< Previous30 Business Link www.blmforum.net RECYCLING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT R ecycling and responsible waste management continue to grow in importance to businesses and their customers as environmental concerns rise. How waste is disposed of can significantly impact whether a business is perceived positively or negatively, can be the key to a sale or contract win, whatever sector they are involved in - from construction to retail to agriculture - and can affect company culture and staff morale. It is therefore vital that not only rules and regulations are followed, but efforts are actively made to handle waste in the greenest way possible. Meanwhile, waste management can be a major money pit if not properly dealt with. Reducing waste sent to landfill, and even achieving zero waste to landfill, in a cost-effective way, is a key starting point for many businesses seeking to enhance waste management and cut a practice that is notoriously bad for the environment, especially as landfill tax Recycling remains key As businesses aim to boost their green credentials, they should take a fresh look at how their waste is managed. 30-32.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:49 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 31 RECYCLING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT © Shutterstock /thirawatana phaisalratana continues to rise (up to £96.70 per tonne in April 2021 from £94.15 per tonne in 2020) to encourage use of other waste management options, including recycling, composting, and recovery. Simultaneously, many nations are banning waste imports or limiting them, increasing costs. Turkey, for example, is banning the import of certain kinds of plastic waste after a Greenpeace study found plastics sent to the country for recycling from the UK were in fact mainly being dumped in landfills and incinerators. Myriad businesses are now looking to improve their recycling rates, and in turn minimise carbon emissions whilst also supporting a circular economy, as they aim to enhance waste management. But first, though recycling is important, slashing waste in the first instance is just as crucial, such as by implementing electronic systems to eliminate paper use. By conducting a waste audit one can gain a fuller understanding of a business’s different waste streams, amount created, uncover new recycling opportunities (seeing what percentage of waste is recyclable), and potentially reduce general waste usage, while also creating a more effective supply chain, improving ordering, minimising wasted materials and saving money. Further, a waste management provider can advise businesses so that they do not just discard waste, to give it value, and help maximise rebates. A valuable resource, waste can be reused, recycled, and incinerated for energy recovery, holding a different value depending on type of waste, with scrap metal sellable at high rates. In addition, within a business, on a colleague level, to boost recycling, employees should be educated and provided with clear information to ensure they understand what materials can be recycled, for instance by placing clear labelling and signage at collection points, also helping to avoid contamination. 32 Á 30-32.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:49 Page 232 Business Link www.blmforum.net RECYCLING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT Another simple way to optimise business recycling is with bin placement - bins for electronic waste can be positioned near printers, those for paper and cardboard near desks, food waste and packaging bins in kitchen spaces and communal areas. Well placed bins make recycling easier and more convenient, and removing personal bins is a good encourager for increased recycling in a workplace, making staff think where their waste is actually going. Ensuring that any products produced are recyclable and utilise recycled content, where appropriate, will also only become more essential in the next year with Government policies such as the plastic packaging tax, in which (in April 2022) a tax on plastic packaging that does not meet a minimum threshold of at least thirty per cent recycled content will come into force. Concerningly, a recent study by Veolia has found eighty-three per cent of businesses are “not aware” of the plastics packaging tax. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regime, dealing with business packaging waste, will also be of concern, which proposes brands and importers take full responsibility for the cost of managing, recycling, and disposing of packaging waste, with greater fees imposed if packaging is hard to reuse/recycle. Due to come into force in 2023, the aim is to encourage producers to use less packaging and more recyclable materials, reducing the amount of hard to recycle packaging placed on the market. Waste management firms themselves are also committing to greener practices and innovation, with the Environmental Services Association (ESA), which represents eighty-five per cent of the UK’s waste management industry, revealing a sector-wide commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, through a £10 billion investment in new recycling infrastructure, to drive up recycling rates and cut down waste, and technologies capable of capturing methane emissions, increasing capture of the most potent form, by eighty-five per cent from landfill by 2030. Using zero- emission vehicles is also on the agenda, phasing out petrol and diesel entirely by 2040 in favour of sustainable fuel sources including biofuel and electric. The ESA has also committed to decarbonising non-recyclable waste treatment and rolling out carbon capture technology across energy from waste facilities by 2040 where feasible. Poor waste management could prove costly to businesses, whether as a result of the legal implications of non-compliant disposal, an inefficient approach, or losing out to competitors promoting their green credentials. The time is now to engage with a waste management partner that is focused on sustainable solutions, from offering cost-effective recycling to waste to energy options, to gain the benefits of an improved reputation and bottom line and reduced environmental impact. © Shutterstock /Rawpixel.com 30-32.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:49 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 33 SOUTH YORKSHIRE We explore the importance of South Yorkshire to our region’s continued posterity – from investment to logistics. Comprising Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham, South Yorkshire is one of the most important economic areas across our region. That’s partly down to its myriad of research facilities and university-industry partnerships that have achieved global recognition and enticed major players to invest in the area. In particular, Sheffield has attracted big names including McLaren, Boeing and Rolls Royce. Much of this foreign investment is funnelled into the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) where breakthrough innovations are made. If Sheffield is the region’s home of manufacturing and engineering, then Doncaster is, undoubtedly, its logistics hub. That’s down to the fact that the town is in close proximity to four motorways which has extended its reach. These co-called ‘edgelands’ around the town and filled with retail parks and distribution centres – such as the six million square foot iPort – something that Amazon has capitalised on. The retail giant boasts three fulfilment centres in Doncaster alone, cementing it as one of the region’s major employers. As the area is perfectly positioned for logistics and distribution, doubtless we can expect to see more of this kind of investment in the future. Sheffield City Region has six airports within a ninety-minute drive with Doncaster Sheffield Airport boasting one of the longest runways in the UK, one catering for specialist heavy and urgent cargo. When it comes to road transport, the region has low traffic congestion, with sixty per cent of the UK’s manufacturing industry within a 2.5 hour HGV drive. And for rail, daily freight services connect the ports of Felixstowe and Southampton with Doncaster Railport, while London is only ninety minutes by train from key stations in the area. Ensuring that the region remains 34 Á Indispensable © Shutterstock /Nabil Aiman Indispensable 33-35.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:51 Page 134 Business Link www.blmforum.net SOUTH YORKSHIRE competitive and attractive depends on investment, not only to nurture existing businesses and services, but for encouraging new businesses into the area. As is evidence by the major global businesses setting up shop in South Yorkshire, it’s clear that foreign investment is key to its continuing success. In 2018, more than three thousand jobs were created in the Sheffield City Region through domestic and foreign investment. Two thirds of these were created through one-hundred and thirty domestic investment projects, while over 1,000 were created through forty foreign direct investment projects. The importance of this foreign investment cannot be overstated, but it’s also vital for the region to invest back into itself. There’s a slew of investment opportunities open to businesses in the region. One of the most important is the Sheffield City Region’s Jessica Fund which was created in 2013. CBRE’s Investment Advisory team, part of CBRE Capital Advisors, manages the Fund which commits capital to regeneration opportunities in the Sheffield City Region. A recent investment from the fund provide two new loans, totalling £5.2 million, to fund the development of two office buildings in Sheffield. This brings total commitments by the Fund to over £64 million with a GDV of £150 million. The first loan was a £4 million mezzanine loan which will fund the completion of Endeavour, a 60,138 sq ft Grade A office space in Sheffield’s established Digital Campus, which is being developed by Scarborough DC Limited. The loan was provided alongside a £10 million Senior Loan from The South Yorkshire Pension Fund, also managed by CBRE’s Investment Advisory © Shutterstock / Tupungato 33-35.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:51 Page 2www.blmforum.net Business Link 35 SOUTH YORKSHIRE team. The second loan was a £1.2 million rental loan to support No. 1 West Bar Square, a 100,000 sq ft, Grade A office building in Sheffield City Centre which is pre-let in its entirety to Sheffield City Council. All in all, it’s no wonder that South Yorkshire has pushed heavily for a devolution deal. But first, a brief history lesson. George Osbourne, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Northern Powerhouse champion and current editor-in-chief of the London Evening Standard, signed an in-principal agreement with local politicians back in October 2015. In practice, this granted an elected mayor power over transport, strategic planning and skills as well as £900 million over thirty years. However, in September 2018, leaders of the Barnsley and Doncaster councils voted down the offer, backing instead the proposed ‘One Yorkshire’ deal. This single devolution deal for the entire county has been rejected by Government on numerous occasions, the most recent of which came earlier this year. In May 2018, Barnsley MP Dan Jarvis was elected mayor of the Sheffield City Region and, in March 2019, he and council leaders agreed to a solution unlocking a devolution deal for South Yorkshire while supporting future developments. Government officially agreed to this deal in May that will see the Sheffield City Region term run until 2022 unlocking future growth and benefits for the region. It was a victory for the region, but one which Mr Jarvis said was a “process, not an event”. An event implies the natural end to a journey, but the journey for South Yorkshire is far from over. In many ways, its journey is just beginning. Long may it continue. © Shutterstock / Piranhi Endeavor, Sheffield 33-35.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:51 Page 336 Business Link www.blmforum.net EDUCATION AND TRAINING A shrinking talent pool, increased digitalisation, and economic influences are forcing the skills gap to widen, and it is affecting the nation’s productivity, which is now recognised as the lowest amongst the G7. Organisations in the UK are shelling out £4.4 billion a year as a result of the skills shortage, with well in excess of half of employers having struggled to find staff with the required skills in the past year. Increased recruitment costs, inflated salaries and the training required for those hired at a lower level than needed, as well as temporary staffing are all highlighted as causes for this expense. Our region is fortunate in being the host of world class training facilities, specialist training providers, leading higher education institutions and up- skilling funding opportunities. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are rife with opportunities for business and education institution collaborations in particular. For instance, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is offered by universities across the region. CPD refers to the learning activities employers and employees complete to grow, develop and enhance their skills to ensure their academic and practical qualifications do not become outdated, enabling continuous development of professional abilities and allowing employers and employees to stay at the forefront of their professions. While universities, with their specialist up to date knowledge, offer a range of readymade courses for individuals and organisations, from using people analytics in HR to courses in system safety engineering for those working in computer science, if there is a precise development path one needs employees to follow, bespoke education programmes can be designed in collaboration with many of the region’s universities. Custom programmes present a variety of flexible and effective education Upskill and advance With a shrinking talent pool across almost all industries, training and education has never been more important for filling the skills shortage. But since the pandemic, the way training is undertaken has evolved. 36-39.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:53 Page 1www.blmforum.net Business Link 37 EDUCATION AND TRAINING options that will inspire talent. Universities are prepared to work closely with business to understand them and the challenges they face, to meet learning needs as well as form courses that fit to a preferred time frame. With CPD talent can be retained, a team’s specialist skills developed and a business’s productivity enhanced. Courses on offer vary from short courses offering a combination of strategic, practical and core skills to re-enter the workplace with, to longer term leadership and management programmes for new, middle, and senior managers, business owners and entrepreneurs, to sector specific training courses designed for one’s industry, to online and distance learning so one can study flexibly from anywhere. These can be credit or non- credit earning. Building a culture that features growth and leaning opportunities is important for a plethora of reasons - not only is it good for businesses and has an impact on the bottom line, but up-skilling can impact employee satisfaction and retention. Twenty-one per cent of employees 38 Á © Shutterstock /ESB Professional 36-39.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:53 Page 238 Business Link www.blmforum.net EDUCATION AND TRAINING indicate that they are more likely to stay at a business that supports their development. Businesses can also collaborate with universities and other education institutions to gain access to high calibre students, for instance by developing a partnership to offer degree apprenticeships that allow students to gain work experience while getting the qualification of a degree and professional accreditation, but also opening up a talent pool with the skills needed by employers. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, online training has grown in popularity and prevalence. Although online training has existed in one form or another for decades with many people – from students right through to senior staff – taking advantage of it. Since lockdown, however, it has exploded in usage as apprentices look to maintain their learning, companies complete their employees’ training, and individuals that are now based from home, or have been made redundant in the wake of outbreak, to upskill. Outside of the pandemic, the appeal and popularity of online training lies in its flexibility. From a home office or smart device, it can be worked around any schedule, fitting in with other engagements and appointments. It can also even be undertaken on-the-go, turning that daily train or bus commute into a learning opportunity. That same flexibility is what gives online training an edge, allowing an uninterrupted learning stream for all manner of individuals while they observe social distancing regulations. Small surprise that many traditional training providers have made the transition to online learning, in part or in full. No doubt misconceptions existed around online training before the pandemic with some employers perhaps reluctant to use them over the misguided perception that they aren’t the equal of in-person training or lack the range of subjects. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Online courses cover a diversity of subjects from health & safety, administration and quality assurance right through to management and everything in between. Because of the nature of e-learning and Are you ready for Natasha’s Law? Skipton-based Verner Wheelock have been at the forefront of food industry training for over 30 years. The company prides itself in offering the most up-to-date training available and provides regular refresher training in HACCP, Auditing and Training Skills, as well as Food Safety Update courses. The company’s latest offering is an online course on the requirements for Prepacked for Direct Sale Food (Natasha’s Law) which becomes enforceable from 1st October. The course covers essential allergen labelling training for retailers, caterers, charities, cafes, stallholders and other businesses who sell pre-wrapped food made on their own premises. As well as this online course, Verner Wheelock delivers accredited training in HACCP, Food Safety and Auditing, together with a range of specialist courses such as Legal Labelling, Root Cause Analysis and Ethical Trading. All these courses are available either face-to-face or remotely and are delivered by tutors with considerable industry experience. For more information, please visit www.vwa.co.uk/blog. 36-39.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:53 Page 3www.blmforum.net Business Link 39 EDUCATION AND TRAINING the flexibility we’ve already touched on, it means training providers are uniquely positioned to get creative with their content and how it’s delivered. This ‘out of the box’ thinking offers a great opportunity to make courses and learning content more engaging, memorable and, thusly, more effective. It also means that content can be continually refreshed and updated with the latest research and findings in a way that traditional location- based courses simply can’t compete with. Providers also have access to analytic data from which they can see what does and doesn’t work about the courses they provide and, crucially, the way in which they’re delivered. As we look towards future, training of every kind will prove crucial to ensuring there’s a talent pipeline in place for all sectors to draw from and that the skills shortage diminishes rather than continues to widen. © Shutterstock /Kate Kultsevych Cargo Training International n AIR, SEA AND ROAD TRAINING n REGULAR UK & USA COURSES n WORLDWIDE IN-HOUSE PROGRAMMES n CAA APPROVED FOR ALL YOUR DANGEROUS GOODS TRAINING NEEDS FOR ALL OUR TRAINING DATES & VENUES VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.cargotraining.com UK OFFICE: PO Box 176, Shepperton, TW17 8WP Tel: 01932 769 682 • E-mail: sales@cargotraining.com USA OFFICE: PO Box 580026, Houston, Texas 77258-0026 Tel: 1800 700 4980 • E-mail: cti@cargotrainingusa.com Cargo Training International, CTI, are providers of dangerous goods training / hazmat training courses in the UK, USA and Worldwide 36-39.qxp_Layout 1 02/09/2021 13:53 Page 4Next >