Hazardous Waste Services
What is hazardous waste?
Waste is hazardous when it contains properties that make it harmful to our health or the environment. Hazardous waste now includes televisions, computer monitors and fluorescent lighting. Source: DEFRA
How does this affect your company?
Any business which generates hazardous wastes must ensure that they are separated from other waste streams, and disposed of safely and in the approved manner.
What services do Total Waste Managers provide?
Total Waste Managers can help you deal with the following hazardous waste product streams.
- WEEE
- Fluorescent Tubes
- Drummed Waste
- Bulk Liquid
WEEE
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the fastest growing element in the municipal waste stream. There are many hazardous substances used in IT equipment including lead, cadmium, mercury, bromine compounds and arsenic.
Disposal poses a real threat of pollution to our water, air and land. The WEEE Directive, which was issued by the EU in 2005, aims to reduce the waste arising from electrical and electronic equipment.
The WEEE directive sets targets that 65% of IT equipment must be recycled, and materials such as CRTs, LCD displays, printed circuit boards, batteries and flame retardant plastics must be pre-treated before disposal. Total Waste Managers offer a collection and recycling service for all WEEE products, and will provide you with a relevant certificate of destruction, to conform with regulations of wiping data from hard disks etc. We can also shred hard drives if preferred for total destruction.
Fluorescent tubes and sodium lamps
In general, fluorescent tubes contain 94% glass, 4% ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and 2% phosphor powder. It is within this phosphor powder that the most hazardous element - mercury - is contained. In 2005, the Environment Agency determined that fluorescent tube should be classified as hazardous waste in England and Wales, as special waste by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), and therefore must NOT be disposed of in the general stream. Total Waste Managers will arrange the disposal of these tubes and supply a storage container to segregate fluorescent tubes from other waste stream, so that they pose no health and safety risk once they are spent.
Under the regulations, producers of hazardous waste can no longer dispose of these items along with general waste. To do so is illegal, and leaves an organisation open to legal proceedings which could result in significant fines.
Drummed Waste
Total Waste Managers is able to offer collection and disposal for all types of drummed waste whether liquid or solid, including acids, alkalis, oils, contaminated waters, coolants and flammable solvents by using sub-contractors. Other hazardous material that Total Waste Managers can help you dispose of are batteries and oily rags. Our collection vehicles are built to a high standard and are ADR approved. Whatever your requirement for bulk liquids please contact us for further assistance.