One Planet : One Newport
The aim of the project was to encourage reduction and recycling of waste throughout Newport City Council’s facilities.Recycling is available in all Council buildings at varying levels – the Planet NCC Recycling Campaign aims to provide every Council facility with the same level of recycling capability and to actively encourage key buildings to make a change from waste management to sustainable resource management.
Newport City Council purchased a cardboard bailer, waste receptacles and duplex printers with the REEF which were put in place in March 2009. The funding provided equipment for the museum and libraries.
The purchase and installation of a cardboard bailer at the Central Library has significantly increased the library services ability to recycle the cardboard waste it generates.
Training was provided to key users of this equipment and all staff within the building were actively encouraged to separate their waste for recycling. The purchase of 4 duplex printers for Information Services and Communications (IS&C) have enabled further rollout of the print rationalisation programme, it also highlighted the need to promote sustainability holistically throughout the Council and has resulted in the Green IT Forum fully supporting the Planet Newport Campaign.
The intranet is used to promote recycling, energy conservation, waste minimisation and has been successful in raising the awareness of these issues throughout all departments.
- Cardboard bailer
- Waste receptacles
- Duplex printers
The funding has helped to encourage a greater appreciation of resource management throughout all departments.
With a Green IT forum looking at printer rationalisation, paper reduction and energy conservation this funding has facilitated a relationship between Planet Newport and IT where work has taken place on a number of initiatives including the Big Switch OFF. This has been mirrored within the Continuing Lifelong Learning and Leisure Department (CLL&L).
The funding of the cardboard bailer and the provision of additional recycling at all major centres has enabled the waste management team to put in place systems that work.
The CLL&L Sustainability Group has taken on the challenge of increasing recycling within all their portfolio facilities. The external funding used to purchase duplex printers has been highlighted as clear evidence that Newport City Council promotes measures to reduce waste at source as well as recycling.
A full review of the internal print portfolio has resulted in a commitment from senior management to fully rationalise the printer fleet in a bid to further reduce energy and resource usage and implement a full management suite that can show full (historically invsible) budget costs to heads of service for print costs within each service area. The number of residual bins at Central Library has been reduced by a third and the site no longer uses any additional skips. As well as promoting the cardboard recycling this also increased participation in the other recycling facilities that are provided in this building - paper,cans and plastic bottles.
Tonnage Savings
1.44 tonnes volume saving in cardboard being diverted from landfill in the library and museum services and a reduction in paper usage since March 2009.
Financial Savings
Reduction of 2 euro bins per week at the museum which equates to £1000 per year. The council commented that the introduction of the bailer at the museum has highlighted the need to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill across the libraries and museum services. Whilst the tonnage of cardboard removed has not been significant to date, the volume reduction has allowed the bin capacity to be reduced by 30% with a projected saving of over £2000 per annum across the museum and libraries services, significant savings in financial terms.
