States department conducts waste audit

27 November 2012

As part of its commitment to the ECO-ACTIVE States programme to improve environmental performance across the States of Jersey, Transport and Technical Services (TTS) is conducting an audit of rubbish generated at its South Hill offices tomorrow (Wednesday 28 November).

Rubbish will be collected from South Hill today and then sorted by JCF Cleaners Co. Ltd. The aim is to better understand the rubbish being generated on an average day so the department can put plans in place to reduce their waste and increase recycling.

Rubbish sorted

The rubbish will be sorted into ten categories including white paper, coloured paper, plastic bottles, food waste, printer cartridges and metals. Each category of rubbish will be weighed and the audit will also record where the rubbish has come from so the plans can target different areas of the office building.

Recycling Manager, Emma Richardson, said "If we are to reduce our waste and recycle more, it’s essential that we understand the waste we are generating in the first place. A waste audit will help us to achieve this, then we can identify what change is required and we will have a record to measure our progress against."

The department has worked with the Environment Department, who manage the ECO-ACTIVE programme, to develop guidelines for conducting a waste audit. These are available to any organisation wishing to improve their waste management.