UKWSL have been awarded a contract worth several hundred thousand pounds by OCS Group UK Ltd to provide a wide range of waste management services. The partnership between UKWSL, OCS and Birmingham Airport is designed to invert the waste hierarchy and deliver innovative solutions and market leading environmental credentials.
By inverting the waste hierarchy UKWSL are delivering a zero-landfill solution from day one of the contract.
The partnership is also looking at a number of innovative solutions specifically focusing on increasing “Reuse” and “Recycling” rates. These projects include coffee cup recycling, reverse vending machines and charitable “Reuse” partnerships for abandoned luggage.
One of these projects involves providing empty suitcases that have been disposed of by passengers to Newlife, the charity for disabled children. Newlife then re-sell or re-use them in one of their six stores, with all profits going towards helping ensure that every disabled child has the best chance in life through the provision of essential equipment.
Earlier this week the first 14 cases were collected from Birmingham Airport. Over the course of the next year this partnership has the potential to divert several hundred empty suitcases (equivalent to circa two tonnes of general waste) currently being sent for recovery.
Any suitcases that cannot be used in their current form are recycled by Newlife, ensuring they still have a value with the circular economy. They can be made into either soft flooring for children’s playgrounds or sound reduction boarding.
Commenting on being awarded the contract UKWSL’s managing director, Max Kanda, said: “We share OCS and Birmingham airport’s commitment to developing an increasing sustainable environment for both passengers and employees. We look forward to helping reduce the amount of waste that is produced and recycling as much material as possible in order to realise its commercial and environmental value.”