Recycling: More than a load of old rubbish

In recycling and waste management, it is hard not to talk statistics. Kyoto protocols, carbon dioxide emissions, taxes and percentages are hard to avoid.

So, here are some important facts and figures: in the UK, we have recycled £1.3bn of household materials since 2003 and average annual growth in recycling is 30%. Some 35 million tonnes of waste has been recycled since 2003 (based on figures calculated in 2009), saving 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to removing one-third of all cars from UK roads for a year.

In 2008, households recycled 9 million tonnes of waste, among which was 3.3 billion aluminium cans, 8 billion steel food tins, 2 billion 75cl glass bottles and 6.6 billion newspapers (or 9 out of 10 sold).

The recycling industry has an annual turnover of over £20bn, contributing £5.5bn to the UK economy. The industry directly, and indirectly, supports over 100,000 jobs. Even in the economic downturn, the sector is growing at 30% each year. In these difficult and austere times, this is a rapidly growing and globally important sector.

All industry sectors are now involved in reducing, reusing, recycling and waste management. Householders are now used to recycling paper, plastics, bottles and tins; offices are used to recycling paper and toner cartridges; the construction industry is striving towards recycling 90% of all materials from demolition through to new build; even fast food outlets are recycling packaging and used oil.

The construction industry is improving its green credentials, ranging from energy-efficient homes (including solar panels) to recycling the majority of demolition waste. For example, the 2012 Olympic project is costing £10bn: it covers 600 acres, employs 9,000 people, and is on target to divert 90% of all construction waste from landfill.

The most important aspect of recycling at present is to divert as much as possible from landfill. New technologies to support waste conversion are emerging, predominantly from continental Europe, in directing waste to energy plants and, perhaps most importantly of all, in anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion is a natural process in which organic matter such as waste from household foods, gardens, food processing plants and supermarkets are converted into energy in an oxygen-free atmosphere. The main product from the anaerobic process is biogas, a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide that, when upgraded, is very similar to natural gas and is therefore a sought after energy commodity that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.

Biogas is suitable for energy production and can be used to generate electricity, gas or heat, or it can be compressed for transport fuel. Anaerobic digestion also produces liquid and solid by-products, used as fertiliser and soil improvers.

Anaerobic digestion is important because it provides a clean and organic solution to household waste in particular but also produces very cheap renewable energy. Some leading supermarket chains - and even a well known brewery - are using anaerobic digestion by having small plants on-site that process waste and generate electricity to run the premises, with the residual electricity being sold back to the national grid. There are over 2,500 anaerobic digestion biogas plants in Europe: only 20 are in use or under construction in the UK.

The understanding of the processes and risk management of the waste management industry is not common knowledge, so partnering with an underwriter that fully understands the sector is key.

Recycling and waste management in the UK still has far to go in order to meet the UK and global requirements for landfill diversion, renewable energy targets and reduction in greenhouse gases. This fast-growing sector needs local and professional brokers and knowledgeable underwriting partners that understand its insurance requirements and support it as it grows and expands.