Taking the strain out of waste

Waste management is probably not the most attractive of areas when it comes

to operating a business. However, it is one of the areas where there can be

serious repercussions if you decide to dabble in waste disposal yourself or

if you choose to use an unregistered company to help you.

Remaining compliant

Help is at hand in the form of OSS Group. A specialist in waste management procedures

and waste handling, OSS Group can help businesses remain compliant with its

newly developed environmental audits. These give customers the opportunity for

OSS to visit their sites and conduct an in-depth audit into the waste management

operation.

“The reason we launched our environmental audits,” commented Grant

Lockie from OSS Group, “is that very few companies actually understand

the legal implications of the legislation and do not realise that they could

be breaking the law with their current practices. By conducting the audit, we

provide the information that the customer requires in order to make an informed

decision on the future of the waste handling procedures.”

The audits look at the types of waste the customer produces, how the waste

is stored and disposed of, whether the right containers are on-site for waste

storage, whether waste is being disposed of in the correct manner and whether

copies of the Environment Agency paperwork is being kept.

In many cases site security and access to the site can pose problems for collection

and many industrial sites do not have designated areas for storing waste for

collection, which can present health and safety problems. OSS Group can then

take the results of the audits and use this to work out the best method of waste

management and collection for any given customer.

“No two audits are the same,” said Lockie, “but we frequently

find there are no personnel dedicated to managing the waste of an industrial

site, which means some companies are not familiar with various legislation and

regulations. It is vital that these companies are aware of Environment Agency

requirements and we can provide information about this as well as offer advice

on how they can facilitate the waste management and collection process.”

All too often customers are not aware of all the waste streams that the Special

Waste Regulations cover. It is not unusual to find that customers are concentrating

on one area of waste such as waste oil, but forgetting about related items such

as oily rags and absorbent granules. The environmental audits are designed to

pick up on these areas in order for new procedures to be put in place to meet

existing legislation.

Managing waste streams

“There are many companies currently working towards ISO14001 and, as part

of this, they have to dispose of waste that has been on site for a long period

of time. The Environmental Audit can identify problem areas and work with the

customer to provide a solution,” said Lockie, “On many of the larger

industrial sites we deal with, one of the main problems is in keeping track

of the waste streams across the company. We can help to ensure the entire site

is managing waste streams properly and set up standard procedures that can be

followed throughout the site.”

One area where new legislation is likely to have a significant impact is on

segregation of waste streams. Currently awareness amongst employees is not always

seen as a key issue. When the new legislation comes into force it will be vital

for employees to understand what waste is put where. Different types of waste

will need to be segregated to ensure waste disposal costs are kept to a minimum.

“There could be a time in the not too distant future where a premium charge

is made for removal of non-segregated waste,” commented Grant Lockie, “By

conducting an environmental audit we are giving our customers the chance to

identify the problem areas in their waste management practices and help to put

them right before the Environment Agency spots them.”