Pick up the phone to dial rag and bone...

Steptoe and Son could have made a killing if they were around today. Greenbang remembers the episode where the son (Steptoe Jnr) bought 200 pairs of used false teeth. That pretty much fuelled his reasons for never watching the dirty pair again.

But – the rag and bone trade ain’t what it used to be. In fact there’s good money in it these days.

Greenbang had the pleasure of meeting the guys at waste-management company IWMS – last week. And very clever boys they are.

They offer to take your waste away for half the price of the competition, but keep as much out of landfill as possible by recycling materials, such as metals, plastics and other bits and bobs, by reprocessing and reselling them.

IWMS published a survey today that says 60 percent of business waste can be easily recycled. There’s no rocket science behind that, but really how many businesses actually bother to do that?

Philip Mossop, Director at IWMS, said:

“This research should be a wake-up call for UK businesses. Landfill tax is becoming a major business expense – it’s set to rise 32% a year for the next 5 years. Every two hours the UK produces enough waste to fill the Albert Hall – but we can easily recycle 60% of all that waste (if we also try and recycle more difficult waste, that figure can go as high as 75%, or greater).

“We’re working with UK businesses, particularly in the retail sector, helping them to divert as much of the waste that they produce as possible away from landfill. But all too often, recycling waste is not a priority, and responsibility for recycling is not assigned to a specific senior person within the company. This needs to change if UK businesses are to reduce their landfill tax bill and meet their CSR requirements.”

The survey results might just happen to coincide with a business message, but it’s one Greenbang thinks is worth a mention.

Ho hum.