Leisure Industry Waste Solutions

Leisure, tourism and hospitality provide millions of jobs and are vital elements to the UK’s economy. Attracting over 30 million overseas visitors per year, the tourism industry alone brings with it spend in excess of £16 billion per annum. The price of tourism to the UK is impactful environmentally and socially and organisations need to address their responsibilities and obligations to minimise environmental impact and resource use if the industry in England is to continue to remain sustainable and thrive.

According to the 2013 WRAP report ‘An overview of waste in the UK hospitality and food service sector’, the total amount of waste, including food, packaging and other ‘non-food’ waste produced each year by UK Hospitality and Food Service (HaFS) outlets is 2.87 million tonnes. Only 46% of this is recycled, sent to Anaerobic Digestion, or composted. 920,000 tonnes of food is wasted at outlets every year, 75% of this wasted food could have been consumed.

Some facts from the report include:

• The amount of food that is wasted each year in the UK is equivalent to 3 billion meals, or one in six of the 8 billion meals served each year.
• On average 21% of food waste arises from spoilage; 45% from food preparation and 34% from consumer plates.
• 12% of all food waste is recycled.
• 3 million tonnes of packaging (for food and drink as well as other non-food items used within HaFS) and 0.66 million tonnes of other ‘non-food’ wastes are also discarded, that includes items such as disposable kitchen paper and newspapers.
• 62% of packaging and other ‘non-food’ waste is recycled. The highest level of recycling is for glass and cardboard.
• 56% of packaging and other ‘non-food’ waste that is thrown away could have been readily recycled.

While the analysis of waste production is becoming the norm in terms of household waste, analysing business waste is a different entity that poses logistical challenges and boundaries in terms of confidentiality, health and safety and more. GPT Waste provides a fully managed waste management solution designed for the leisure, industrial and commercial sectors.

GPT provides customers with a sustainable waste management plan and better still, reduced waste collection and processing costs. The service provided ensures customers have a single point of contact for all waste requirements and a single source of invoicing.

GPT Waste’s largest leisure industry contract to date (volume of waste handled & largest number of sites): The Caravan Club

GPT facilitate total waste solutions to 157 Caravan Club sites. The waste streams managed include general, mixed recycling, glass, green waste and ad hoc hazardous waste. The Caravan Club provides modern membership run facilities and are seen as the UK’s leader in caravanning experiences.

The unique aspect in providing services to the Caravan Club is the large number of sites and the location of these – some being in very remote locations. The services provided however, are consistent across all the sites managed by GPT and indeed any member attending any site will see a simplified approach to waste management that ensures all waste is removed and processed accordingly.

GPT Waste collates and manages the waste data for all of their leisure industry clients. The company is then able to continuously monitor recovery and recycling rates in order to establish a firm pattern and overall ‘waste story’ for the organisation.

This collected data is used to:

• Benchmark the rest of leisure industry projects taking place.
• Forecast potential spend and improve overall buying for future leisure industry waste projects and clients.
• Understand where leisure waste practices can be more efficient if larger than expected volumes of waste were being produced.
• Establish the UK’s most cost effective sub-contractors for re-hiring on new and existing projects to ensure that all clients get the most competitive service, throughout the project, every time.

GPT Waste services for the leisure industry include

• Food waste
• Hazardous waste
• Office waste
• Confidential information
• Paper waste
• Spent ink and toner cartridges
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Computer equipment
• Washroom waste
• Local Authority recycling schemes
• Wheelie bins
• General waste
• Liquid waste
• Recycling systems

Download the full document here.

To discuss your leisure industry waste requirements, please email the GPT Waste team your details at info@gptwaste.com and someone will contact you.

Alternatively, you can call us on 0844 854 5000 to speak to someone today.