Who are BusinessWaste.co.uk?
The business is the brainchild of David Adams and Mark Hall. Back in 2015, they saw a gap in the market for a waste brokerage business to transform the image of the industry, moving from people in hi-vis jackets working out of portacabins with little web presence to a slick online service that matches businesses with the best solution for their waste needs.
The duo wanted to create a business which had a positive impact on the environment. The goal for every customer is to provide solutions that benefit both the company and the world around us.
How is BusinessWaste.co.uk working with packaging businesses to reduce their environmental impact?
Over the last 10 years, BusinessWaste.co.uk has collected:
- 1723 tonnes of packaging waste
- That's equivalent to 3-4 Olympic swimming pools
- Or a football pitch buried 1 meter deep in packaging
When working with clients a conscious effort is always made to reduce the reliance on landfill, a key ethos of the business. Where possible, BusinessWaste.co.uk will always guide clients to consider the most environmentally friendly options and also look to educate on how waste can be reduced in the first instance.
For the most part, a huge part of this is educating businesses that in almost all cases, the more sustainable waste option is usually also the cheapest. Alongside this, if a business can find ways to reduce the amount of waste they create, this will always lower costs. So there is a huge incentive for businesses to shift to more green practices.
The company has worked with businesses to help sustainably dispose of over 400 waste types over the last ten years, with the team often having to find creative solutions.
How much total waste has BusinessWaste.co.uk diverted from landfill?
Over the last ten years, the company has directly diverted 94,070 tonnes of waste away from landfill through its specific recycling collections across waste streams such as dry mixed recycling, glass, cardboard, and food.
However, alongside this, BusinessWaste.co.uk always aims to redirect any other waste that would ordinarily go to landfill to other disposal methods. 98% of general waste collections have also been diverted to other facilities, such as energy from waste (EfW), where waste is incinerated to generate energy. This means the company estimates a further 147,384.96 tonnes of waste have been diverted away from landfill, bringing the total to 241,455 tonnes.
This equates to the weight or size of:
- 160,970 cars
- 20,121 double-decker buses
- 24.1 million full wheelie bins
- 371,469 cubic metres of landfill (the same as 149 Olympic-sized swimming pools)
- 52 football pitches to a depth of 1 metre
The diversion of this waste is calculated to have saved 181,091 tonnes CO₂e, equivalent to:
- Offsetting the annual emissions of about 25,000 UK people
- Planting around 8.6 million trees
- Taking around 82,000 average UK cars off the road for a year
- Powering 67,000 UK homes for a year
- CO₂ saved could power about 540 rocket launches
What’s the future for BusinessWaste.co.uk ?
Moving forwards, businesses will only face more waste regulation as the UK looks to meet its climate goals. BusinessWaste.co.uk understands the challenges this can pose and is ready to support businesses of all sectors to ensure they are not only compliant, but actively reducing waste and emissions where possible.
The waste industry is shrouded in myths with many people incorrectly believing that green methods are more expensive. As a result the business is keen to ramp up its role as an educator, ensuring that false narratives don’t get in the way of sustainable waste practices.
Over the last ten years, BusinessWaste.co.uk has developed a huge network of industry experts and partners and this can be utilised to ensure businesses have all the options available to them when it comes to sustainable circular and green solutions.
For the business itself, the plan is to continue its growth journey, spotting opportunities to acquire smaller companies and bring them under the umbrella of the BusinessWaste.co.uk group.
Mark Hall, Director at BusinessWaste.co.uk, comments: “The ten year anniversary of Business Waste is a monumental milestone for everyone here. When we began the business back in 2015, the waste industry was completely different and we’ve seen such a transformation over the last decade. There have been huge obstacles to overcome during our operation, not least the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
“We feel that the dedicated staff we have, and our strong commitment to putting customers first have given us the foundations on which to keep our business strong and continue growing. As we look forward to the future, we’re dedicated to becoming educators in our field and helping businesses to understand the best ways to reduce their environmental impact, while protecting their bottom line.”
David Adams, Managing Director at BusinessWaste.co.uk, adds: “It would be impossible to celebrate our tenth anniversary without mentioning the pride I have for the development of individuals within our business. Over the last ten years, we have seen amazing growth, starting in just a tiny office with only three staff, it's rewarding to see many of those are still with us today. We are fortunate to have a solid management team which covers all the key pillars of our business.
“Lee Bryson, our Head of Commercial, has been with the business since the start and worked with myself for two years before this. He has been fundamental to the growth of our client base. Liam Barrett our Sales Manager has been with the business for 5 years and has been responsible for driving sales growth and improving our whole team’s performance. Danielle McAlpine was recently appointed as our Head of Customer Experience thanks to her passion for delivering the best possible service over the last four years, boosting our customer retention and earning our 4.9 star score on Trustpilot. Ben Botterill, our Head of Finance has proven his impeccable attention to detail and strategic acumen which has allowed us to continue to drive our growth and plan for the future.
“It is down to these pivotal team members and many others that Business Waste has become the success it is today and I’m excited to continue to develop our staff to ensure the business both thrives and allows an outlet for our many talented individuals.”