Background Harrogate based ventilation specialist EnviroVent, designs, develops and manufactures energy efficient systems for domestic and commercial customers. The Challenge Following a period of business growth, EnviroVent saw the amount of its waste materials escalate. The waste – predominantly soft plastics and cardboard generated from components and materials packaging – was bulky and difficult to manage. The company had previously used skips to store and remove this waste but with an increase in the cost of skip hire, this option was no longer cost-effective. In addition, EnviroVent wanted to find a more environmentally sound alternative to landfill and was keen to generate revenue from its waste materials so the challenge was set to scour the market for a waste baler. The Solution In August, having looked at various waste baler suppliers, EnviroVent invested in Riverside Waste Machinery’s RWM 500 and RWM 75 balers, both on a three year lease, service and maintenance contract. Sharon Webster, health and safety manager at EnviroVent explains: ‘We needed to find a way to manage our waste procedures more effectively. It was important for us to avoid sending the waste to landfill and instead realise a return on something that was previously an overhead.’ The RWM 500, one of Riverside’s most popular and widely used balers which produces compact bales of up to 550kg and the RWM 75, which converts packaging waste into manageable bales of up to 75kg, provided EnviroVent with the best fit solution. The Results With the new balers in place, EnviroVent is now researching opportunities to create revenue from its waste materials rather than paying to send them to landfill. Each month the company is baling up to three tonnes from the RWM 500 and up to one tonne from the RWM 75. The baled waste is compact, easy to handle and convenient to store which means EnviroVent is able to hold onto it without storage space issues until it is collected. Previously, the storage of waste was a big problem and required a 40-yard skip. The company is now able to store more baled waste in half the space that the skip stood in, making waste handling more efficient, controlled and manageable. Commenting on the performance of the balers, Sharon says: ‘We’re hoping to realise a return on our investment within 20 months and possibly sooner depending on growth. After that the balers will not only pay for themselves but will actually provide an income. For us it makes sense to bale.’ The relationship with Riverside is also important for EnviroVent, as Sharon explains: ‘Because we are leasing the balers, the after-sales service, maintenance and ease of purchasing consumables is very important to us. We had a lot of questions when we embarked on our new waste processing procedures which Riverside answered very clearly and the training they gave us was also excellent. ‘We’ve found Riverside to be very good in every respect.’ For more information about EnviroVent, please visit http://www.envirovent.com.
Change to waste management procedure helping EnviroVent cut the cost of waste
