Bywaters Sustainability News

Many early sustainability targets were overly ambitious, often set without a clear understanding of the practical and financial challenges involved. Businesses and governments made sweeping promises without fully accounting for the technological, logistical, and economic hurdles. As deadlines approached, it became clear that many of these goals were unattainable, leading organisations to revise their targets to more achievable levels.

Also, as global uncertainty increases with economic instability, geopolitical tensions, and climate-related disasters on the rise, there is a tendency to revert to familiar practices. When faced with uncertainty, people and institutions often cling to what they know rather than embracing change. This psychological effect is evident in recent policy reversals.

While sustainability remains an important issue, the enthusiasm of the past decade is giving way to a more cautious, pragmatic approach; one that prioritises feasibility over bold ambition.

UK News

“What do you think would happen if your household bins didn’t get collected for a few weeks? Rats, bad smells and increased health risks?”

As the BBC has reported on, unfortunately, residents in Birmingham have experienced just that as more than 350 bin workers have been striking on and off since the end of last year over working conditions and pay. As an agreement has not been reached with Birmingham City Council, the walkouts have escalated into an indefinite all-out strike since March 11th.  According to Unite, the union of which the striking bin workers are a part of, say the strikes are taking place because the council decided to downgrade 170 roles, whereby the workers faced losing £8,000 in annual salary and plan to remove certain roles which are dedicated to checking that Health & Safety requirements are followed for these often dangerous jobs. The council has hit back saying the number of workers affected and salary decrease are not nearly as much as the union says, and that they’ve presented them a fair offer. These strikes could co on for months, if an agreement is not met.

There are obvious negative consequences to this situation as some people’s bins have not been collected for months. Pest control specialists have reported a 75% increase in calls since the strikes started. Residents living in special conditions, such as in care homes are at higher health and safety risk because of build-up of waste onsite, as the overflowing bins create risk of fire, and a possible rat infestation would cause unhealthy living conditions. Everyone is calling for both sides, council and union, to figure something out soon, so the streets can be rubbish free once more.

A very similar situation happened in Tower Hamlets in 2023.

Click HERE to see how Bywaters came in to save the streets of Tower Hamlets

Bywaters News

Here at Bywaters we started carrying out digital waste audits. By carrying out an audit you are able to understand exactly what is being thrown away within the building and set measurable targets and goals.  Regular audits can help track the success of initiatives and also educated occupants on waste management best practice. If you want to learn more about how our digital audits and introduce them to your building please contact us.