Firm promises to recycle 99% of waste

SR Recycling, a newly launched electronic and electrical waste recycling service for businesses says it can recycle nearly all of the waste it collects – and in 99% of cases claims it won’t charge businesses a penny.

The Barnsley-based firm boasts more than 35 years of recycling experience in the company and unlike some of its rivals looks to extract all the various elements from waste collected.

The inspiration comes from Japan, which has specialised disassembly lines for waste. In the UK, waste tends to be granulated first, which can make recovery difficult and expensive. Granulating waste often releases these into the atmosphere or at the very least means they are impossible to recover.

SR Recycling’s innovative approach has led it to work with a leading metal processor on research to recover some of the chemicals and metals used in equipment that can be very valuable, but also highly toxic.

According to Simon Robinson, SR Recycling’s managing director, the firm’s approach of stripping everything down to its smallest component parts to maximise their return on the waste is the secret to success.

“Businesses struggle to deal with the raft of legislation around waste but we make it easy and cost effective for them. We make our profit from the waste not the customer,” he said.

“We will collect the material and provide evidence of its disposal. The report we give to the customer can be used to show how green the business is and it does not cost them a penny unless there are specific items to collect.”

The company is currently in the process of setting up regular collections at strategic sites such as business parks and has already made links with business support agencies, Barnsley College and many universities.

It aims to be processing a tonne of waste a day by the end of May and 30 tonnes a month by the end of the year. Plans are already in place to increase staff numbers following a positive response from businesses.

Its launch has been welcomed by the South Yorkshire Green Business Club and Sheffield Chamber, which has already had half a tonne of IT waste collected from its offices.

Matt Walker, co-ordinator of South Yorkshire Green Business Club is full of praise for the way SR Recycling is assisting businesses to be environmentally sensitive.

“Many businesses look at environmental legislation as a hindrance to their business and an extra cost. SR Recycling have demonstrated that this is not always the case; a message that the South Yorkshire Green Business Club has been promoting for over 15 years,” he said.

“It is clear that waste is one of the biggest environmental challenges we face today. Any new business service that is a realistic, financially viable alternative to landfill while also promoting reuse and recycling should be welcomed.”

Peter Wright, Sheffield Chamber’s IT manager, said he was only too happy to take advantage of the new service.

“Disposal of old and broken equipment can be a costly undertaking for companies, as they are charged for each item taken. I found SR Recycling’s approach refreshing. It highlights the inherent value of waste – what is redundant to us becomes a useful resource to others,” he said.

Under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, electronic and electrical equipment cannot be simply thrown away or placed in a skip with other waste.

Research has discovered that as well as the valuable metals, there are dangerous chemical elements in some items, which means that they have to be processed properly by an approved and licensed company.

Under the Hazardous Waste Regulations any business that produces more than 200kg of hazardous waste per year needs a producers licence to have it removed and processed.

Many household or business electronic items thrown away contain hazardous waste and contain chemicals and metals which can be corrosive, explosive, highly toxic, carcinogenetic or even radioactive.