July’s Featured Charity

Our featured charity for July is UNICEF’s Syria Children’s Appeal.

Over 1.6 million people have fled the horrific violence in Syria, half of them children and everyday thousands more terrified boys and girls pour over the border to join them. These children have experienced fear and abuse that no child should have to go through. It’s wrong that even one child should suffer like this.

UNICEF is working around the clock to provide children with clean water, food, medical care and warm clothing but their resources are at a breaking point and they need extra funding to continue their essential work with families affected. Please donate today and help them reach every child that needs them.

For more information please visit http://www.unicef.org.uk/landing-pages/donate-syria/

For the next year, funds raised for this appeal, UNICEF will support children affected by the Syrian crisis. After this point your donation will go where UNICEF feel the need is greatest.

For more information about how you can donate please feel free to get in touch:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/contact.aspx

Recycling of Plastics

There are many advantages to recycling plastics, and these include:

1) Conservation of non-renewable fossil fuel

2) Plastic production uses 8% of the world's oil production, 4% as feedstock and 4% during manufacture.

3) Reduced consumption of energy.

4) Reduced amounts of solid waste going to landfill.

5) Reduced emissions of carbon-dioxide (CO2), nitrogen-oxide (NO) and sulphur-dioxide (SO2).

The world’s yearly consumption of plastic materials has risen from approximately 5 million tonnes in the 1950’s to approximately 100 million tonnes at present.

One tonne of plastics is equal to 20,000 two litre drinks bottles or 120,000 carrier bags.

The amount of plastic waste generated yearly in the UK is calculated roughly to be nearly 5 million tonnes.

Currently the UK recycles 24% of plastic while a European country, i.e Germany recycles 44% of their plastic.

Plastic equates to 9% of average household waste.

1.8 tonnes of oil are saved for every tonne of recycled polythene produced.

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

WEEE Recyclers

The majority of specialist IT WEEE recyclers benefit from our free recycling service. For nearly all of our WEEE recycler partner’s cases this also creates a revenue stream.

Cartridges and fuser units are removed from scrap printers and places in cages or pallet boxes unsorted whilst making sure toner bottles and ribbons are not included.

Office Green will then collect these unsorted pallets once a minimum of 1.9 metres high, and report with a full audit trail of how many points listed or non-listed toners, inkjets and mobile phones if included have been returned.

Unused Cartridges

Any unused/new cartridges also received from customer sites can also be included or if large quantities are available a bespoke bid can be offered.

Legislation

We provide Waste Transfer Notes for each collection and Waste Carrier Licences of either ourselves or our contracted courier or haulier.

Office Green - minimising the cost and impact of waste

For more information please feel free to visit our website at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

Data security and recycling mobile phones

When we process used mobile phones for recycling, the protection of the environment and privacy of any data contained on them is central to our approach.

Most of the handsets will save personal data to either the SIM card or removable memory card.

As a result we advise all users to remove these cards before sending them into us for recycling. Any cards that are received are physically broken to avoid any data from being accessed before being sent for raw material recycling.

We perform ‘factory resets’ on working handsets which deletes any personal data that may have been left for them.

Office Green – Technology & the Environment in Harmony

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

June’s Featured Charity

Our featured charity for the month of June is Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life.

Race for Life is Cancer Research UK’s flagship event, with more than 230 events taking place across the UK.

Since Race for Life began in 1994, an incredible six million women have come together and raised more than £493 million for Cancer Research UK’s life saving work, making it the UK’s largest women-only fundraising event.

By ticking the box on your points claim form this month you can help them raise even more money.

About Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is leading the world in finding new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer.

Their groundbreaking work has saved millions of lives in the UK and across the world and over the next decade they aim to save many more but they can’t do it without you.

For more information about Race for Life please visit their website at:

http://raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org/index.html

For more information about how to donate with Office Green please visit our website for further information:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

Research into the potential of re-using bulky household waste

The reason for this research was to understand the structure of bulky waste in terms of item type and re-usability, in order to identify the opportunities for the re-use of bulky items across the UK.

National predictions obtained from WasteDataFlow (WDF) reveals that across the UK during 2010/11, some 1,590,000 tonnes of bulky waste was collected at the kerbside or taken to HWRCs. Around twice as much is taken to HWRCs (1,050,000 tonnes) than is collected at the kerbside (540,000 tonnes).

Using this data and estimating the sample findings across all UK kerbside and HWRC bulky waste collections shows that of all bulky waste in the UK, including both kerbside collected and HWRC bulky items), approximately 42% consists of furniture, 19% textiles and 19% WEEE. These estimates are equal to 670,000 tonnes of furniture and 310,000 tonnes each of textiles and WEEE thrown away by householders in the UK annually.

There is a perception held that items, when they reach the HWRC, or are collected at kerbside are no longer fit for re-use, however, this report identifies down to specific product level the substantial amount of products that are potentially reusable. It is hoped that this information can assist in informing re-use organisations, local authorities, and waste management companies of the potential reuse of items that are currently being recycled or disposed of.

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

Information about mixed plastics packaging

The term mixed plastics covers all types of non-bottle plastic packaging from households. It includes rigid and flexible plastic packaging items of assorted polymer types and colours and does not include plastic bottles and non-packaging items.

Annually in the UK over 1 million tonnes of mixed plastics packaging from households are thrown away and the push to develop sustainable waste management options for mixed plastics packaging is picking up momentum.

The move towards bigger recycling levels is being encouraged by a number of factors including the increasing cost of waste disposal alongside rising public demand for more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of shifting waste from landfill.

A further subdivide of mixed plastics are rigid plastics (pots, tubs, trays) and films or flexible plastics.

In 2011/12 in the UK, 45% of local authorities provided kerbside collections of non-bottle rigid plastics (pots, tubs, trays) and 13% collected films (plastic) at the kerbside (in addition to those collecting carrier bags only).

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

Statistics on waste management in England

Earlier this month DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) published a statistical release showing various facts and figures that they found during their study from July to December last year. Here are the facts and figures that they discovered:

Recycling of household waste reached 47% between July and September 2012, up 2 percentage points from a year previously. The annual rate now stands at 44% of household waste being recycled (including composted and reused).

Total household waste was over 6 million tonnes between July and September 2012, an increase of 3% compared to a year previously (Includes recycling, compost and reuse).

2.3 million tonnes of Local Authority collected waste between July and September 2012 went to landfill, down 9% from a year previously.

1.4 million tonnes of Local Authority collected waste between July and September 2012 was sent for incineration, up 14% from a year previously.

Recycling rates have a seasonal pattern largely due to seasonal variation in garden waste, much of which goes for recycling. For this reason comparisons should be made with the same quarter in previous years or using full 12 month periods.

Over 90 per cent of all waste managed by local authorities comes from households with the remainder coming from business and construction. Only a small part of waste from businesses and construction are covered in these statistics.

The household waste recycling rate reached a new high of 47 per cent between July and September 2012, although this is likely to fall back due to seasonal patterns.

There were 6.2 million tonnes of household waste between July and September 2012 with 2.9 million tonnes of it being recycled, composted or reused. This amounts to 117 kg of household waste, including 54kg recycled waste, per person.

In the last 5 years household waste for recycling, composting or reuse has increased by 17%, while residual or ‘black bag’ household waste has fallen by 25%.

Between July and September 2012 almost 2.3 million tonnes of local authority managed waste went to landfill and almost 1.4 million tonnes went for incineration.

Local Authority managed waste going to landfill has almost halved in the last 5 years

(down 45%). Local Authority managed waste going for incineration has increased by 60% in the last 5 years, with an increase of 14% in the last year.

Landfill Tax continues to be the main driver for local authorities to reduce waste to landfill. Generating energy from waste by incineration is preferable to landfill, although recycling and reuse are preferable to both.

For more information feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

Interesting Recycling Facts

Recycling has now become part of our everyday lives in the UK. With recycling collections now being largely used across the UK including the use of local tips. Recycling is a great way of helping the environment and disposing of waste in an economical way. Remember reduce, reuse, recycle! Here are some interesting facts about recycling in the UK:

1) Every year in the UK each household produces over 1 tonne of household waste, totalling to 31 million tonnes for the UK each year.

2) Each year, the average dustbin holds enough unrealised energy for 500 baths, 3500 showers or 5,000 hours of TV.

3) Every person in the UK on average throws away their own body weight in rubbish every 7 weeks.

4) The UK produces enough waste to fill Lake Windermere (the largest lake in England) every 8 months.

5) In less than 2 hours the UK produces enough enough waste to fill the Albert Hall.

6) In the UK if all aluminium drinks cans were recycled, there would be 14 million less full dustbins per year.

7) Recycling aluminium only needs 5% of the energy it takes to make new aluminium and produces only 5% of the CO2 emissions.

8) One recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to power a TV set for three hours!

9) Each year we use approximately 13 billion steel cans, or 600 per household.

10) On average milk bottles are reused 13 times before recycling.

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

May’s Featured Charity

Our featured charity for this month is Animals Asia.

Animals Asia is dedicated to ending the barbaric practice of bear bile farming and bettering the welfare of animals in China and Vietnam. They promote compassion and respect for all animals and work to bring about long-term change.

The Animals Asia team have been rescuing bears since 1994 and is the only organisation with a bear sanctuary in China. Their founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE, Dr.med.vet. h.c., is broadly recognised as the world’s leading expert on the cruel bear bile industry, having campaigned against it since 1993.

Animals Asia focuses its work on three major programmes:

End Bear Bile Farming

Animals Asia works to end the barbaric bear bile trade, which sees over 10,000 bears, mainly moon bears but also sun bears and brown bears, kept on bile farms, and around 2,400 in Vietnam.

Cat and Dog Welfare

Animals Asia works to end the trade of dogs and cats for food in China, and lobbies to improve the welfare of companion animals and promote humane population management.

Zoo and Safari Parks

Animals Asia campaigns for an end to abusive animal practices in zoos and safari parks in China, and works closely with governing authorities to improve animal management and increase awareness of the welfare needs of captive animals.

Animals Asia’s approaches are:

Change through empathy

They work with animal ambassadors who embody the ideal empathy for one animal can evolve into empathy for an entire species and ultimately for all species.

Negotiation

They take a non-partisan, sensitive approach in working with governments, authorities, experts and local communities. They work with, not against, people to find sustainable solutions for all parties.

Education

They inform and empower local communities for the welfare of animals and people, promoting change at the grassroots level. They promote alternatives to animal products for use in traditional medicine through their Healing without Harm campaign.

Investigation

They work with vet and bear-care teams, field officers and a network of research scientists, university students, pathologists and traditional medicine doctors to investigate the bear bile industry, the trade in cats and dogs for their meat, and cruelty to animals in captivity, and use this knowledge to fight against these practices.

For more information about this charity visit their website at:

http://www.animalsasia.org/

For information about how you can help through Office Green visit our website at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

Recyling Ink Cartridges

Recycling is a very important method for keeping the environment clean. The majority of people do not understand the significance of recycling used goods.

Each year over 375 million inkjet cartridges are thrown away worldwide, and 30 million of those in the UK alone. At present only 5% of all empty inkjet cartridges are being recycled.

Ink cartridge recycling also helps to lessen carbon based gas emissions, which is a serious cause of global warming.

You can help make a difference to the environment by making it a cleaner and better place by recycling your empty cartridges. At Office Green we supply an ink cartridge recycling service to both commercial and domestic customers.

We have the simplest and most recycling focused scheme. Our collection program enables you to send all of your printer cartridges back (not just the good ones). This ensures you comply with your own duty of care as well as offering you a variety of ways to be paid.

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk

Recycling in the office

Companies that recycle in the office show that they are environmentally friendly and are thinking green. Normally, waste and recyclables will be kept separately to each other, for example, a bin for general waste, a bin for waste paper, and a bin for ink cartridges, etc.

The general items that an office will recycling include:

• Paper
• Printer cartridges
• Plastic coffee cups
• Computers
• IT Equipment
• Cardboard
• Packaging

All companies, may they be big or small must have a paper trail for their waste and are subject to an audit from the Environmental Agency at any given time; the paper trail is also a crucial part of ISO accreditation.

Here is how the paper trail works:

The company who generates the waste are defined as the waste/recycling producer. Generally they will have a waste or recycling collection company defined as the ‘carrier’; some collections companies only collect a single waste stream some collect a variety of streams, to be capable of legally collecting waste or recyclables the company must have a Waste Carriers License.

When the collection company (carrier) have collected from the office/factory the producer will be given a Waste Transfer Note to say what they have collected, this is the first part of the paper trail that the waste or recyclables will obtain on their route from company to collector to recycling plant to landfill and must be kept on record by all parties involved.

The collector will then collect a Waste Transfer Note from either the recycling plant or landfill site who they pass it onto that verifies that the waste has been either recycled or landfilled correctly and safely within the law.

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk

Packaging symbols - Explained

-‘Widely Recycled’ means 75% of people have access to recycling facilities for these items.

‘Check locally’ means 20% - 75% of people have access to recycling facilities for these items.

‘Not recycled’ means less than 20% have access to recycling facilities for these items.

Here are the symbols for various different packaging items and how they are recycled, nevertheless, you should always follow the advice of your local council.

The Green Dot

The green dot does not necessarily mean that the packaging can be recycled. This symbol is used on packaging in numerous European countries and indicates that the producer has made a contribution towards the recycling of packaging.

Plastics

Indicates the type of plastic: PET and HDPE bottles are recycled by the majority of local authorities.

Glass

Please dispose of glass bottles and jars in a bottle bank (but remember to divide colours) alternatively you can use your kerbside collection if you have one.

Recyclable Aluminium

Can be taken to a aluminium recycling facility or placed in your kerbside collection.

Recyclable Steel

Can be taken to a steel recycling facility.

Mobius Loop

Shows that the item is capable of being recycled - not that the item has been recycled.

Mobius Loop with percentage

Shows the percentage of recycled material contained in the item.

Paper

When an item has the National Association of Paper Merchants mark, paper or board must be made from at least 75% genuine waste paper and/or board fibre, no part of which should contain mill produced waste fibre.

For more information please feel free to visit our website at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk

April’s Featured Charity

Our featured charity for this month is the Disasters Emergency Committee's Syria Crisis Appeal.

On many Syrian families, 2 years of war has had a devastating impact and has left more than four million people in need of aid. In numerous parts of the country the health system has virtually collapsed, water supplies have been cut and and food is in short supply.

Additionally, over one million people have now fled to the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. Refugees are now arriving at camps which are already stretched to capacity, many families are living in basic shelters they have built themselves, with host families in overcrowded conditions or in partly finished buildings.

For more information about this appeal and how you can donate please visit the Disasters Emergency Committee's Syria Crisis Appeal website at:

http://www.dec.org.uk/appeals/syria-crisis-appeal

And to see how you can donate with Office Green please feel free to visit our website at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk/

Things you can re-use at home

There are so many things at home that you can reuse and make into new things. Here are a list of great things you can do to reuse and recycle:

1) Have any old CD’s that you don’t use anymore? You can make coasters out of them by gluing two together and putting felt underneath to make it non-slip.

2) A great way of using up a lipstick is by melting it with a small pot of lip balm, leaving you with a lip gloss.

3) You can save your corks, and when painting you can use them as stamps.

4) Cut off the bottom of an empty milk carton and plant a tree seedling inside it, The carton will protect your seedling from the weather and pests, and will also degrade as the tree grows.

5) Thinking of throwing your old jeans out? You can use them to cover patches in other jeans!

6) Take-away containers are a great method of storing bits and bobs as well as various foods.

7) Want to keep your picnic cooler cool? Fill an old milk carton up and freeze them.

8) Save old small toiletry containers so you can reuse them by refilling them from normal size bottle to create travel size containers.

9) You can make your own wrapping paper by using old newspapers, magazines, and comics.

10) Make your birthday and Christmas cards from old cards, photos, and stamps etc..

For more information please feel free to contact us at:

http://www.officegreen.co.uk