Sustainable and environmentally-friendly waste
From more recycling to lower costs for the company: The Zero Waste to Landfill initiative, which aims to prevent future landfill waste, launched a sustainable and environmentally-friendly disposal process at Newcastle. As a result, the site has created a flagship project for the environmental program Serve the Environment
Award-winning environmental management
As part of the initiative, which has been running since 2013, the Newcastle plant has managed to dispense with landfill waste completely and to significantly reduce the cost of waste disposal. In recognition of this success, Power Generation Services honored the achievement at the Newcastle site with the Environmental Excellence Award for Outstanding Performance at a Fixed Location.
Partnership – a recipe for success
The Newcastle plant had been looking for a partner who would organize waste management on site and found them in O'Brien Waste Recycling Solutions, the largest waste-disposal company in the North East of the UK.O'Brien controls almost all waste flows on-site. They ensure a comprehensive assessment of waste streams, define the waste hierarchy and share their expert knowledge. The entire waste stream is either recycled, reused or transported to the incineration plant, where it is used to generate new energy. Residues – such as ash and slag – can be processed into aggregates for cement-bound building materials, asphalt or other building materials. Newcastle is in full control of each waste stream right up to its destination and meets its two objectives: zero waste and energy from waste.
By switching to just one disposal company as our contract partner, we can negotiate better prices, achieve higher discounts for metal waste, and can simplify and monitor the disposal process.Simon Kennedy, Head of Environmental Protection, Health Management and Safety at Siemens Newcastle
Cutting hidden costs
The team also reported some rather unexpected savings – annual landfill fees dropped by 16,500 GBP.
Green awareness inspires pride
In the first year, Newcastle increased its recovery rate by 92 percent, a rate that continued to rise over the past years. Today the Siemens location in Newcastle is proud to announce that 99.7 percent of all waste is recycled. "By switching to a single disposal company as our contract partner, we can negotiate better prices, to achieve higher discounts for metal waste, and we are able to simplify and monitor the disposal process", says EHS Head Simon Kennedy. "We focus on continuously improving this process and the cooperation with O'Brien to achieve further cost advantages."
In the wake of the successful reduction of waste and related costs, motivation and awareness of recycling in Newcastle were noticeably stronger – employees are proud of their contribution to "Zero Waste to landfill". The project team is pleased with their achievements in Newcastle, as well as with the official recognition of their work. Meanwhile, other companies have come knocking to find out how they can copy and implement the process at their sites in the UK and at Power Generation Services worldwide.
