London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

waste directly to the disposal facility. Some of the transfer stations just sorted wastes,
others bulked up, while some did a combination.
4.59. All of the companies also received wastes from other companies at their transfer and
disposal sites. This included other major waste management companies as well as
numerous small companies such as skip hire and builders.
4.60. Not all of the companies handled hazardous wastes. Those that did would typically
handle it through a different operating division to their other waste streams. One
consultee talked of their particular approach to handling fluorescent tubes through a
collection scheme using special containers which were then sent up to a company in
Manchester. The same company also operated a container system for special wastes for
companies to store and dispose of small quantities of different types of special waste.
4.61. Most of the consultees do not handle liquid wastes. The one company that did has a
range of manufacturing clients generating large volumes of waste, through to
individuals who require cesspits in their houses to be emptied. Their main sector is the
food industry. The most common types of liquid wastes collected are food wastes,
cosmetics, oils and glycols, and interceptor wastes. They tend to concentrate on shortterm,
ad-hoc collections, as opposed to long-term regular contracts.
4.62. With one exception (see the section on waste transport by water later in this chapter),
all consultees used road haulage to transport wastes. They all use diesel fuel in their
vehicles, with one company operating a mixed fleet of diesel and liquid petroleum gas
(LPG) fuelled wagons. None of the companies indicated that they used rail, although
this question was not specifically asked to every company.
4.63. In general, none of the consultees had noted any significant trends in the volume or
composition of commercial and industrial wastes, either over recent years or on an
annual cycle.
4.64. One consultee noted that the Local Authority collection varied in that some will be
purely for household and civic amenity sites, whilst others may include commercial and
perhaps industrial premises as well. If it is a High Street collection round it may be cocollection,
in other cases commercial and industrial wastes may be collected separately.
In some locations waste management companies employed to carry out Local Authority
collections are allowed to develop their business and add value to the contract, by
increasing the amount of recycling and using the waste management facilities for their
own purpose, while in other cases this is not allowed. For example, in some areas a
glass collection system operates at weekends from public houses and nightclubs using
the same vehicles and facilities.
4.65. Several consultees indicated that Local Authorities should allow the multiple use of
facilities and vehicles by the waste management companies. This was thought to be
necessary to increase recycling and to help make the most of waste management
facilities that were in short supply in London due to planning difficulties.
Recommendation 2: It is recommended that, wherever feasible, the joint use of waste
collection vehicles and management facilities to handle both municipal waste
and commercial and industrial waste should be encouraged in order to
facilitate increased levels of recycling and to make the maximum use of fixed
assets. However, due care and attention should be paid to the data reporting
requirements to ensure that municipal and non-municipal wastes are treated
separately.
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