably I met with the Solid Waste Asset Manager, Kitty Waghorn, from the Waimakariri District Council and learnt all about the waste systems in place for that district. They have two transfer stations – Southbrook and Oxford and have big plans for a new Resource Recovery Park at the Southbrook station as well as expanding into organics (they promote the use of home composting and you can pick up an EM Bokashi system from Waimakariri District Council Service Centre) and providing a recycling solution for the rural residents of the district. Southbrook transfer station includes a Resell shed which they are also looking to expand in order to reduce the amount of rubbish that is sent to Kate Valley Landfill. They will also be launching a Hazardous Waste drop off point in July. And the general outlook for waste reduction in this district is positive with an increase in the amount of recyclables being collected and a reduction in rubbish. You can find more information on Waste and Recycling for the Waimakariri District here. Here are the interesting links for this week:
|
   find out more
|
Copyright © 2010 SIFT | Sitemap