London Midland hits 80% recycling rate

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London Midland has hit a new high of an 80% recycling rate of all waste left at its stations, depots and offices.

London Midland recycles approximately 2,000 tonnes of waste every year.

By recycling 80% of waste, the company has reduced its carbon emissions from waste disposal by 680 tonnes per annum.

Recycling one tonne of paper alone saves 17 mature trees and 1.32 tonnes of CO2.

Key to this success has been a ‘change in contractor in April 2010 to a company that is focused on recycling as much waste as possible’.

Greenstar UK, which was bought by Biffa last year, was contracted by London Midland to sort waste rather than send it to landfill.

The main types of waste left on trains and at London Midland stations are newspapers, magazines, tin cans, plastic bottles and cups and plastic packaging.

Kathryn Jacques, Environment Manager at London Midland, wanted to make it easier for the company to maximise recycling, by taking a two pronged approach.

Special mixed recycling bins where customers can sort their rubbish for themselves were installed at selected stations, as well as contracting a company who could sort out rubbish that had been placed in general waste bins.

Kathryn explains:

“We believe we have hit upon a winning formula for easy recycling. We specifically chose a contractor who could recycle waste no matter how it is deposited.

“It is vital that sustainability is embedded into procurement tenders for waste contracts to help customers and colleagues recycle easily.”

All waste is taken to a materials recovery facility where it is then sorted into different types of recyclable (cardboard, cans, paper, plastic) by both hand and machine.

The separated materials are then taken to other facilities and reprocessed into new products, for instance waste paper is recycled into toilet and kitchen rolls and recycled plastics are used to make a range of products, including fleece clothing.

This recycling effort forms part of a wider environmental strategy where London Midland aims to reduce its carbon emissions per passenger journey by 20% by 2015.

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