At PCWS we care about the environment. Our quality waste disposal and collection services help to reduce our nation’s impact on the environment.  We understand the various needs of individual customers as well as businesses, tailoring our services to you. One of the key ways to living a greener lifestyle is to REDUCE the amount of your waste with these three top tips.

Limit Packaging

Be wise when you are buying packaged food and when you select packaging for personal use. Paper bags and tin foil can be easily recycled by most councils as opposed to cling film or plastic storage bags which are non-biodegradable. If there is the option to buy loose food (ie. fruit and vegetables) or products which are packaged in recyclable materials, choose these rather than plastic or layered wrappings.

When storing food opt for a container or recyclable wrapping to reduce your daily waste. Margarine tubs in particular make for great (free!) storage containers and can be popped easily in your freezer to keep food for longer.

Be A Green Shopper

Preparation is key when it comes to shopping. Always carry a cloth or reusable shopping bag in your main bag. This will stop the need for plastic carrier bags which are a major waste issue. Many supermarkets have bins outside the store for recycling unwanted bags.

Be smart when it comes to your groceries. Think carefully about food use-by dates and only buy what you need. Stick to your shopping list to avoid extra unwanted food or a build-up of leftovers. Methane is a particularly harmful chemical that is given off from food waste and is damaging to the environment. Any unwanted food (raw or cooked) can be composted rather than thrown directly into a rubbish bin.

Cancel Unwanted Mail

Junk mail is an issue for many people but you can find contact details online to remove your household from mailing lists. Also you could try sticking a sign to your door to inform the postman not to deliver any unwanted advertisements.

If you have subscriptions to newspapers or magazines and rarely read them, much of the same information can be found online. Many publications now even have a digital version. Not only will this reduce waste but also save you valuable pennies!

For more reasons why you should recycle have a look our earlier blog entry. If you are interested in finding out how we can help you, get in contact with us here at PCWS today. You can make a difference to the planet!

In a previous blog we looked at how harmful waste oil can be when it’s not safely recycled and finds its way into the environment.

Engine oil is insoluble and full of toxic chemicals so even small quantities of oil can have very harmful and long-lasting effects on the environment.  In the UK it’s illegal to dump oil or pour it down the drain, instead you must take it to an oil recycling bank like PCWS, we’ll even pay you for recycling your oil!

In this blog we’ll look at what happens when oil is recycled.

1)      Oil arrives at a processing plant and is sorted and separated by the process of distillation.  The different parts of the oil are then taken to different areas of the plant.

2)      The oil is then pre-treated to make it less toxic.

3)      Now the water is drawn out of the oil during a process of dehydration, this makes the minerals in the oil easier to extract.

4)      Next the oil goes through vacuum distillation.  During this process the minerals are removed and the gasoline is recovered from the oil.

5)      Finally the oil goes through another distillation process that separates out the lube oil to be refined and reused as motor oil.

Currently less than a third of all waste oil in the world is being recycled.  That means that a huge proportion of it is getting lost and polluting the environment.  There is a huge network of over 1000 oil recycling banks in the UK so make sure that you dispose of your responsibly and safely.