NEWS STORY

1 July, 2009

Enviros continues successful delivery of the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme

Since being appointed as the NISP North West regional delivery partner in April 2008, Enviros has identified and facilitated the diversion of 221,610 tonnes of waste from landfill in the North West region. This has saved 240,138 tonnes of virgin materials and 85,471 tonnes of embedded CO2 whilst delivering £763,625 additional sales to North West businesses.

The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) is a national programme, funded by DEFRA, which is delivered on a regional basis; Enviros runs the NISP project in the North West. The objective of the programme is to encourage companies to think about resources - in the broadest sense - and to identify mutually profitable links between its members' resource requirements to find outlets for waste, new markets for by-products and opportunities to displace virgin materials from core products.

Synergies or links identified through NISP reduce the amount of material going to landfill, carbon footprints and commercial risk; improve revenue, profitability and employment; and hence deliver sustainable growth. A "synergy" can range from finding an alternative commercial use for one company's by-products or waste to stimulating the market requirement for a waste or by-product.

Nationally, the programme has delivered the equivalent to a 1.8m tonne reduction in landfill, with CO2 reductions of 812,000 tonnes and cost savings in the order of £27 million. The programme continues to deliver incredible value for money to the point where it is cash positive to the treasury. It also continues to attract international interest.

The recent partnership between the North West NISP programme and Carillion is an excellent example of successful collaboration. Carillion diverted from landfill several thousand tonnes of surplus soil, which had been excavated from their development at St Damian's RC High School. The soil was then re-used to raise the level of sports fields at the nearby Ashton Academy in East Manchester. The project was possible because Carillion's project teams, with encouragement from NISP, worked closely to set site levels which, when taken together, created a cut and fill balance.

In the second year, of what is scheduled to be a 3-year contract, North West activity will focus on the construction, food and drink and chemical industries.

Malcolm Bailey, Northern Regional Director for the programme, said: "I'm delighted to say that within these metrics the northern region has performed extremely well. I'd l particularly like to thank the Enviros team in the North West for an outstanding performance. It has seen them take on management of the programme just one year ago and accelerate the delivery of outputs and their full integration within the northern and national programmes. 2009/10 presents its own challenges and I believe that NISP North West is well placed to make further strong contribution."

For more information on NISP and how you can make better use of resources, contact Paul Bromley on 0161 874 3664 or see the NISP website www.nisp.org.uk.