London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

4. Commercial and Industrial Waste
Introduction
4.1. The aim of this part of the project was to evaluate the current management strategies
for commercial and industrial wastes in London, building upon the existing knowledge
base, to enable and inform the development of appropriate policies within the context
of a wider strategy for this waste stream. The specific objectives are listed below. A
summary of the key findings from this chapter is presented in Chapter 7.
Identify and engage with key stakeholders, to include:
• Consultation with the waste management companies operating in London to review commercial
and industrial collection and disposal contracts in place, specifically in terms of tonnages,
management, and customer range (with regard to sectors).
• Consultation with London Local Authorities offering commercial waste collection services, to
establish tonnages, management, and customer range (with regard to sectors), and where
possible establish future intentions with regard to the provision of this service.
• Evaluation of sector based activity, utilizing existing data sources to: identify sectors that are
most prolific in London; engage with relevant stakeholders, government bodies and Trade
Associations to review their sectors waste generation and management; establish whether
projections can be made, or should be made, in terms of specific growth areas, major employers,
or sectors targeted by legislation and policy with regard to waste management.
• Evaluation of SME activity in London, developing a profile of the size of this sector, waste
generation and management options.
• Assessment of different measures taken by Local Authorities to prevent mixing of household
and commercial waste and make recommendations of good practice.
• Assessment of the effectiveness to date and potential applicability of specific measures and
instruments to promote waste minimisation, recycling and diversion from landfill, to include:
– the current and potential role of waste exchanges in London and the potential opportunities
available through the promotion of industrial symbiosis;
– the role and impacts of waste minimisation clubs;
– the use of environmental reporting;
– the impact of the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code;
– the use of standards (for example international standards, such as ISO 14001, or national/locally
applied product standards).
4.2. This chapter starts with an overview of the approach that we have used for researching
and analysing commercial and industrial wastes. We then present a literature review of
the background information that has been collected and collated for this chapter. There
then follows three sections on consultations, starting with waste management
companies, then recyclers and reprocessors, and finally with regard to waste transport
by water. We then focus on commercial and industrial wastes from the perspective of
the size of enterprise producing them, first by looking at small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs) 10 and then large companies, before going on to consider the drivers
for sustainable waste management practices and aids to assist best practice.
10 SMEs are defined as companies with less than 250 employees.
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