Network Rail's war on waste

There are more than 2,500 stations in Great Britain, but just 18 - the biggest and busiest - are managed by Network Rail. Between them they generate nearly 20,000 tonnes of waste per year.

That waste comes from many places - from commercial enterprises such as restaurants and shops; from the public and passengers who use the station; and from the train operators whose

services stop at the station.

Peter Collins, operations development manager, managed stations, said: "Managing this amount of waste can be complex. Our focus is to deal with it effectively, drive continuous improvement and to operate in an ever-more sustainable and responsible way."

Working with suppliers

With sustainability in mind we needed to find a business partner for waste collection services that was as committed to good environmental practice and to meeting tough sustainability targets as we are.

Andy Flower, senior sourcing manager, said: "We put a new contract in place at the end of last year and we're working closely with the supplier to challenge ourselves to do things differently."

We've already made good progress and seen real results. One change was moving away from scheduled waste collections - stopping these means waste is now only collected when needed. It's a simple idea, but one which has the benefit of reducing cost along with road congestion and CO2 emissions.

Encourage recycling

We're also working closely with train operators and commercial enterprises at stations to encourage recycling.

Toni Peters, sourcing manager, explained: "Putting a programme in place to educate retailers at

Liverpool Street station has seen recycling increase to 48 per cent. Here we've proactively worked with retailers to re-think what we do with waste. One major fast food outlet now uses illustrations above their waste recycling bins to encourage segregation of waste and increase recycling efficiency."

Victoria station, London, is another place where green shoots of success are emerging. The

station has seen the removal of general waste bins from platforms, which means all train waste is now deposited only into recycling bins.

Improving efficiency

Diane Booth, head of environment policy, said: "To achieve our corporate targets we needed to

bring our suppliers on board with our ideas. My team worked alongside strategic sourcing and managed stations to achieve this with our contractors."

Andy added: "Improving sustainability does not have to cost more. On the contrary, there's

a compelling business case for improving efficiency. We've also learned that we can work smarter

and faster and develop better solutions if we work with our partners and suppliers.

"Going forwards we will look at how we can use this approach elsewhere to improve sustainability."

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