MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
National Library of Wales and Aberystwyth University are recognised for green credentials through help from Tidy Planet’s waste solutions
Recycling expert Tidy Planet has helped the National Library of Wales win the Resource Efficiency Excellence Award at the Wales Public Sector Waste and Sustainability Awards 2010, while also playing a key part in neighboroughing Aberystwyth University being a runner up in the same category.
The Resource Efficiency Excellence Award recognises institutions that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to waste reduction and improving their environmental performance, with the National Library of Wales and Aberystwyth University having introduced a number of green initiatives and are both now utilising Tidy Planet’s Rocket Composter, which turns food waste into high quality compost and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Since installing the Rocket in May 2009 through a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government, the National Library of Wales no longer sends food waste from the Pen Dinas Café to landfill, which has been a major contributing factor in almost halving the overall amount of waste sent to landfill, with a reduction from 517kg a month to 267kg a month.
The library was already a member of the Green Dragon Award Scheme and has shown its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint through recycling and energy saving procedures, but previously had no solution other than landfill for food waste.
Andrew Williams, at the National Library, said: "A lot of work has gone into revising the Library’s environmental policy and to receive this sort of recognition really shows that all the hard work has been worthwhile.
"Over the past few years we have implemented a number of green initiatives to help reduce our environmental impact, but were conscious of how much food waste was still being sent to landfill. Tidy Planet’s Rocket Composter is an efficient solution that we can manage onsite, with the additional benefit that it produces a continuous supply of fresh compost that we can use on the flowerbeds in the library’s gardens."
Tidy Planet’s Rocket Composter is capable of processing up to 1200 litres of food waste a week and through the addition of woodchip is able to produce high quality compost in 14 days, which can then be used on grounds and gardens and removes the requirement of buying in an external supply.
In addition to the National Library of Wales, Tidy Planet has worked with neighboroughing Aberystwyth University to help improve its environmental performance. The university installed a Rocket Composter in December 2007 and since this time, the university has been recycling over 500kg of food waste per week and a total of 65 tonnes has been diverted from landfill. The university now uses the compost as a soil conditioner on the shrub beds and new plants around the university’s grounds.
Managing Director of Tidy Planet, Simon Webb, says: "It’s fantastic to see how the Rocket is making such a measurable difference to the amount of waste being sent to landfill, and not just as a short term fix, but as a long term solution. Both the National Library of Wales and Aberystwyth University have demonstrated their commitment to sustainability and we will continue to work closely with them to ensure the ongoing success of all recycling initiatives."
The Wales Public Sector Waste and Sustainability Awards form part of Envirowise’s Public Sector Waste Minimisation Campaign which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and are the first of their kind in the UK and Europe.
