Viridor increases recycling tonnage by 8%

Viridor has published its corporate responsibility report for 2009/10, showing success in its environmental goals but an increase in the number of accidents.

The company increased the amount of waste it recovered for recycling by 8% between 2008/09 and 2009/10, to 1.9 million tonnes. This was attributed to it winning six new recycling-led contracts, as well as the development of three new materials recycling facilities – at Ford, Salmon Pastures and Bargeddie – and two in-vessel composting facilities at Deepmoor and Waithlands.

However, there were also “disappointments”. Viridor saw the number of accidents and incidents it had to report to the HSE under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) rise from 32 in 2008 to 67 in 2009 (a 62% increase).

The company said the incidents were mostly comprised of slips, trips, falls and manual handling injuries.

Colin Drummond, Viridor, chief executive, commented: “We are redoubling our efforts in this area focusing particularly on the underlying cause of accidents and effective promotion of safety and good practice in the workplace. Health and safety forms a key part of our targets for next year.”

Mr Drummond also identified issues with staff welfare when he went undercover within the company as part of Channel 4's TV show, Undercover Boss (see letsrecycle.com story).

Despite the issues with health and safety, which Viridor partly put down to improved reporting procedures, there were also a number of successes in addition to increased recovery tonnages.

Viridor met its targets in relation to monitoring and recording greenhouse gas emissions and learned that 90% comes from methane production at its landfills.

However, it also pointed out that emissions from its landfills rose due to a reduction in input material. The report said that 84% of this gas is captured and, as there is limited scope for improvement in this area, Viridor is considering other ways of reducing its emissions.

Mr Drummond said that key areas under consideration included diverting waste from landfill, composting, and greater use of energy recovery.

Viridor is keen to see energy-from waste capacity grow in the UK and, in its report, repeated its call for the government to set a target to ensure that 6% of renewable energy is derived from waste-based energy sources by 2015.

Community

The report also stated that Viridor gave £9,409,206 to the Landfill Communities Fund to supportcommunity and conservation projects close to its landfills. The projects ranged from museums and local football teams to projects such as the Great Crane Project in Somerset, which is trying to reintroduce the crane to the wild.

Key aims for 2010/11 include increasing its recycling capacity by 10% and renewable power generation by 5%. The company is also working towards a 10% reduction in RIDDOR incidents.