CSH Environmental’s Zero to Landfill Target
Across our site, you’ll find numerous references to our ‘Zero to Landfill’ policy and targets. As one of the leading waste management companies in and around Essex and Suffolk, we take our environmental responsibilities incredibly seriously, and our Zero to Landfill target is one of the key components of this approach.
This month, we’re taking a close look at the subject of Zero to Landfill, to discover what it is, why it is important and what CSH Environmental is doing to manage your waste responsibly.
What is a Zero to Landfill target?
In our regular work, we handle huge amounts of waste from both commercial and domestic customers, whether it’s trade waste collected from local businesses, skips filled with the results of a garage or garden clearance, or bricks and rubble from a building or demolition site.
Not all that long ago, much of this waste would have ended up in landfill. However, the vast majority of it can relatively easily be reused or recycled in one form or another.
A Zero to Landfill target is a commitment to do everything we can to send as much of the waste we collect as possible for reuse and recycling, with the ultimate aim of sending none of it at all to landfill.
Why is a Zero to Landfill target important?
For years, the human race behaved as though our planet was an infinite resource, and that we could take what we wanted from it – and put what we wanted into it – without consequence. That meant drilling and digging for things like oil, minerals, metals and coal and then filling in the holes we’d created with our waste – and much of that waste was non-biodegradable and toxic, meaning that it would be in the ground for thousands of years, possibly polluting our soil and watercourses.
Today, we recognise that we need to treat our planet with more respect. Zero to Landfill is important because it means we’re aiming to both stop putting more waste into landfill, and avoid the need for sourcing more materials from the planet to create new products.
What is CSH Environmental doing to achieve the target?
Because sustainability in the waste management industry is such an important issue, we have put a number of policies into place that will ensure we are doing all we can to minimise our impact on the environment.
These include, but are not limited to:
- At least meeting, but often improving upon, any relevant legislation, guidelines and codes of practice
- Regularly reviewing our procedures and practices to make sure we are continually improving
- Considering environmental implications during every decision-making process
- Training our staff to ensure all their activities are carried out in an environmentally responsible way
You can find out more about our policies and practices surrounding sustainability by reading our Environmental Statement.
Our achievements so far
As things stand, it is incredibly difficult to ensure that everything we collect can be reused or recycled – after all, what we collect from our customers is often outside our control. That’s why our current target is to reuse or recycle at least 99% of our waste. Nevertheless, we are always hoping and striving to achieve that magical 100% figure.
So, how are we doing?
In 2022, we achieved that 99% target in each of the last five months of the year, hitting 100% in December. In that month we sent over 3,300 tonnes of waste to be recycled, over 2,270 tonnes for creating energy from waste – and nothing to landfill.
We publish our waste figures on our website so that our customers can see how successful we are in handling their waste in a way that is sustainable and environmentally responsible.
The future of sustainable waste management
Despite our success, the last thing we want to be is complacent about our achievements. It’s vital that we all continue to work every day to ensure that we are reusing as much as we possibly can for the sake of following generations.
Paul Gregory, Commercial Director at CSH Environmental, said: “We understand that the work we do managing the waste of businesses and homeowners in our area is a massive responsibility. We also understand that our customers have high expectations of us when it comes to handling their waste. Although we are extremely proud of our record in this regard, we are still constantly seeking to improve our performance, so that each year we can look back and see that we’re doing even better.”
To find out more about our waste management services in and around Colchester, Chelmsford and Ipswich, please get in touch with us today.
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