|
reduce, reuse, repair, recycle
|
- General (Solid Waste)
- Electrical and electronic equipment (Solid Waste)
- Paper (Solid Waste)
- Metal/plastic drink containers (Solid Waste)
- Furniture and furnishings (Solid Waste)
- Reduce landfill waste per customer account by 48% on 1998 levels by 2005; a four-fold improvement on the UK Government's 'Making a Corporate Commitment 2' indicative target. ACCEPTABLE PROGRESS
- Increase paper recycled by 5%. TARGET ACHIEVED
- Increase metal cans recycled by 5%. TARGET ACHIEVED
- Increase plastic cups recycled by 5%. TARGET NOT ACHIEVED
- Increase used toner cartridges recycled by 5%. TARGET ACHIEVED
- Ensure that paper recycling is implemented across the entire branch network. TARGET ACHIEVED
|
|
|
performance
|
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
|
ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC
Disposal: Recycled
Non-recycled
Purchase: Remanufactured
Virgin
|
PAPER
|
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
|
DRINK CONTAINERS
|
|
|
Recycled
Non-recycled
|
|
i In addition to the 5.5 tonnes of plastic cups recycled, the bank also recycled one tonne of plastic bottles during 2002.
|
|
FURNITURE AND FURNISHINGS
| RECYCLED FURNITURE USED DURING REFURBISHMENT |
| Tables and desks |
66 |
| Cabinets and pedestals |
44 |
| Workstations |
41 |
| Screens |
34 |
| Chairs and soft seating |
14 |
| Drawer units |
9 |
| Doors and frames |
8 |
| Cupboards |
7 |
| Canteen furniture |
4 |
| FURNITURE DONATED TO CHARITABLE CAUSES |
| Chairs and soft seating |
62 |
| (Source: Purchasing and Facilities 2003) |
|
|
commentary
|
Background Commercial businesses in England and Wales
produce 30 million tonnes of waste each year. Although about
a third of this waste is recycled or composted, about twothirds
still goes to landfill. This not only carries an environmental
impact, but also represents a massive waste of resources.i
Recycling - end of life fate The bank's cans, cups, plastic
bottles, fluorescent tubes and electronic equipment are
passed to Greencare Ltd.ii for recycling. Cans are segregated
by type into aluminium and steel. The bank's plastic cups
are passed to Save-a-Cup, and subsequently flaked and
reprocessed, producing items such as pencils, rulers and
coasters, as well as being used as a wood substitute in garden
furniture. Plastic bottles are converted into containers, which in
turn are used at Greencare for the storage of fluorescent
tubes. These tubes are passed to Mercury Recycling Ltd.iii The
components of the lights are separated for re-use and the toxic
mercury is distilled from the phosphor powder. Electronic
equipment is transferred to Silver Lining Industries Ltd.iv If the
equipment is of sufficient quality for reuse, data is removed and
hardware refurbished prior to resale. Where this is not
possible, heavy components and magnetics are removed and
recycled as scrap metal. Precious metal concentrates are
removed, assayed and any hazardous components are
removed (e.g. batteries) and sent for specialist disposal. Paper
recycling is undertaken by three firms, Central Recycling
Group, Capital Security Shredding Ltd and the Co-operative
Group. In the case of the Co-operative Group, paper is
recycled into Co-op 100% recycled toilet tissue and Co-op
100% recycled kitchen towel for sale in Co-op stores.
|
|
Green Genie Groups The increase in the bank's recycling
initiatives can largely be attributed to the
tremendous efforts of 'Green Genie Groups'
(environmental action groups located at each
main office). These groups, supported by
Purchasing and Facilities Department,
continue to raise awareness and encourage
waste reduction and recycling. Based on
waste minimisation and recycling activity per member of staff,
the winner of the Green Genie Award for 2002 is the bank's
Stockport site.
Performance In 2002, paper recycling increased by 38% at
the bank's main offices. Unysis, one of the bank's tenants,
vacated Prescot Street. As a result, 181 tonnes of paper waste
was generated and recycled. Furthermore, branch staff
recycled 49.9 tonnes of paper, an increase of 34% compared
with 2001, as a consequence of recycling being extended
across the entire branch network. Whilst can recycling
improved once again in 2002 (4 percentage points), cup
recycling reduced by 2.3 percentage points; the first time there
has not been an improvement since records began in 1997. It
is believed that there is a growing core group of staff who are
re-using cups, and that this may be diverting waste from the
recycling stream. This is to be encouraged as re-use is
invariably better than recycling. In addition to the 510 items of
electronic equipment recycled during 2002, the bank's
contracted recycling company, Greencare Ltd. also collected:
54 boxes of cables, 46 computer tapes, 12 boxes of software
(discs and manuals), 150 telephones, 1 processor and 29
units. For the first time, it can be reported that almost 80% of
all toner cartridges purchased were remanufactured units.
These are supplied by Cygma Manufacturing Limited v who are
able to remanufacture each cartridge up to six times. The bank
aims to reduce further the percentage of virgin toner cartridges
purchased in future. The number of toner cartridges recycled
under the bank's take-back and recycling scheme increased
by 5.1 percentage points to 72.8%.
General waste General waste leaving the bank increased by
4.4% compared with 2001.vi This increase was due to an
additional 19 tonnes of waste at the bank's Stockport and
Skelmersdale offices, where headcount has increased by
11.7% compared with 2001. In 2002, waste generated per
customer account increased by 1.7%. Compared with 1998,
general waste leaving the bank and waste generated per
customer account has fallen by 12.5% and 34.4% respectively.
The bank is on course to meet the UK Government's 'Making
a Corporate Commitment 2' target in relation to reducing
waste. All general waste is landfilled with the exception of
Prescot Street, London, where it is taken to the South East
London Combined Heat and Power plant and incinerated.
Despite exhaustive research, and discussions with a number of
environmental campaign groups, the bank has been unable to
utilise alternative waste disposal routes.
 By comparison, according to their Sustainability Report
2001, Credit Suisse Group produce 288kg of waste per head
(cf. 111kg at The Co-operative Bank).
|
|
- Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 2000,
Waste Strategy
- www.greencare.co.uk
- www.mercuryrecycling.co.uk
- www.silverlining.co.uk
- www.cygmamanufacturing.co.uk
- With the exception of 'General Waste' (which describes waste arising at the
bank's main offices, which accommodate two thirds of all staff), data covers all
bank premises.
To follow any of the links mentioned within the Partnership Report 2002, please visit the links page.
|
|
ethical and ecological value analysis
|
- Annual cost of recycling activities (including third party
contracts, capital investment) £44,000
- During 2002, 687 tonnes of waste were reused/recycled
by the bank, resulting in an annual saving in waste costs
of £85,000
- During 2002, 227 items of furniture were reused by the
bank, resulting in an annual saving of £59,600
- Annualised saving resulting from switch to remanufactured
toner cartridges £69,000
|
|
|
new target
|
- Reduce landfill waste per customer account by 48% on 1998 levels by 2005, a four-fold improvement on the UK
Government's 'Making a Corporate Commitment 2' indicative target.
- Maintain paper recycled at 500 tonnes.
- Increase metal cans recycled by 3%.
- Increase plastic cups recycled by 5%.
- Increase used toner cartridges recycled by 5%.
Andy Farrell, Facilities Manager
- Increase proportion of remanufactured toner cartridges purchased by 3%.
Martin Creasser, Procurement Consultant
|
|
