Ryan Marshall is the Senior Environmental and Waste Manager at Anglian, which has just announced a five-year responsible waste scheme for Norwich city centre, in partnership with Norwich Business Improvement District. Here, he explains his passion for recycling – both at work and at home
What led you to becoming Senior Environmental & Waste Manager at Anglian’s waste recycling division?
In August of 2022 I was approached by Anglian to head up the relatively new waste division. Having an extensive background in environmental management and a passion for everything recycling, this new role offered an opportunity to work towards reducing waste and increasing recycling rates across East Anglia. I’m excited to bring significant environmental, social, and economic benefits to the region.
What were you doing before?
I spent 8 years at Intu Chapelfield (now Chantry Place) as the Environmental Services Manager, where I also studied Waste Management via Northampton University along with my Environmental NEBOSH. I also supported the shopping centre group nationally with waste projects at other shopping centres. I then joined Don’t Waste, a global waste business, as the UK Operations Manager, working across the UK covering all sectors. Don’t Waste are experts in waste management, analysis, and reporting. Following three years with Don’t waste I become part of the Anglian Waste Recycling team!
Is it fair to say that you are passionate about recycling? Does it spill over into your home life, as well as your work life?
Yes! My personal values align with Anglian’s mission, and I’m committed to promoting sustainable recycling practices at work as well as beyond the office. At home, I am passionate about the environmental footprint me and my two boys leave behind, this includes reducing the amount of waste we produce and recycling as much as we can. When food shopping, we try to avoid unnecessary packaging by buying loose items where possible, and by careful meal planning we only purchase the food we need, so nothing goes to waste. We get creative with any leftovers to make tasty lunches for the following day and any fruit or vegetable peelings go on our DIY composter in our garden.
How important is the Norwich BID announcement to you and the regional waste management division of Anglian? In other words, how big a deal is this for the Norfolk Company?
Along with the rest of the Anglian Waste Recycling team, I am excited to announce that we are the preferred waste supplier for businesses in Norwich, as selected by the Norwich BID. This is a proud achievement for Anglian, having only recently expanded the waste management division to cater for external commercial clients. This five-year partnership is a fantastic opportunity for all involved, including Norwich BID. As part of the partnership, we will be implementing a new waste reporting system which will allow the organisation to track recycling rates within the city for the first time ever – providing a useful insight for businesses in Norwich!
At Anglian, we pride ourselves on working closely with the local Norfolk community and running a range of initiatives to improve our environment. We are looking forward to working with a diverse range of businesses within the city to expand our community and reach our mission of increasing recycling rates within the region.
How will the scheme work over the next five years and what is the main aim?
The main key aims of the Norwich BID partnership is to increase recycling rates and reduce waste, all whilst creating cost savings for levy payers. Businesses who are part of the Norwich BID scheme, will be able to access our commercial waste and recycling service at an exclusive, reduced rate.
All businesses can book a free no obligation waste audit, where our expert team can analyse the waste they currently produce. Using this information, we can recommend implementing different waste streams to optimise their recycling and reduce the amount of waste being directed to landfill.
We hear you are the go-to person, when it comes to recycling data?
In addition to increasing commercial recycling rates, we also aim to instil good recycling behaviours which can be introduced at home. On average, households in Norfolk recycle around 40% of their overall waste, meaning 60% of waste is still being sent to landfill. However, around 35% of the household general waste is food, meaning we could easily improve this percentage. With food waste currently contributing to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions and costing the UK 3.5 billion pounds per year, it is vital we reduce the waste we generate and implement correct food waste segregation.
Visit Anglian Waste Recycling. For more information about the scheme and to request a free waste audit from Anglian, please visit Waste and Recycling Scheme – Norwich BID.
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