Our office waste recycling rates, for our regulated and Electricity businesses, remain high at 64% as a result of the management contract that we’ve got in place with our facilities contractor. This covers sites managed by our facilities contractor where we are the principal occupant. However, we believe we can do more. By providing more facilities to separate recyclates in the workplace, we can increase the quality of our office recycling. This is no different to what most of us already do at home.
Our people in the gas business have already given up their desk bins. With the aim of recycling as much office waste as possible, these were removed from our Gas offices in Pottery Fields House, Doxford Park and Thorpe Park last year. The bins were replaced with larger communal bins, segregated to accept different types of waste. The results have been a larger percentage of recyclable waste being segregated such as plastic cups, metal and paper. This change has also resulted in more space being created in and around desks and potential trip hazards being removed from restricted office spaces. Cleaners now also have more time to clean as fewer bins need emptying around the offices, with improvements in hygiene as a benefit. While the change did take some time to adjust to, the initiative will also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through better waste management.
Our new office accommodation at Lingley Mere has been designed with recycling hubs rather than desk bins as standard. This is part of our workplace sustainability programme. We’re working with our facilities contractor to develop new ways of getting the best environmental outcomes for this waste, ensuring that we retain some of the value.