Waste Neutral

The problems we have with rubbish are all too clear. One only has to glance down the road on bin collection day to see the piles of haemorrhaging black bags ready to be carted away to the dump, or watch the merry parade of litter flying through streets and over beaches to get a sense of the problem.

But the rubbish dumps are nearly full and the costs of disposal are escalating. With the EU threatening our local governments with fines if we don’t sever the flow of rubbish to landfills; the time to act is now.

Waste Neutral was conceived five years ago to tackle these problems.

There’s an old mantra in the waste industry that says, ‘reduce, re-use and recycle’. But we didn’t think this hierarchy went far enough. What happens to the materials after they’ve gone in a bottle bank or been collected from outside your house or business?

So Waste Neutral added reinvest to the list, to become the crucial fourth element. Reinvest means to buy things made from recycled materials as part of a conscious decision making process and Eden has incorporated this philosophy into much of its buying strategy.

As well as being a philosophy for action Waste Neutral is also an important equation that we try and measure at Eden.

Weight of waste to landfill and disposal = Weight of recycled materials bought in

This means that Eden, or any other organisation or even households, can attempt to offset the waste they dispose of by buying recycled products. At Eden this principally takes the form of paper (printing and loo roll), mulch (used in the gardens), miscellaneous items in the shop, and building materials. It is also important that all the teams at Eden try to reduce their waste burden as much as possible through reducing and re-using. However, these particular figures are harder to measure.

Waste Neutral has worked in many different ways, which reflect how deeply we are all connected to the issues. These have included researching state-of-the-art composting technology, delivering public workshops, working with our supply chain, commissioning exhibits and holding conferences. Much of this work has been possible because although Eden’s waste is technically industrial it looks very much like municipal household rubbish. This has meant it’s easy to have conversations with both big businesses and our daily visitors.

These varied methods have helped break down existing prejudices to the waste debate, which result from its everydayness. We are just simply too used to throwing stuff away. However, by linking waste back to our own consumption habits Waste Neutral gives an extra dimension to the debate. Perhaps people are more interested in buying than in disposing?

Award winning

In 2008 Eden was awarded the Chartered Institute of Waste Management Environmental Excellence Award for "Innovative Practice in Waste Management and Resource Recovery" for our Waste Neutral programme.

This award focuses on excellence in any aspect of innovative practice related to wastes management or resource recovery. The winning entry highlighted the importance of "thinking outside the box" with regard to the management of wastes and resources.

Entrants will have articulated how they have approached an issue through original thinking and demonstrated the successful outcome that their innovative solution has had."

Eden's application focused on the breadth of our Waste Neutral programme, ranging from the composter & bins, through our supply chain work, to the public awareness activities on & off-site, focusing on the "re-invest" concept.