What is Lestercast doing to reduce waste going to landfill?
With the introduction of the Climate Change Act 2008 (2050 Target Amendment Order) 2019, it has been law in the UK to try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from the 1990 levels by 2050. One of the ways UK businesses can work towards achieving this target is through waste reduction, recycling and reusing raw materials in their production processes, and by aiming to minimise or eradicate what is sent to landfill.
Lestercast has being recycling many of its materials for several years. No wax, wood, shelling, cardboard or metals are sent from Lestercast premises to landfill (they may be deemed as non-recyclable by the waste processors, but we aim to recycle or reuse as much as possible). Our teams separate the above materials from other waste streams. Metal and wax are reused on-site in the manufacturing process or sold and recycled as scrap. Shelling waste is broken down and used in road surfacing materials and other hardcore-type media and cardboard and wood is collected and recycled by our waste management contractors. Items such as racking and railings are kept and repurposed wherever possible. Nitric acid is diluted to 30% strength and collected by an appropriate waste management company who then recycles it ready to be resold.
Late in 2024, Lestercast started to look at options for battery recycling. This first arose as concern around fire safety and the use, storage, charging and disposal of lithium-ion batteries. However, as we have a need to use and dispose of other types of batteries, it seemed only sensible to look at recycling and responsible disposal of all types of batteries we have within the organisation. The waste doesn’t fall under WEEE Regulations because we aren’t producing electronic items, but we wanted to ensure we were doing our bit for the environment by making sure the batteries our employees use both at work and at home, didn’t end up in landfill. After a lot of research and contacting various organisations, because of the extremely low volume of batteries we use and waste we produce, we couldn’t find a suitable contractor to collect these on a commercial basis. That’s when we found Valpak, an organization who provide free battery boxes, collections and environmentally friendly disposal to all UK offices. We have been using this service since the start of 2025 and have so far filled two of these boxes. We aim to increase this by encouraging all our employees to bring in their used batteries from home to recycle at work, rather than putting them in household waste as not everyone has time to drop them off at other collection points.
Our current waste handling contractor is approved to accept and sort all types of mixed dry recycling. We have taken an additional skip from them which is specifically dedicated to the disposal and recycling of mixed dry recyclables. This has enabled us to reduce our general waste collections to every 1 – 3 weeks instead of weekly. The new mixed dry recycling skip is collected on demand but so far, is taking around 4-6 weeks to fill. We have also introduced separate, labelled bins within the offices, canteens and departments, along with giving individual and departmental toolbox talks and issuing a procedure to all employees, explaining about the requirement and process for the separation of waste. In addition to this we have put in place food waste bins (we do not produce any garden waste). These are lined with biodegradable bags, and are emptied into a large, dedicated wheelie bin we have managed to secure with another well-known waste handling facility, which specialises in this type of waste stream. This bin is emptied, and the contents are recycled weekly.
Lestercast hasn’t stopped there either! In our journey toward reducing our emissions and achieving our net zero targets, we have been working with MTC and Lloyds bank to establish our scope 1,2 and 3 emissions and reduce our energy consumption in our manufacturing processes. Lestercast already uses very little natural gas in manufacturing, our energy use is primarily electricity, F-Gas leakage and our single company vehicle. We have been investigating options relating to voltage optimisation and solar energy sources, as well as renewing our company van for a more energy-efficient fuel source. We are still in the early stages of this process but continually review this with a view to making improvements in our energy efficiency and reducing our emissions. We have an environmental policy statement which can be viewed on our website.