Floorbrite provide collection and disposal services for all types of waste:

• General waste

• Mixed recyclable waste

• Food waste

• Glass collection

• Paper and card

• Baled waste

• Metal waste

• Wood waste

• Confidential waste

• Hazardous waste (Weee & I.T. Waste)

What is POPs? Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are a group of organic compounds that have toxic properties and chemical substances that don’t break down, can travel long distances and persist in the environment.

POPs accumulate in food chains and pose a risk to human health and the environment.
In December 2022 the Environment Agency (EA) issued new guidance on how soft furnishings containing Persistent Organic Compounds (POPs) should be managed.

How do you know if you have POPs Waste:

Waste domestic seating is any item of seating of a household type from households or businesses that is waste. Upholstered domestic seating may contain POPs. For example:
• Sofas
• Sofa Beds
• Armchairs
• Kitchen and Dining Room Chairs
• Stools and Foot Stools
• Office Chairs
• Futons
• Bean Bags, Floor and Sofa Cushions

This includes any part made of or containing leather, synthetic leather, other fabric, or foam.

• (Mattresses, curtains, blinds and beds are NOT domestic seating and are NOT covered by this guidance as are items that are not upholstered, for example, a wooden chair without a cushioned or textile back, seat, or arms.)

What the EA guidance means for you:

• Waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs must not be mixed with any other waste streams, it must not be broken down and needs to be stored and handled separately.
• It must be sorted and stored in a way that prevents:
o Damaging it
o Release of POPs
o Contamination with other waste
• POPs waste should be correctly identified and categorised. There is no specific European Waste Catalogue (EWC) code for POPs – in most cases, with sofas, armchairs etc. We anticipate using 20 03 07 Household and this must be clearly displayed on your Waste Transfer Notes.
• The EA has clarified that it will be measuring compliance against it’s regulations. It therefore issued new guidance in December 2022 regarding identifying, classifying, handling and disposing of POPs waste at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/identify-and-classify-waste-containing-persistent-organic-pollutants-pops Therefore, councils have now been warned that they must now incinerate all upholstered waste domestic seating including seating textiles and foams. Waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs must not be landfilled, mixed with other non-POPs-containing wastes, reused or recycled. These items must be sent for incineration or used as a fuel in, for example, a cement kiln.

What the Floorbrite Waste Team can do for you:

Many companies are still not aware of this change in legislation; however it can cause a costly issue and or fines, as waste management companies will now refuse skip transportation if contaminated by upholstered furniture. However, the Floorbrite Group are able to remove these items from site, strip down the components such as wood and metal for recycling and dispose of the foam and upholstered elements in a safe way.

• For customers who produce POPs waste on a regular basis, we can supply individual containers for your waste domestic seating and soft furnishings that may contain POPs;
• In the case where production of that waste is minimal, we can collect individual items for you using our pick-up (man and van) service;
• As always, we will in all cases, provide Waste Transfer Notes that correctly identify your POPs waste and its disposal. If you would like to discuss this further or have any questions regarding this, or any of your waste management services, please contact us.

Floorbrite can provide a range of different equipment to help with waste removal, including:

                  Internal recycling containers

Bulk bags and bin liners

                                                    Euro carts (1100’s)

                                                    Bin Press

                                  Front End Loaders (FELs)

                                        Skips

                 Roll on off skips (enclosed, open top, sealed or lockable)

                                  Compactor/compactor container/Portable compactors

                                                  Balers (Vertical or horizontal)

                                                 Pallatt crates

Working towards 100% diversion from landfill!

Our commercial ethos is to divert as much material away from landfill as possible and to maximise the value of the materials collected without placing undue pressure on your operational staff and without the need to sort waste into a multitude of containers.

Internal waste and recycling containers:

• Office recycle bins

• Food caddies

• Paper trays

• Shredders

• Paper Consoles

• Dry mixed recycling bins

• Becca bins

• Glass bins

External waste and recycling containers, balers and compactors:

• Euro carts (1100 ltrs)

• Front end loaders (FELs)

• Skips

• Balers and compactors

Innovation in waste recycling

Floorbrite are working with various recovery/recycling companies to ensure that where possible, waste can avoid landfill by using greener, safer alternatives, such as anaerobic digestion, waste to energy and composting.

Environmental Report

As a standard, Floorbrite will provide you with an Environmental report. This will include the percentages of waste that have been recycled /recovered and a breakdown of tonnages of all waste removed from site on your behalf.

Rebateable wastes are materials that can be sold to industry to make other products, which then determines the value of the waste. Certain materials are eligible for these rebates such as cardboard, plastics, wood, metal and large quantities of food. A value will be paid back to you based on the total tonnages collected. These rebates are all subject to market conditions.

Secure shredding will professionally destroy confidential material securely, to ensure you meet your responsibilities under the Data Protection Act and avoid a fine of up to £500,000, as well as avoiding identity theft and as part of good business practice. All shredding is done to BSIA standards and then recycled.

We can offer a regular on-site or off-site confidential shredding service with lockable office consoles. All items placed into the confidential consoles and taken from customers premises are shredded and recycled. Depending on the quality of paper received into our off-site high security shredding plant, it will be either recycled into tissue products, or if the quality is good, recycled into A4 photocopy paper. As part of our commitment to the UK environment, all baled paper is sent to UK mills for recycling. An exception to this is if the paper is being recycled back into A4 photocopy paper which must be done in Europe or China.

Our services:

• On-site shredding

• Off-site shredding

• One-off shredding

• Secure destruction

• Secure storage

• Scanning and online document management

• Archiving

We can help take the worry out of compliant disposal of your hazardous waste, including but not limited to:

• Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

• Laboratory and bulk chemicals

• Rags, wipes, contaminated packaging

• Paint

• Oil

• Batteries

• Fluorescent tubes

• Aerosols

• Adhesives

• Industrial solvents

• Acids

• Pharmaceuticals

All the relevant compliant documentation will be provided incl:

• Free full site waste audit

• “Cradle to Grave” documentation ensuring compliance

• Safe and legal fully audited disposal outlets

• Peace of mind

• In the UK in 2014 we sent 177 million tons of waste to landfill.

• 100 million tons could have been recycled.

• In less than 2 hours, landfill waste would fill the Albert Hall.

• In less than 8 months landfill waste would fill the biggest lake in the UK, Lake Windermere.

• We dispose of our own body weight in waste every 8 weeks.

• It takes 300-1000 years for plastic to decompose.

Recycling is an excellent way of saving energy and conserving the environment – Did you know that:

• 1 recycled tin can would save enough energy to power a television for 3 hours.

• 1 recycled glass bottle would save enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes.

• 1 recycled plastic bottle would save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 3 hours.

• 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials.

• Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled.

• The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.

• On average, 16% of the money you spend on a product pays for the packaging, which ultimately ends up as rubbish.

• As much as 50% of waste in the average dustbin could be composted.

• Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.

• 9 out of 10 people would recycle more if it were made easier. This is where Floorbrite can help!