Business as usual as WRAP awards symbiosis deal

When WRAP took sole responsibility for delivering Defra's resource efficiency agenda in April 2010 it had said it aimed to offer a single “first port of call” for anyone looking for waste, recycling and resource efficiency advice (see letsrecycle.com story), as part of a move that it expected to create £5.7 million in 'efficiency savings'.

However, International Synergies (IS) explained that, with it being awarded the four-year industrial symbiosis contract by WRAP, businesses interested in its programme – which aims to create links between companies which could recover, reuse or recycling resources from each other – would have a “combination” of contract points.

“Any new enquiries will go via the WRAP helpline and website, while existing members will continue to liase direct with their regional team/practitioner,” a spokeswoman for IS told letsrecycle.com.

Continuity

IS emphasised the continuity between its previous work running the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme, or NISP, on behalf of Defra between 2005 and March 2010, and the new contract from WRAP.

In particular, the company said that it would use its existing NISP network of more than 13,000 businesses that provide it with information on the resource streams they currently “have” and those they require or buy in.

“Using the network and our specially-designed database, our NISP practioners teams are able to analyse the information input and identify profitable links between companies so that previous unused or undervalued resources can be recovered, reprocessed and reused elsewhere in the industrial network,” the spokeswoman explained.

She also stressed that there were no new relationships in terms of how the programme would be delivered and managed across England, with IS managing the entire programme and subcontracting the delivery of the work in some regions to the same consultancies as previously.

These include Scott Wilson for London, the South East and the East of England, Link2Energy for Yorkshire & Humber, Clemence for the North East and SKM Enviros in the North West.
Targets

In terms of how the success of the programme will be evaluated, the spokeswoman revealed that goals for the current financial year had been set, and would cover the following areas: landfill diversion, carbon dioxide reduction, hazardous waste savings, water conservation, additional sales, cost savings to business and virgin material saved.

With the announcement of the contract award coming alongside IS revealing that it had begun a similar four-year programme working with 800 businesses in China, the company's chief executive, Peter Laybourn, hailed the successes.

“I'm delighted that the global appetite for industrial symbiosis is growing and that we're able to continue the exceptional work that we're doing both in the UK through NISP and internationally,” he said.

Under its previous existence directly funded by Defra, NISP claimed notable successes, including attracting £16.2 million in private investment for plastics recycling facilities during the first three years it ran (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, it was also hit by significant Defra budget cuts in 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story) and saw a plant it had funded and hailed as 'Europe's most advanced tyre recycling facility' enter administration in early 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).