One firm’s waste is another’s business opportunity

Well, the extravagantly named National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) is potentially the answer. It is a free service that aims to generate cost savings and sales by bringing together businesses for the commercial trading of by-products such as energy, water and waste materials.

Part-funded by Defra’s Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme, NISP has more than 8000 members and is driven by 12 regional advisory groups. Since April 2005 it has diverted over 2.2 million tonnes of waste from landfill; made cost savings of £81 million; generated £104 million in additional sales; and avoided the use of 4.8 million tonnes of virgin materials.

The NISP has brought together a diverse range of businesses, such as Keanes Environmental, a company that recycles clay-based spoil for reuse in road construction, and housing developer St James Homes. Keanes reused 30,000 tonnes of waste clay from a St James’ housing site. Diverting it from landfill saved the developer £1.2 million and generated £900,000 in sales for Keanes.

The scheme has helped source 38,000 tonnes of recycled aggregate for works in the Thames Gateway, saving National Grid Property £586,000 in costs and providing sales of £340,000 for Days Aggregates and Erith Group. One of the programme’s most intriguing achievements has seen waste product development specialist Akristos create an eco-brick using waste cow-bone ash as an alternative to clay.

Multiple benefits

The benefits of using the NISP are almost always multiple. Not only have the partnerships generated sales and saved on costs, but environmental bonuses over the last 18 months include a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 2.1 million tonnes; reduced industry use of potable water by over 2.5 million tonnes; the elimination of 311,000 tonnes of hazardous waste; and the creation of 490 jobs and preservation of 768 others.

For more information on the NISP, go to www.nisp.org.uk or call 0121 433 2650.