ReNEWS
ALL THE LATEST FROM THE RENEWI MUNICIPAL DIVISION
WIN!
P12
AN ADVENTURE FOR TWO October 2017
REBRAND HITS THE ROAD
MARTIN’S OUR MUSIC MAN
UKULELE CRAZY
An important milestone has been reached in our Municipal Division with a new look that’s set to be rolled out at our sites around the country in the months ahead. As part of the gradual process of changing from Shanks to Renewi following the merger, our first branded truck has taken to the streets in Scotland. Bearing the new Renewi logo, the first truck of our Municipal fleet headed out of our Argyll & Bute HWRC site recently, to be followed by more. “Our fleet is relatively small but extremely significant when it comes to the rebranding because it tells the public that we have changed our name and are now part of a larger organisation,” said Group Communications Manager Helen Kemp. “Our trucks, signs and company clothing will have the new Renewi logo added in the coming months, so people will start to understand how we’re growing when they see them.” Next steps will see offices – starting with Dunedin House – fitted with new external, internal and boardroom signage in work scheduled to begin soon. Helen added: “Because we are involved in long-term contracts with local authorities, it is going to take a little time to engage with the councils to work out how we roll out the new brand. Work is already going on to link that with our new values, which will be co-created later this year.” Big boost for A&B – p8
The Renewi manager following in George Formby’s musical footsteps – p3
… WHAT’S INSIDEBIG IN
P4
JAPAN Making waves in Tokyo
P5
CUSTOMER CRUSADERS How are your team doing for feedback?
P9
BUZZING… We’re proud to be busy bees in our communities
02 ❙ October 2017
CHECK OUT YOUR CHAMPIONS! We’re always looking for stories about the people who make Renewi Municipal what it is, so our panel of Communications Champions are here to make it easier. Got a story about a hobby, fundraiser or best practice? Contact your Communications Champion and we’ll do the rest.
ARGYLL & BUTE Gail Orr, gail.orr@shanks.co.uk
BDR Abi Cox, abigail.cox@ shanks.co.uk
CANADA Jennifer Mercer, jmercer@orgaworld.ca
CUMBRIA Joanne Crone, joanne. crone@shanks.co.uk
DERBY Emma Ray, emma. ray@shanks.co.uk
DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY Dave Cheetham, david. cheetham@shanks.co.uk
ELWA Katie Turner, katie. turner@shanks.co.uk
ENGINEERING Steve Bullock, steve. bullock@shanks.co.uk
FINANCE Sophia Kibirige, sophia. kibirige@shanks.co.uk
HR Claire Stackpoole, claire. stackpoole@shanks.co.uk
ICT Simon Betts, simon. betts@shanks.co.uk
PROCUREMENT Heidi Brown, heidi. brown@shanks.co.uk
SHEQ Alan Rhodes, alan. rhodes@shanks.co.uk
LEGAL Sandra Dunsterville, sandra.dunsterville@ shanks.co.uk
RESOURCE & RECOVERY Tracy De-Filippis, tracy. de-filippis@shanks.co.uk
WAKEFIELD Sally Hurn, sally.hurn@shanks.co.uk
Managing Director James Priestley
REFRESHED, RENEWED
Renewi branding coming to fruition ● Safety practices reviewed ● New management team in place in Canada Hello and welcome to issue 13 of ReNEWS. It’s now been six months since our merger with Van Gansewinkel and although we have a small fleet in Municipal, our first Renewi truck is now out on the roads of Argyll & Bute; changes to clothing and signage to follow. The last few months have been a busy period for all of us and although challenges remain, it is good to see progress across the board. At Wakefield we have the engines running and are well underway with the performance tests. IMPROVEMENTS At BDR we have delivered significant improvements in moisture loss and the focus has now moved to refinement, where we can make even more steps forward. We continue to work on new outlets for our offtake – ELWA is now exporting to Greece – and we have some promising opportunities in the pipeline.
HEALTH AND SAFETY It has also been six months since we started our behavioural safety audit and I am delighted to see the changes resulting from this across all our facilities to make our people, customers and suppliers safer. As a senior management team, we review our safety performance every week and it is noticeable that manual handling incidents at HWRCs have accounted for five out of our last six significant lost time accidents. As new head of SHEQ Adam King stated, it’s imperative we stick to our manual handling checklist TILE. Think, is it safe, then act. Please take a look at the story on page 5. CANADIAN TEAM I am delighted to welcome Mike Leopold, our new MD Canada, and Jamie Jongsma, our new FD Canada, and we are excited to be working with them as they take our Canadian business forward.
Is this stunning Lingerton view the best in the business? Colin says so
PICTURE PERFECT
Just lush. The green green grass of Frog Island
Time to focus on the hidden beauty at our sites
We asked colleagues to bring the glory of summer a little closer to home in last issue’s ReNEWS competition, so what better place to start than our own sites? And colleagues have proved that beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places, with entries to our summertime competition landing from amateur photographers across the Municipal business, from London to Canada and Scotland. After intensive deliberation, we crowned Frog Island’s Weighbridge Operator Gavin Shirley and Argyll & Bute’s Area Operations
and Recycling Manager Colin MacInnes the winners. Both were awarded Nutri Bullet Blenders in exchange for their impressive artistic efforts. Colin captured a scenic landscape from the Lingerton landfill site and said: “I am absolutely delighted to have won and firmly believe you will not find a site with a more picturesque view in the whole of the land, on a good day. “But I don’t want all my bosses from Milton Keynes to know that because they will all be wanting to come up for a visit!”
Gavin pictured the lush greenery at his site in Frog Island and stated the prize was gratefully received as his previous fruit blender had met an untimely end: “It’s a good job as my old one has just blown up. You saved me some money buying a new one, so thanks Renewi, that’s fantastic news.”
IN THE PICTURE Send your snaps on the theme of ‘my day at Renewi’ to renewi@madebysonder.com
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Editor: Jim Levack; Assistant Editors: James Ball and Emily Craft; Sub Editor: Kate Feasey; Senior Art Editor: Natasha Lipinski-Cox; Production Manager: Julia Fulford. MADE BY SONDER LTD, VICTORIA COURT, 8 DORMER PLACE, LEAMINGTON SPA, WARWICKSHIRE CV32 5AE. MADEBYSONDER.COM
This newspaper is produced by
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NEWS ON TAHLEL MOVE FOR We want to help you keep up to date with all things Municipal wherever you are, so all colleagues now receive a web link to the online version of ReNEWS.
October 2017 ❙ 03
SOMETHING FISHY NORTH OF THE BORDER
ANOTHER STRING TO THE ‘BOW’
From salmon fish farming to ukulele playing, site manager Martin is a jack of all trades Martin Waterhouse brought a unique set of skills all the way from Hawaii with him when he joined us. After 28 years as a director with one of the UK’s largest salmon farms, he switched to jobs in yacht storage, timber exporting and shipbuilding before joining Renewi. But his successful career has always had the same musical backdrop… the distinctive sound of the ukulele. The site manager for the Moleigh Transfer Station and Compost site in Oban, Argyll, is a self-taught player, often strumming the strings in his free time and usually in a floral shirt. STUMBLED “I was given a ukulele by my mother-in law and taught myself using YouTube videos and books. I felt the pressure to do it justice as it was a present and actually stumbled across a local ukulele band through a group leader who ran YouTube tutorials,” he said. The Melfort Ukulele Band has gone from strength to strength and now has a mixed group ranging in age from 10 to 70 among its 20 members. The keen musician spends hours practising at home, often treating his wife to a serenade of the Tom Jones classic Delilah: “We have an open-plan bedroom and bathroom, so when my wife’s trying to relax in the tub, I’ll treat her to a rendition of that or Side by Side. “She entertains my hobby, but I
Martin in full swing with his Melfort Ukulele Band colleagues
wouldn’t go as far as saying she enjoys it.” SAFETY FIRST Martin’s hobby is as rewarding as his new job, which he says isn’t too different from his production director role at the fishery on the north-west coast of Scotland. “I oversaw the first part of a two-stage process at the salmon farm in Barcaldine, Loch Creran. We grew the salmon in fresh water until they matured to the right size, then we supplied them to third parties as far out as the Shetland Islands, over 400 miles away,” he said. “The grading of items we do at Renewi is similar to the salmon, despite that being a biological process. We sort waste by size, which is similar to grading the salmon by weight in my old job.” Martin oversees five colleagues at the Moleigh site and was attracted to Renewi because of our focus on safety: “The Homesafe ethos and ensuring safety is paramount are two of the things that drew me to the company. Plus, there are some pretty unpleasant aspects to the job, but the team always treat them with enthusiasm.” He is used to getting his hands dirty. After the salmon job, he landed the role of CEO at the salmon farm’s sister
company specialising in yachts, timber and shipbuilding. Martin added: “The work was pretty hands-on but I’m not one to sit in the office and I think that approach has made me well-suited for a role with Renewi. I enjoy driving the forklift trucks and getting stuck in; leading by example is important to me.” PERFORMING Martin, who heralds from Leeds and is now living in Kilmartin near Lochgilphead, dusted down his ukulele for MAMA Fest – the Mid Argyll Music
and Arts Festival – in early September and hasn’t ruled out a slot at the Christmas party. He said: “We often perform for charity events and in July we did a concert that raised funds to provide schooling for children in Malawi. “I’ve agreed to play at our work Christmas party this year, but they’ll have to book me well in advance and I’ll only perform on the condition that one of my colleagues on the weighbridge joins me.”
My wife entertains my hobby, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying she enjoys it
STILL REAPING THE REWARDS
Shanks Fruitful is now Renewi Rewards and keeps delivering Renewi Rewards, like Shanks Fruitful before it, is an employee benefit portal (UK only) that gives employees ways to save money. The key difference is it’s now fully accessible on your smartphone via a free app or online at renewirewards.com. You can download the SmartSpending app from the App Store on to your phone for quick, easy access to savings on the go.
Simply put, it’s now much easier to access and easier to use thanks to phone and tablet compatibility. Employees will have the same options as before to order reloadable cards or vouchers that can be used to make purchases in store. An example is B&Q who offers a 10% discount on its cards, so you are able to order £100 to load on to a B&Q card and pay just £90, saving £10.
LOTS OF SAVINGS There are savings to be made on everything from electricals, insurances and holidays to parking, mobile phone contracts and even home utility bills. Gary Foote, Senior Payroll & HR Reporting Officer, has really enjoyed using the scheme: “It’s great to receive extra benefits through Renewi Rewards and there appears to be something for everyone as there is such a wide range
of retailers and discounts available. “Also, as it includes offers at lots of well-known high street and online outlets, it does feel like a benefit that employees can get a lot of use from and make substantial savings. “The best deal I’ve had so far was upgrading my mobile phone and switching mobile phone contract provider – I received over £100 cashback.”
04 ❙ October 2017
ようこそ… THAT’S
WELCOME IN JAPANESE Renewi’s increased global presence since the merger is attracting interest from far and wide We all know that when it comes to living by our motto of Waste No More, we’re the world leaders. So when a delegation of 30 stakeholders from the Japanese waste industry arrived at ELWA, it was just another day at the ‘office’ for Greg Walton and his team. After all, they’re no strangers to international attention, having hosted Sri Lanka’s environment minister, the mayor of St. Petersburg and highprofile visitors from the Municipality of Paris. TOP TECHNOLOGY Contract Director Greg gave our VIP guests a feel for how we create renewable energy in the UK and use top-of-the-range technology to divert waste from landfill. The professionals, referred to our facility through the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM), had a behind-the-scenes look at our pioneering Mechanical Biological Treatment technology and a Q&A session, and Greg said: “The priority was to ensure their welfare and safety. “With the help of a translator, we took them through the site inductions
because safety standards are different across the world, so it was important to make sure everyone was on the same page.” AMUSED The delegates, from a mixture of legal, municipal and environmental disciplines, were interested in the way our PFI contracts run and how we manage relationships with our clients and communities. They said that as Japan is heavily populated, investors can face challenges in setting up infrastructures in municipal areas: “One delegate talked about the NIMBY syndrome and the ‘not in my backyard’ reaction to building waste treatment sites in residential areas in Japan, which amused the group,” said Greg. Environmental control was hot on the agenda for the Japanese visitors, along with a real desire and drive for renewable energy: “Opening our doors to interested stakeholders is a great opportunity to promote the Renewi name, not only overseas but with local authorities and key contacts in the waste industry too,” added Greg.
Our Japanese visitors were given a detailed induction before a tour of the site
Greg Walton says visits like this will strengthen Renewi’s hand in the global market
IT’S THE OFFBEAT AWARDS
Celebrating Renewi’s unsung heroes with a range of tongue-incheek prizes. Did your site make the awards list?
The most creative evacuation event to avoid having to entertain the board award BDR
Least visited contract award (a joke satnav) Argyll & Bute
Site having employees with the shiniest and sexiest hair award Westcott
The most fantastic movement of the biggest pile of poo award Wakefield
Even the management team like to have a bit of banter sometimes, so when they got together at the last Leadership Conference and the planning was over, they started thinking about an alternative awards ceremony to celebrate some of the unsung heroes of 2016/2017. Have you ever heard of an award for the biggest pile of poo? No? Well you have now! Here’s their sideways and ever-so-slightly tongue-in-cheek view of the teams who might not otherwise be recognised.
Faultless operations award Derby
October 2017 ❙ 05
FINDING THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR
Joe, Marlene and Mark on a rare break from helping out
TOP TRIO’S CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH A SMILE The good feedback from customers isn’t unique to London either. Castle Douglas Transfer Station and HWRC in Dumfries and Galloway is among many of our sites that receive praise from the public. Site Operatives Mark Debnam, Marlene Figgis and Stephen Kelting, Load-all Driver Charlie Dickson and Site Supervisor Joe McGeachan regularly go down a storm with the public, with customers sending in compliments on a daily basis.
DAN’S THE MAN WITH THE FANS
Meet the Renewi colleague who’s proving such a hit with our customers, he’s had to get his own business cards printed! Daniel Goff gets no greater joy from his job than when he has made a customer happy. “I provide a service. Customers pay my wages, so I make sure they’re looked after,” said the multi-skilled operative at ELWA’s Frizlands Lane. Visitors have been so pleased with Daniel’s helpful approach at the Dagenham HWRC they’ve been sending in thank you letters in the droves. Daniel now has a collection of about 50 letters, all from grateful customers: “It’s great to get feedback. I get a real buzz from helping people. So many people were asking me how to pass on their thanks, I started handing out business cards!” Daniel, 43, originally an agency
employee, was made permanent after three years at the site and now has regulars who bring household waste in their cars on a weekly basis: “I know most of them on a firstname basis. I could probably tell you who will be turning up in 20 minutes.” Quite an impressive feat considering the site sees about 2,000 vehicles on a daily basis. “It’s nice that when I’m out on the truck, loading the lorries and making
sure the yard is clean, customers will ask where I am,” he said. Daniel gets up at 5am and cycles from his home in nearby Rainham to the Dagenham site all year round and says the winter months are the ones where customers need him the most: “During the winter, elderly couples drive up in the pouring rain with their boot stacked full of wood, so I tell them to stay in the car and I take it all out.”
It’s great to get the feedback. I get a real buzz from helping people. So many people were asking me how to pass on their thanks, I started handing out business cards!
Think… is it safe? Then act “Unless you can help customers safely, don’t do it,” says new head of SHEQ Adam King. “I’ve heard of valiant colleagues trying to help customers dispose of pianos and speed boats of all things, and while their efforts are heroic we want to protect all colleagues and ensure
everyone can use their bodies for the rest of their careers.” Adam notes that muscular skeletal disorders caused by unsafe practices are the biggest cause of employee illness and site down days. “While ensuring every colleague is safe and fit for work is beneficial to the
Del Singh wrote to Renewi after spotting Daniel helping an elderly couple during a visit to the site: “I have to say the customer service provided by your staff was absolutely fantastic, particularly Daniel Goff.” He added: “He supported an elderly couple with their rubbish and ensured they got back to their car safely. He then approached my mum and I and helped us with our items.” Eve Farraud praised Daniel’s attention to health and safety: “He was incredibly helpful and he took health and safety seriously, especially when a customer got on a ledge where large machinery was in use. He was on the case and dealt with the situation in a firm manner.”
Manual handling checklist
business, our priority is protecting colleagues’ quality of life and ensuring the longevity of their careers. Physical and mental wellbeing at work is just as important as at home.” Adam encourages everyone on-site to use the tools provided to support them.
MANUAL HANDLING ask Assess the task at hand – do I have the capacity CHECKLIST
T I L E
to do this? ndividual Is this a task I need assistance with or can I handle it on my own? oad Considering the object or person that is being moved, how does this affect health and safety? nvironment Evaluate the environment around me. Is there a clear path between where I am now and where I need to be?
There’s only four of us here at one time, but we try to help everyone One lady rang the council to thank the team for their extra care and attention with her autistic son who was in distress during a site visit. Joe and Mark were described as ‘brilliant’ by one customer, an elderly lady called Mrs Boulton, who paid a visit to the site to dispose of her garden waste. “She was really impressed with Joe and Mark, saying they were very helpful and came to her without being asked,” according to a council colleague. Joe said: “We operate a meet-and-greet approach and have one lady with MS who comes in every week with her carer. She knows us all by our first names as we always make time for her.”
IF SOMETHING DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT & COULD AFFECT OTHERS:
SPEAKUP
Call 0808 100 5689 with your concerns or log it at intouchfeedback. com/shanks using the access code 74265
06 ❙ October 2017
OUR RDF SALES ARE THE PLATF
WHAT GOES WHERE?
Cumbria to Fleetwood and Burnley in Lancashire
CUMBRIA LANCASHIRE
PADESWOOD
Our sites are blazing a trail across Europe when it comes to creating high-quality fuel and getting it to where it’s needed most. Here’s how… Our pledge is simple: to Waste No More. And with access to some of the best technology and the most talented people to run it, we are now diverting record amounts of RDF in the Municipal business from landfill. RDF, the refuse-derived fuel created from sorted and bundled household waste that can’t be recycled at five of our UK contracts, is a significant by-product of our processes. It’s a source of renewable energy, burned in cement kilns across Europe to create electricity and steam to heat water, as well as replace the use of fossil fuels. “Previously, we were supplying RDF to AEB through Icova, part of the Renewi family, in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, who were concerned they wouldn’t be able to produce sufficient material to fulfil their contractual obligation,” explained Commercial Director Richard Tarrant. “They were sacrificing material they could have recycled to meet their targets. “We were effectively a stopgap solution, fulfilling Icova’s shortfall, rather than being an independent supplier. “Now we have proved ourselves as a reliable source of RDF, we have
successfully secured a one-year contract to supply RDF directly to the facility, with a view to extending this and expanding the volume of fuel supplied in the future.” AEB (see map) is already contracted to take high volumes of RDF from our Dutch counterparts in Renewi and, hopefully, following our merger the opportunities for collaboration will extend even further. NEW BUSINESS “The great thing about this agreement is this is residential waste going to a Municipal-owned company producing 1.4 million tonnes worth of power to run local businesses and residential properties – not purely to serve a commercial purpose,” said Richard. The fact that we are making such good headway in this difficult market is a testament to our great reputation as a company. Richard said: “That offtakers are coming back to us and we are securing new business reflects a preference to work with us. “Ultimately, the stable selling of RDF provides certainty for our longterm contracts and financial stability for our sites, as well as helping us to achieve our contractual targets and maximise diversion from landfill.”
EACH YEAR RDF GOES FROM OUR CUMBRIA CONTRACT TO OUR PARTNERS IN LANCASHIRE, WHO TURN IT INTO THE FINER GRADE FUEL, SOLID-RECOVERED FUEL (SRF). THE FINER GRADE FUEL SRF IS THEN SENT TO TWO CEMENT KILNS IN CLITHEROE AND PADESWOOD, NEAR WALES.
Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) and Wakefield to Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 Facility in Knottingley, West Yorkshire OUR BDR AND WAKEFIELD SITES CURRENTLY SEND SIGNIFICANT VOLUMES OF RDF A YEAR TO THE FERRYBRIDGE MULTIFUEL 1 FACILITY IN WEST YORKSHIRE. WE HELP SUPPLY THE FACILITY – WHICH RUNS SIMILARLY TO A POWER STATION BUT CREATES GREEN ENERGY – WITH ENOUGH FUEL TO CREATE 68MW OF LOW-CARBON ELECTRICITY EACH YEAR. AND IN A GREAT DEVELOPMENT FOR RENEWI, WE HAVE RECENTLY SECURED A 20-YEAR OFFTAKE CONTRACT TO SUPPLY RDF FUEL TO THE FERRYBRIDGE MULTIFUEL 2 FACILITY, CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO FERRYBRIDGE 1.
Three facts at a glance
1
Divert
WE ARE CONTRACTED TO DIVERT 67% OF WASTE FROM LANDFILL SUPPLIED TO OUR ELWA CONTRACT, BUT BECAUSE OF OUR ABILITY TO MARKET THE RDF BY-PRODUCT, WE ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING AT AN ESTIMATED 85% DIVERSION RATE, WITH AN AMBITIOUS TARGET OF 95%.
October 2017 ❙ 07
ATFORM FOR A STRONG FUTURE East London Waste Authority (ELWA) – Frog Island and Jenkins Lane – to the AEB incineration facility in Amsterdam FROG ISLAND AND JENKINS LANE ARE CONTRACTED TO SUPPLY HIGH VOLUMES OF RDF EVERY YEAR TO THE AEB FACILITY IN AMSTERDAM UNTIL MARCH NEXT YEAR, WITH A VIEW TO EXTENDING THE CONTRACT AFTER THIS.
ELWA – Frog Island and Jenkins Lane – to Stapelfeld incineration facility in Hamburg, Germany OUR ELWA FACILITIES ALSO SUPPLY RDF TO THE STAPELFELD INCINERATION FACILITY IN HAMBURG. OUR COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR RICHARD TARRANT RECENTLY APPEARED ON HAMBURG TV STATION RTL EXPLAINING HOW WASTE FROM LONDON IS BEING USED TO RUN HOMES IN HAMBURG.
ELWA – Frog Island and Jenkins Lane – to Titan Group Cement Kilns in Thessaloniki, Greece OUR ELWA SITES ARE ALSO UNDERGOING A TRIAL TO SUPPLY SOLID RECOVERED FUEL (SRF) TO CEMENT KILNS IN THE PORT CITY OF THESSALONIKI IN THE NORTH OF GREECE. RENEWI IS SUPPORTING THE KILNS IN A BID TO REDUCE THEIR RELIANCE ON FOSSIL FUELS.
BDR
WAKEFIELD KNOTTINGLEY
2
Burn
IT IS A PHENOMENAL ACHIEVEMENT THAT OUR ELWA SITES, FROG ISLAND AND JENKINS LANE, ARE NOW SUPPLYING SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF RDF TO THE AEB INCINERATION FACILITY IN AMSTERDAM.
3
Success
INDUSTRY-WIDE, RDF IS NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT TO SELL. IT’S ESTIMATED THAT ONLY A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL PRODUCED IN THE UK IS CURRENTLY BURNED ABROAD.
08 ❙ October 2017 Ian Currie examines the new Renewi branding set to spread across the business
ALL SYSTEMS RORO New kit to boost capacity, save time and keep drivers safer is well received
The eagerly anticipated replacement of site assets at Argyll & Bute’s landfill site is underway. Lingerton is the first site in the company to receive a top-of-the-range roll-on roll-off (RoRo) and a front-end loader (FEL) as part of the upgrade. That comes on top of the recent delivery of a 26-tonne Tana landfill compactor to replace the worn-out Caterpillar 816, while both Lingerton and the neighbouring landfill site in Dalinlongart are benefiting from new Case CX210 tracked excavators to streamline landfill processes. MULTIPLE But the most eagerly anticipated arrival of all was the new Volvo FM450 8x4 drawbar, also known as a RoRo, a truck and trailer that allows drivers to collect multiple containers from HWRC sites in one go, making journeys fewer and more economical. Boldly emblazoned with the new
Renewi branding and accompanied by Lingerton’s Lead Driver Ian Currie (above), the RoRo truck is significantly more efficient and, as a result, better for the environment than its predecessor. ECONOMICAL This is a key requirement for operations in Argyll & Bute, as UK Plant and Vehicles Manager Chris Byrne explained: “The diverse spread of our sites in Argyll & Bute means our drivers have a lot of ground to cover. “The RoRo and trailer combination has an extra 12 tonnes of capacity compared to a standard RoRo and will allow drivers to take two containers of waste at the same time from our HWRCs and commercial customers rather than one. This is a lot more economical and makes the process a lot quicker.” Both the more environmentally friendly RoRo vehicle and FEL were due on-site in September and are safer,
Mya and I waited and waited until our hair was long enough. My hair was 14 inches long when I got it cut and Mya’s was 12
while the FEL features an approved weighing system to ensure the vehicle is never overweight and allows us to charge customers for the weight of each container we lift. The new 21-tonne excavators are more versatile and have enhanced safety and early-warning systems built-in.
The RoRo and trailer combination has an extra 12 tonnes of capacity. This is obviously a lot more economical
To carry out daily checks on the excavator, the operator is required to work at a height in excess of two metres. The new machines have a ‘boxing ring’ safety structure installed – raised metal handrails around the outer edges – which will keep them safe from falls while they are carrying out the checks.
EFFICIENCY BY NUMBERS 450bhp
COMPARED TO THE COMPANY STANDARD OF 380BHP
12 tonnes
OF EXTRA CAPACITY WHEN COMBINED WITH A TRAILER
21-tonne
EXCAVATORS ARE MORE VERSATILE AND SAFER
26-tonne
LANDFILL COMPACTOR REPLACES WORN-OUT CATERPILLAR 816
WE CARE: TAKE OUR HAIR Mum and daughter’s gift to the bravest of brave
Head office’s Angela Banks can count on one hand the number of times she has visited a hairdresser, so giving most of her hair to charity was a nerveracking experience. “The hairdresser did a double take when I walked in, either because my hair falls down to my waist or the fact that I so rarely pay a visit!” she said. The self-confessed tomboy and assistant PA to the Municipal directors often ties up her cascading hair to play sport, so was encouraged by her seven-year-old daughter Mya to donate it. “My grandmother passed away last year from cancer, after fighting it twice before, and so my daughter Mya and I wanted to give something back,” said Angela. “We wanted to donate our hair to The Little Princess Trust, which creates wigs for children with cancer who lose their hair from chemotherapy treatment.” The UK charity was launched in 2006
by two parents who lost their daughter to cancer. They struggled to find wigs for children and found those that were available were very expensive. NORMALITY “Some of these children going through chemotherapy are not mature enough to realise the full severity of their illness but they will certainly know they look different,” said Angela. “Having hair and looking like your friends reintroduces a sense of normality for children going through the ordeal. “The Trust needs hair at least 12 inches long as it loses 3-4 inches in the making of the wigs, so Mya and I waited and waited until our hair was long enough. “Donations from friends, family, people across the Group and multiple departments raised £780 to make a wig and fund the cost of a second, to be given to another child going through cancer.”
The kindest cut: Mya gets ready for a trim
SWEET SUCCESS
October 2017 ❙ 09
Waste no more
Honeycomb straight from the hive
LOVE FOOD HATE WASTE
Youngsters excluded from school are getting a buzz thanks to Glossop HWRC Members of Derbyshire community group G52 are buzzing after being pledged funding from Renewi to buy two beehives for their community allotment projects. The allotment group set up by Nathan Willet, a tutor for alternative education programmes, is based in the Gamesley estate, Derbyshire, a stone’s throw from our Glossop HWRC. The Gamesley allotments are a sanctuary and alternative learning space for children with behavioural learning difficulties or those who
have been excluded from mainstream school. Thanks to our funds allocated to sites in the Derbyshire contract to support projects in our surrounding communities, Nathan and the pupils based there a few afternoons a week will be able to collect and sell honey to the local community. “We set up the first hive in July, despite the queen being missing from the first batch,” said Nathan. “The supplier kindly sent us a new one – it would have been impossible to produce the honey without her, so she was definitely an important guest!
We knew nothing about bees. Renewi sent us on a specialist bee-keeping programme and we now have a chance to make this a real success
“I carefully picked this supplier as he specialises in a docile breed, useful as we are in a residential area. We now have around 50,000 bees and have marked the queen with a dot. She never leaves the hive but is an essential part of the process. By next spring we want to supply honey to the local community, with a priority on those with hayfever as it’s meant to be really beneficial.” NO WASTE The group currently cultivates fruit and vegetables, which are donated to a local Meals on Wheels scheme to feed the elderly and to a Family Pantry scheme, where for £2 a week families can pick up a cupboard full of fruit and veg, and food items from
high-street food chains that would normally have gone to waste. Nathan said the benefit of growing extends far beyond feeding the local area: “The boys that attend here are not only helping put food on people’s plates but are also a lot happier as a result of spending time gardening. “One of the boys is a lot calmer at school. It’s not really about making honey, it’s giving the boys something to look after and nurture.” He added: “Before this, we knew nothing about bees, but Renewi sent us on a specialist bee-keeping programme and we now have a chance to make this a real success, so I can’t thank the business enough.”
More than 100,000 social media users are spreading the word about Renewi after an eight-week campaign to cut food waste across Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. The national Love Food Hate Waste campaign saw us join forces with our partners at Wakefield Council to raise awareness of food waste by offering 1,000 free chef-made lunches to people. On average, each household throws away around £50 of food each month in the UK. This means that country-wide, over £12 billion worth of food ends up in landfill. IMPRESSIONS
The majority of ingredients used were supplied for free by local producers and supermarkets and included produce that may otherwise have been thrown away, such as bread and items past their sell-by date. Abi Cox, who helped run the Renewi part of the campaign with colleague Row Machon, said: “We spoke to thousands of people and created more than 100,000 impressions on social media.”
NIGHT RIDER TO THE RESCUE
Michael Harvey’s twilight ride and colleagues’ generosity raise more than £1,000 to help families of children at Scottish hospital
Michael presents money raised to Tara from Ronald McDonald House, Glasgow
A charity providing free ‘home away from home’ accommodation to families when their child is in hospital is £1,059 better off thanks to Argyll & Bute Tech Assistant Michael Harvey. He raised the money for Ronald McDonald House in Glasgow by taking part in the Edinburgh Night Ride on a near-perfect evening with 293 other riders, all riding for their own causes. Michael said: “I arrived back at Meadowbank Stadium in a good time – among the first 70 riders – to a feast of tea and cake!” To raise the money Michael secured sponsorship from friends and family and took his place in the one-day charity ride.
Pedalling 50 miles around Edinburgh, Michael got to experience the city at night, discovering stunning night-time views. “It really is a great way to explore the city,” he added. The route took Michael past cobbled lanes, Arthur’s Seat and Edinburgh Castle. He covered the course without a hitch and completed the ride. “It costs the charity £400,000 a year to keep the 30-room facility going, so the money raised will fund 26 nights’ accommodation at the house for the family of a sick child in the nearby hospital,” he said. “I am very grateful to all my friends, family and colleagues at Renewi who supported me and whose pledges will help many families.”
Contract Director Colin Fletcher said: “Food waste is one of the most environmentally damaging forms of waste to be sent to landfill. “We are committed to diverting it from landfill and converting it into usable products.” The Love Food Hate Waste campaign is also offering recipes for using up leftovers and handy tips and advice to help everyone waste less food. Find our more at lovefoodhatewaste.com
10 ❙ October 2017
“I ONLY CAME IN FOR HALF A DAY...” But 25 years later Kirstie is happy to be a constant and 32 years on, Ray James is still loving his work Ray James and Kirstie Slade have a combined Renewi career of 57 years, so it’s safe to say they quite like the company and their colleagues. “I started out as a young chemist,” said Ray James and then added: “It’s crept up on me – I can’t believe I’ve been here for so long! “Over the 32 years I’ve seen Shanks change and develop. I find the relationship between technology and political legislation very interesting – it’s changed quite a bit over the years.” WORRYING “I’ve been involved in many different disciplines within Shanks. I enjoy working with people who have different skills and backgrounds.” When Shanks sold off its hazardous waste arm of the business Ray stuck with it: “The work here is interesting and challenging. Also, it was good to move on from hazardous waste. Less waking up worrying about whether I had completed a risk assessment correctlyor not!” There are few people who know
Kirstie, always happy sorting issues on the phone, and Ray
more about the business than Ray, but he joked: “It’s only because I’ve made the most mistakes… and learned from them!” Kirstie Slade began her career only two years after Ray. “I only came in for half a day,” Kirstie said. “Now I’ve been here for 25 years.” CONSTANT “I was working as a temporary receptionist,” Kirstie explained. “I went on holiday to Tenerife and I had a call from Shanks asking if I wanted to go full-time.” From then on Kirstie never looked back and has gone on to work in a range of jobs across the company. “I managed a team of chemists before moving to head office in 1998 where I started working as office manager.” From there Kirstie worked in the training department before taking up her current role of PA to the directors. “I love working here,” she said: “It’s a very people-orientated company, I really enjoy it. With the latest merger there’s exciting things on the horizon and I’m happy to be a constant here.”
I love working here. It’s a very people-orientated company, I really enjoy it
LET’S BAKE TOGETHER
Fire hero loves it when the heat is on… in the kitchen It’s a tricky job being a colleague of Dave Stocks, especially if you’ve got a sweet tooth. That’s because the SCADA operator from BDR is also an accomplished baker who has his sights set on emulating The Great British Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood. David (left), who featured in ReNEWS last year after successfully helping to
tackle a fire in the HWRC quarantine bay, said: “I baked a cake for my son’s birthday made from five tiers of chocolate and it was a bit of a hit.” PERSONAL TOUCH “I then made two cakes for a fundraising event for my son’s kayaking club and we helped raise more than £800. It costs a
Watch out Hollywood, our Dave has a few tasty treats in his locker
lot more than going to Tesco or Asda, but it’s always nice to make it personally.” He added: “When I made the chocolate cake my sister-in-law saw it and asked if I could make one for her son whose birthday is a few days later. “I did and he liked it and that has inspired her. She has since pinched my idea and made one herself!”
October 2017 ❙ 11
Wakefield’s education centre is proving a big hit with local schoolchildren
TOP OF THE CLASS
Renewi’s recycling passion gets the thumbs up from judges Colleagues at Wakefield took the top spot in the National Recycling Award’s Communications category. Wakefield was congratulated for its innovation in engaging the public and boosting awareness about recycling, which has yielded a 10% increase in kerbside-collected recycling, reduced recycling contamination by 7% and boosted the volume of reuse in the Wakefield district to 34%. The site has run many successful campaigns to encourage people to live in a
more environmentally friendly way through social media, leaflets and vehicle adverts, as well as tailored workshops held at our Education Centre in South Kirkby. EDUCATION The award recognised our efforts to broaden the reach of our education programmes to schools via a calendar of roadshows and events, highlighting the impact of waste on the local environment. Material’s Recycling World
EMPLOYEE OF THE
magazine, which runs the awards, said: “Wakefield’s Let’s Sort It Out and Pass It On campaigns to promote reuse channels were further enhanced by educational events at the new BDR education centre, which exceeds the expectations of those who visit as well as the council’s own objectives.”
JOURNEY The Education Centre, which features interactive displays, a sensory learning wall and classroom mural, was credited for enabling ‘each individual to take learning away regardless of their learning style’. Jade Wilkes, Education Officer at Wakefield, said: “I try to take visitors on a journey
when they come to the centre, from looking at how materials are extracted to the impact that has on the environment, all the way to the point of disposal. “ I think Wakefield ’s education programme is unique because it offers schoolchildren and community groups a holistic understanding of waste.”
I try to take visitors on a journey when they come to the centre, looking at how materials are extracted
‘JUST ASK JULIET’
QUARTER She’s our go-to model employee Office Manager Juliet Whaling has been hailed as a ‘credit to the company’ and the ‘glue that holds the site together’ in one of two nominations for the Employee of the Quarter accolade. Juliet was promoted from BDR’s weighbridge to office manager within five months of joining in January 2015, but despite having to adapt her own processes and methods of working, one nominator said she truly embraced this challenge to make the role her own. “Juliet is a model employee and a credit to Renewi. To describe Juliet as organised is an understatement. She has a real handle on
what is happening in BDR and anything that I have ever asked of her, she provides quickly and accurately. This sentiment is shared by my colleagues, as we have often commented for anything BDR-related ‘let’s ask Juliet, she’ll know!’.” One nominator said: “She does all this with a smile. She is kind and caring to employees and even while facing her own personal challenges, she remains focused on the job.” Humble Juliet said: “I can only do my job well because of the people I work with and I want to do what I can for them as I genuinely like them and enjoy my role. I’m
really flattered and honoured to win the award. It’s lovely to know your colleagues appreciate you.”
DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO DESERVES SOME RECOGNITION?
NOMINATE
Fill in the ConnectUs nomination form and email to leanne.pullen@shanks.co.uk
SOME OF THE BIG NAMES WE BEAT TO WIN • Bolton Council • Bristol Waste Company • Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust • Hubbub • OPRL • Perth & Kinross Council and Children’s Hospice Association, Scotland • Peterborough City Council • Surrey Waste Partnerships • Warwickshire County Council • WasteAid UK
Juliet collects her award from James Priestley
WIN!
12 ❙ October 2017
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Y FANTAS LL FOOTBA
Project Engineer Manager Stewart Love’s No Hopers are proving to be anything but as they race into an early lead in this season’s Renewi Fantasy Football league. But he is only a slender seven points clear of second-placed Head of UK PFI Finance and league founder Alistair Brookes. The battle for third is on, with a single point separating fifth-placed Daniel Hall’s Compost Munchers FC, Site Operator Steve Roberts’ The Ilford Machine and Locharmoss-based Maintenance Engineer Mikey Gray’s High Flyers in joint fourth. They say you can only judge a team by how they’re doing after 10 games, so the heat is very much on. Watch this space.
MANAGER’S NAME
PTS
1 Stewart Love
292
2 Alistair Brookes
285
3 Sean Docherty
276
4 Greg Jackson
272
4 Steve Roberts
272
4 Mikey Gray
272
5 Daniel Hall
271
6 Tony Slade
260
6 Andy Hart
260
7 Christine Cooper
259
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JUST FOR FUN SPOT THE DIFFERENCE We’re buzzing after Renewi provided the funding to support a beehive educational project near our Glossop HWRC in Derbyshire. Young people will have a great time helping to look after the queen bee, so we thought it only fair that we have a bit of fun too. With that in mind, can you spot the five differences between Picture 1 and Picture 2?
PICTURE 1
PICTURE 2
Answers: 1. Hole in garage door is missing 2. Bee at bottom left is missing 3. Bee on wooden slat at bottom right is missing 4. Knot in wooden post is gone 5. Finger is missing at the top right
HAVE YOUR SAY
SEE P2 FOR YOUR
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