WASTE & RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
The way we handle our waste can have a huge effect on the environment and has the potential to leave
an unwelcome legacy for future
generations. Not only must we manage its disposal correctly but also recognise its value as a potential resource.
Our specialist waste team helps clients to develop new waste resource and
management facilities that have the flexibility to maintain full regulatory compliance as
requirements change. The range of skills
and disciplines we bring together starts
with risk and issue assessment and runs through to designing state-of-the-art waste management facilities.
Using latest technologies we identify possible pollution risks and provide
monitoring of discharges to air, land and water. The proposals we develop help reduce waste volume and provide economic and
environmentally-friendly disposal options.
On mineral sites we provide specialist assistance to move developments forward. Through innovative solutions, informed
negotiations and expert witness advice we help win planning permissions for complex sites and assist with obtaining the latest regulatory consents.
We also offer a dedicated service preparing
waste management plans. Both public and private sector clients benefit from our clear
understanding of legislative restrictions and
financial drivers, our extensive commercial due diligence experience and our expert
procurement advice for local authorities.
MANAGING
A VALUABLE
RESOURCE
Local authorities are under significant pressure
to reduce the waste generation in their boroughs or districts and minimise adverse carbon impacts. The strong focus on increasing reuse, recycling and
diversions from landfill requires a more targeted use of resources and increased efficiencies across a range of
council departments.
To support this, our specialist teams provide a variety of services
to local authorities including:
• advice and assistance on strategic and technical issues - reviewing current arrangements, development and evaluation of options for service design/redesign and undertaking
‘necessity’ and TEEP (Technically, Environmentally and Economically Practicable) tests
• providing evaluation of contract extension or contractors’ future waste services efficiency proposals as well as specialist
procurement support services
• value-for-money waste management services - prioritising and addressing efficiency challenges in arrangements for waste collection, handling, recycling, residual waste treatment
and disposal
• technical advice to local authorities in the procurement of
waste collection, waste treatment and materials recovery facility services, waste disposal, street cleansing, household waste recycling centres and grounds maintenance
• street cleanliness and Local Environmental Quality (LEQ) assessments using GPS and mobile data-logging for effective and cost-efficient support for clean-up campaigns or crime
and disorder initiatives
WASTE RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY
EPPING FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL
Epping Forest is one of England’s top recycling authorities with a recycling rate nearing sixty percent. As part of the competitive tender process for the district’s recycling, refuse
and street cleansing contract we were appointed to provide
extensive technical and procurement advice including
preparation of contract documentation and evaluation of applicants and tenders.
Our specialist team also undertook checking ‘necessity’ and TEEP (Technically, Environmentally and Economically Practicable’) assessments, according to the route map
published by the Waste and Resources Action Programme. This was essential to ensure that the collection methodology chosen by the Council would reduce and control contamination and
that materials sorting processes would continue to reduce the
amount of waste ending up in landfill.
REVIEW OF WASTE SERVICES
HAMBLETON DISTRICT COUNCIL
As part of a commission to provide waste management consultancy services across North Yorkshire we undertook a comprehensive review of waste services for Hambleton District Council.
Our initial task examined the opportunities for achieving a consistent and efficient approach to waste management. To establish how these services could be improved we
modelled collection options and undertook a TEEP assessment. From this we developed a ten year waste management strategy, adopted by the district, which includes detailed procurement schedules for services to treat dry recyclates and for the provision of a new waste collection fleet with integrated
vehicle maintenance services.
LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY SURVEY
EALING COUNCIL
Local Environmental Quality (LEQ) refers to the harmful impact of the litter, graffiti, fly-posting, abandoned vehicles and dog fouling on our shared spaces. Since 2005, local authorities have had responsibility for dealing with these issues and our specialist teams have developed considerable experience in
supporting those efforts.
In the London Borough of Ealing our LEQ team conducted enhanced surveys to independently monitor street cleansing contracts. Using standards set out by Defra, our process included survey planning, transect selection and data
collection. This provided Ealing with a comprehensive analysis
and report that highlights areas requiring investment and
allows the Council and its contractor to identify and address problem areas and causes of failure.
LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICES
GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
SERVICE
GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT SERVICE
We are an approved supplier on the GovernmentProcurement Service (GPS) Built Environment Framework Agreement. All GPS framework agreements are pre-tendered and EU5 compliant, meaning our specialist resources can be accessed quickly by public bodies
without a tendering process and using approved terms and conditions.
Best practice in the management of waste is becoming increasingly important, with emphasis moving away
from disposal of waste in landfill sites towards
recovery, recycling and reuse. This is driving a need for more facilities operating at ever increasing standards
of sophistication, efficiency, welfare, safety and
environmental emissions.
For over 20 years our experts have been providing feasibility
studies, commercial and environmental due diligence, planning,
permitting, detailed facility design and construction project
management to a range of waste infrastructure facilities.
We have experience in:
• the design of household waste recycling centres
• the design of waste transfer stations
• the design of materials recovery facilities including for waste
electrical and electronic equipment
• waste to energy plants and anaerobic digestion facilities, including conceptual design, outline feasibility study,
construction and commissioning
• preparation of contract documentation, management of the tender process and contractor selection
Our team also has a wealth of expertise in landfill engineering, providing design and project management, geotechnical, hydrogeological, hydrological and ground modelling and surveying skills to facilitate the design process for void creation
and site restoration.
HARBOROUGH COMMUNITY ANAEROBIC
DIGESTION SCHEME
RURAL COMMUNITIES COUNCIL
(LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND)
We were appointed by the Rural Communities Council as technical advisor for this sustainable community anaerobic
digestion scheme.
The feasibility study we provided looked at a number of areas including governance, finance, development of the business case, feedstock assessment, site assessment and technology assessment. This was part of a longer, five year project which involves a number of other initiatives and is aimed at bringing about a more vibrant, inclusive community with lower carbon emissions.
WESTMILL LANDFILL SITE, WARE
BIFFA WASTE SERVICES
We have provided landfill engineering and CQA services for 13 of Biffa’s sites as part of a working relationship that has lasted more than 10 years.
The Westmill landfill site is constructed using a composite lining system to afford the highest level of protection to the environment. Our expert team has worked on the construction of 10 cells at this site to provide an estimated 5 million cubic metres of landfill void and has overseen the installation of 250,000sqm of geosynthetic capping. In addition to
this we have carried out site investigation works, installed new groundwater and gas monitoring wells, overseen the
installation of the landfill gas infrastructure and designed and supervised small scale infrastructure projects at the site.
WEST THURROCK HOUSEHOLD WASTE
RECYCLING CENTRE
THURROCK BOROUGH COUNCIL
As part of a £4.7m plan by the Council to overhaul waste and recycling in the local authority, our experts undertook detailed design and project managed the construction of this new public household waste recycling centre.
The centre was originally set up to be run by a local non-governmental organisation and designed to include joint venture provision for the refurbishment of WEEE and bulky
items, such as household furniture.
The final construction integrates into a new centralised waste depot and vehicle workshop into the facility and is expected to play an essential role in reducing the volume of domestic waste going to landfill in Thurrock.
WASTE ENGINEERING SERVICES
ENCOURAGING RECYCLING,
RE-USE & RECOVERY
The waste industry has undergone rapid and significant change for a number of years and this will continue as we move closer to a ’zero waste economy’. Waste is now widely recognised as a resource to be exploited rather than as a problem to be solved and more stringent European and national waste legislation drivers are adding weight to the recycle and re-use agenda.
The focus of our waste infrastructure work is therefore to
provide flexibility for any change of function or future expansion. As important as delivering cost effective construction is to us, our design approach also addresses how sites will be operated, managed and finally closed. Though landfill remains a mainstay of waste disposal this is now tempered by local and national public sector instruments governing strategies for waste disposal and by our own understanding of the best options for extracting maximum financial and environmental benefit from
waste resources.
Our waste engineering teams have extensive experience in the
design and construction of waste management sites stretching
over many years. Our solutions are developed to accommodate
all aspects of site construction, operation and management. We consider the impact of all design decisions in terms of their cost
efficiency, their potential to impose operational constraint and
their long-term impact on communities and environments.
Our services include:
• project feasibility studies
• commercial and environmental due diligence audits
• environmental compliance and risk based design
• topographical, geo-environmental services and surveys
• operational audits
• detailed building services and utilities design
• waste treatment technology selection
• preparation of contract documentation, management of the tender process
• design of inert, non-hazardous and hazardous waste residual landfills
• construction project management
WASTE REPATRIATION WORKS
NORTHERN IRELAND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
The high cost of disposing of waste in the Republic of Ireland has meant that illegal cross-border dumping has become a significant criminal and environmental problem. Since 2010, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) has worked with its counterparts in the Republic to repatriate an estimated 250,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste.
We are contracted by the NIEA to provide environmental and CDM services alongside engineering advice to help deliver this programme safely. Our work includes the preparation
of detailed method statements, environmental monitoring
plans and risk assessments for various sites. Our experts also manage day to day site operations for the removal of all waste and leachate to licensed landfill sites or wastewater treatment works and produce final reports as evidence to the European Commission of sound environmental cleanup.
PULVERISED FUEL ASH
KILROOT POWER STATION, CARRICKFERGUS
At Kilroot we were appointed to secure an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Permit for the disposal of wetted
pulverised fuel ash from the local power station and to provide the ongoing environmental compliance monitoring that would
be required for the eventual safe closure of the site. Central to our approach was the reliability and clarity of the technical
evidence provided to local regulators in order to ensure quick
agreement to any operational changes in the construction and
monitoring programmes.
We undertook extensive monitoring to provide the basis for a hydrogeological risk assessment and LandSim model used to guide practical mitigation for the site. Further environmental assessments, including hydrological and ecological, were also undertaken to ensure that the sensitive local ecosystem would not be impacted.
WASTE INFRASTRUCTURE
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
© Albert Bridge
POUND BOTTOM LANDFILL SITE
WILTSHIRE WASTE PERMITTING SERVICES
Pound bottom is the only active non inert landfill site operating within the New Forest National Park. Despite it being bounded by a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Site of Community Interest and a Ramsar site, our expert team was successful in gaining a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit and, in relation to the day to day operation, has acted as designated liaison point with the Environment Agency for over 15 years. As required by the permit, this covers a variety of duties
including site conditioning reports, liaison regarding site
closure and completion, installation of landfill gas, leachate and groundwater monitoring infrastructure, production of ecology surveys and reviews of the Hydrological Risk Assessment.
The waste and minerals management problems faced by our clients are becoming increasingly more complex as organisations experience growing economic, environmental, and regulatory pressures.
Our specialist minerals and waste planning and permitting team
can advise you on the best way forward for your development. Minerals projects can be contentious, so we develop innovative solutions to help you gain planning permission. We can also develop longer-term plans for your site once its mineral value has been realised.
We provide policy advice and technical input into development plans, planning applications and EIAs. Our landscape,
highways, ecological and other in-house specialists have significant experience of the issues unique to the minerals and waste industries. From the development of policy, obtaining
planning permission and managing the appeals process, through to the effective negotiation and resolution of disputes
with regulators once a site becomes operational, our experts provide effective advice at every stage of the process.
Our waste permitting service includes the preparation and
submission of supporting documents, close liaison with the Environment Agency throughout the determination of an
application and advice on compliance with the conditions of
the environmental permit once it has been issued. We have significant experience in preparing permit applications for all types of waste management operations including:
• hazardous, non-hazardous and inert landfill sites
• energy from waste facilities
• recycling and composting sites
• hazardous and clinical waste treatment facilities
• WEEE facilities
• materials recycling facilities transfer stations
LOW LEVEL WASTE REPOSITORY
CUMBRIA COUNTY COUNCIL
We were appointed by Cumbria County Council to provide support in determining a planning application for approximately 1 million cubic meters of disposal capacity for low level
radioactive waste.
In the role of case officer, our experts liaised with the applicant and statutory consultees, coordinated technical responses
and prepared the committee report. The team also reviewed
and assessed the ecology issues and provided guidance on the potential impact on the Drigg Coast SSSI. We were also able to review and assess the application in relation to hydrogeological and hydrological issues and a number of other specialisms including landscape, noise, air quality and light, and
waste engineering.
MINERALS PLANNING APPLICATION
CEMEX
Our specialist minerals team has managed the preparation of
seven mineral planning applications for CEMEX relating to four major sites in south east England. The sites were at a critical stage, and the planning applications and EIAs were completed in an extremely short timeframe due to a number of the related planning consents approaching expiry.
The planning history and site information was complex. Drawing on technical expertise from our ecology, transport, archaeology, noise, air quality, and landscape teams we were able to coordinate every aspect of the application work including the EIA. The skills and experience of the whole
minerals planning team meant that we prepared applications
for all sites that could be validated by the relevant authority prior to the expiration of operational consents.
ENERGY FROM WASTE FACILITIES
NEW EARTH SOLUTIONS & DISTRIBUTED
RENEWABLE ENERGY NETWORKS LTD (DRENL)
Our waste permitting specialists have worked with New Earth Solutions and DRENL on the preparation and management of permit applications for several ‘energy from waste’ facilities.
In particular, we worked on applications for facilities that use
Advanced Thermal Treatment technologies, such as gasification and pyrolysis. Permit applications for this type of facility are often complex and require the submission of a high level of
technical information, including plant design plans, detailed process diagrams and reports, environmental risk assessments
and air quality and odour assessments.
We liaised with design engineers, technical specialists and the
Environment Agency to ensure the applications were robust and could progress smoothly through determination.
MINERALS & WASTE
PLANNING AND PERMITTING
Minerals and waste planning can be contentious. Our experienced minerals and waste team is able to effectively manage the policy, technical, political and community issues that can arise from a sale or purchase and help mitigate the risk of costly disputes and delays.
We provide our clients with expert advice at every stage of the planning process from the development of policy, obtaining
planning permission and managing the appeals process, through to the effective negotiation and resolution of disputes
with regulators once a site becomes operational.
As a multi-discipline consultancy we also employ senior technical specialists with public inquiry experience in environmental fields including landscape, transport and ecology. Working with solicitors we achieve effective negotiated
outcomes for our clients in legal disputes and provide a dedicated service in respect of the preparation of professional reports, negotiation and appearance in court. Our in depth
knowledge of the regulatory systems and solid track record in
representing minerals and waste operators and local planning
authorities in public inquiries give us a particular strength in this very highly specialised field.
TRANSFER AND DEPOSIT OF WASTE
WREXHAM
We were instructed by a solicitor acting for a major waste company to advise upon an issue surrounding the deposit of potentially hazardous waste within a non-hazardous landfill. The Environment Agency had commenced enforcement
proceedings and we provided advice on the implications of the
Environmental Protection Act, duty of care, waste classification, landfill waste acceptance procedures and criteria. We were able to demonstrate that the waste company in question had acted appropriately and, as a result of the advice we provided, the
case was dropped.
STONE MINE
BATH
For a housing development on land above a stone mine near Bath, we were instructed by solicitors representing the residential house builder. The dispute concerned approximately £3m of mineral reserves that would be sterilized due to the
construction of new development.
We provided expert witnesses in mine engineering and
minerals planning. The information was then used to negotiate
an out of court settlement on favourable terms.
We were subsequently instructed on a similar site in which we were able to advise our new client informally, enabling the case to be settled without the need to prepare formal
witness evidence.
CONSTRUCTION WASTE RECYCLING
HAMPSHIRE
We represented Hampshire County Council’s waste planning authority in an appeal against refusal of an application for a 6 hectare MRF and construction/demolition waste recycling facility.
Though their application had been recommended for approval by officers, it was refused by the planning committee due to unacceptable impacts on the locality. We provided waste planning and landscape expert witnesses and worked as part of the team with the local authority planning officers. The
evidence produced raised some interesting issues in respect of
the definitions of derelict and previously developed land.
EXPERT WITNESS & DUE DILIGENCE
PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATION
AND IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE
Our people are designers, project managers, engineers, planners, environmental specialists and business service professionals who together form the teams our clients need to make their project ambitions come to life.
Working from the earliest project stages we offer all the expertise needed to make challenging concepts possible. We then bring together the right teams whenever and wherever our clients need them to make projects happen. We believe our ability to make a difference through our work and leave a lasting positive legacy is what sets us apart.
Take a glimpse at what we have to offer:
WYG
EXPERTISE
ACROSS
A RANGE
OF SERVICES
ASSET MANAGEMENT
• Asbestos• Safety Management & CDM
• Building Surveying
• Energy and M&E Asset Management
• Geospatial & Data Asset Management
ENERGY
• Low & Zero-carbon (LZC) Energy Options Studies
• Energy Management
• Nuclear New Build
• Nuclear Decommissioning
• Seismic Analysis & Design
• Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)
• Carbon Accounting
• Low Energy Design
ENGINEERING
• Civil & Structural Engineering
• Energy & Utilities
• Mechanical & Electrical Engineering
• Water & Wastewater Treatment
• Sustainable & Low Carbon Design
• Flood Risk & Flood Alleviation Design
• BREEAM, LEED & DREAM
• Development Infrastructure • Highways & Bridges
ENVIRONMENT
• Ecology
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) & Environmental Permitting
• Sustainability Appraisal & Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
• Noise, Air, Light, Vibration and Odour Assessments
• Archaeology & Heritage
• Hydrogeology & Water Quality
• Geotechnical Design & Assessment
• Site Investigation
• Contaminated Land & Land Quality Assessment
• Environmental Due Diligence & Expert Witness
• Pollution Response & Management
• Remediation Design & Management
• Waste & Resource Management
• Local Authority Waste Services
• Minerals Planning
MANAGEMENT SERVICES
• Project Management • Programme Management • Cost Management • Risk Management • Development Management • Employer’s AgentPLANNING
• Planning Applications• Planning Obligations & CIL
• Compulsory Purchase Orders
• Project Management & EIA Coordination
• Site Assessment & Planning Strategy
• Development Plan Representations
• Planning Appeals & Expert Witness
• Planning Policy & Development Management
• Stakeholder & Community Consultation
TRANSPORT
• Transport Assessment & Modelling
• Sustainable Transport
• Road Safety
• Highway, Bridge & Drainage Design
• Highway Construction Supervision
• Pedestrian, Cycle & Public Transport Schemes
• Intelligent Transport Solutions
• Planning Appeals & Expert Witness Services
• Policy Advice and Compliance
• Public Realm Infrastructure Design
URBAN & LANDSCAPE DESIGN
• Masterplanning• Urban Design
• Landscape Architecture
• Landscape & Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA)
• Building Design • Regeneration
Belfast Cardiff Leeds Manchester London Nottingham Southampton For more information email [email protected]
or contact your local office
Belfast
1 Locksley Business Park Montgomery Road
Belfast
BT6 9UP
Tel: +44 (0)28 9070 6000
Cardiff
5th Floor, Longcross Court 47 Newport Road Cardiff CF24 0AD Tel: +44 (0)29 2082 9200 Leeds Arndale Court Headingley Leeds LS6 2UJ Tel: +44 (0)113 278 7111 London 100 St John Street London EC1M 4EH Tel: +44 (0)20 7250 7500 Manchester
Quay West at MediaCityUK Trafford Wharf Road Trafford Park Manchester M17 1HH Tel: +44 (0)161 872 3223 Nottingham Geneva Building Lakeview Drive
Sherwood Business Park Annesley Nottingham NG15 0ED Tel: +44 (0)1623 684500 Southampton The Pavilion
Botleigh Grange Office Campus Hedge End Southampton SO30 2AFD Tel: +44 (0)2382 022 800 M 80 0/0 7/15
