Industrial Operations Support

Water and Waste Management

Environmental permitting

EMC staff obtain environmental permits for clients and provide ongoing support to help ensure continued compliance with environmental legislation. This work typically involves submitting an Environmental Permit application to the Environment Agency with associated method statements and environmental risk assessments and a supporting planning application to secure planning consent for our clients.

Case study — composting sites
Oaklands nursery and garden centre approached Environmental Management Consultants (EMC) to provide advice and guidance to help it develop a commercial composting facility. EMC staff conducted an environmental risk assessment which satisfied the Environment Agency conditions for the operation of a commercial composting site with an exemption from environmental permitting requirements.

EMC staff secured an environmental permit for GBN South Yorkshire's 50,000 tonne capacity indoor composting facility at a former Sheffield steelwork's site. The composting facility was set up as a social enterprise and provided training and employment for people from disadvantaged groups. The novel static pile process was entirely enclosed in a building, and the local environment was protected by bio-filters which removed potentially harmful bio-aerosols from the air before being released.

Water and wastewater

Environmental Management Consultants services include advice and assistance on all aspects of water and wastewater management including expert witness services. Environmental Management Consultants provide water management reviews to identify opportunities to reduce water usage within organisations and or to minimise water pollution caused by an organisation's activities. Our staff have undertaken water pollution studies on sites as large as airports and identified water minimisation opportunities in small office based companies.

Case study — regional water minimisation programme
Thames Water is the UK's largest water and wastewater services company suppling 2,600 million litres of tap water to 8.5 million customers across London and the Thames Valley every day. Environmental Management Consultants Ltd's staff were tasked with managing the delivery of Thames Water's programme of water efficiency projects during the period March 2010 - March 2011.

This involved helping to manage the delivery of the UK's largest domestic water efficiency schemes and a number of public sector water saving projects with Thames Water's wide range of public and private sector partners. The programme of work successfully delivered the company's regulatory target of saving at least 4,200,000 litres of water per day within 12 months. This was delivered on time and several hundred thousand pounds under budget.

Case study — wastewater minimisation
In a typical water management project, Environmental Management Consultants (EMC) will monitor the client's production processes and water use, and recommend ways of cutting water use or re-using water in production. Advice on trade effluent discharge and waste water treatment is also given.

BB Prawns Ltd manufactures sea food products for large retailers. EMC staff were invited to help design aspects of the client's new factory. The work focused on waste water management and water efficiency. The first stage of the project involved a drainage survey and waste water monitoring of an existing site in order to determine the manufacturing processes waste water characteristics.

Working with the building contractors the drainage system was designed to service the new factory layout. The drainage infrastructure was designed to minimise the creation of waste water pollution and thereby minimise trade effluent costs.

Case study — hazardous waste treatment and waste exports
Environmental Management Consultants staff secured waste management licences for Reclaimed Appliances Ltd to enable it to recycle waste electrical goods.

Transfrontier shipment of waste authorisation was also secured to enable a variety of waste streams to be exported to a number of different countries.

Case study — construction waste recycling site
Environmental Management Consultants (EMC) staff obtained permission for a construction waste transfer station on behalf of the Lindum Group. EMC staff advised the company on its expansion into waste management and drafted the supporting: working plan, environmental risk assessment and planning application.

Research and development

Environmental Management Consultants provide Research and Development services that enable our clients to develop novel commercial processes and products. Our close links with University research departments and potential access to supplementary funding streams bring extra resources to any project.

Case study—adding value to food wastes
Environmental Management Consultants' staff were commissioned by the Humber Seafood Group to research the potential alternative uses for the seafood by-products from the primary fish processing industry. The research drew upon associate skills in Lincoln University's Food Research Centre to provide additional technical and scientific expertise. A number of ways to better utilise fish and shellfish waste were identified. Methods of improved utilisation for each process identified were described together with the background science/technology, previous manufacturing experiences and an economic assessment.

The Humber Seafood Group Ltd is a non-profit making organisation established to represent and assist the seafood sector within the Humber region at national and international levels. I t develops and implements strategies to maximise economic activity within the sector, improve company competitiveness and promote the Humber as a centre of fish industry excellence and as a location for inward investment.

The following pictures show a fish leather wallet and the raw materials from which they could be manufactured.

Case study—adding value to hazardous wastes
Cawoods (Fishcurers) Ltd, founded 1895, are the largest salt fish producers in the UK. Using traditional techniques and modern technology, their factories in Hull and Grimsby process top quality products for the domestic and export markets. The traditional process of curing fish uses large quantities of salt which is spread on the fish fillet and left to allow to preserve the fish by curing.

The salt from the process can only be used a limited amount of times before disposal. The salt is an expensive raw material to purchase and dispose of.

Environmental Management Consultants (EMC) staff worked with Cawoods to develop a pilot salt recycling system that enabled the used salt to be cleaned and reused. This has reduces the cost of raw materials as well as the amount of salt to be landfilled, without reducing the quality of the final cured product. In addition EMC was able to identify a number of local organisations willing to purchase the waste salt for highway de-icing.

Case study—reducing trade effluent costs
A simple and low cost drainage gully system for food processing industry that reduces effluent strength and therefore trade effluent costs.

This was designed following a regional development agency funded waste water study involving a number of primary fish processing companies in Grimsby.

Resource efficiency

Environmental Management Consultants are very experienced at providing resource efficiency services. Senior staff have more than 20 years experience of delivering waste minimisation improvements for clients. Past clients include the UK government's Environment and Energy Helpline and the Manufacturing Advisory Service.
   

Case study—Yorkshire Resource Efficiency Club
The Yorkshire Resources Efficiency Club identified more than £1 million pounds worth of savings within 12 months. The project was partly funded by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) in Yorkshire and the Humber and Envirowise. Four sub regional groups covering North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and the Humber, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire were established. An action plan was developed for each participating company to deliver reductions in energy, water, raw material use and reduced waste creation.

Expert Witness Services

EMC provides expert witness services to support clients in the courts and in planning inquiries.

Recent work has included the preparation of expert reports in support of developments on brown field and green field sites and has provided evidence against the inappropriate development of waste management sites. These reports related variously to ecological aspects of developments, flood risk and drainage issues and the potential adverse health effects of bio-aerosols resulting from a poorly conceived composting site proposal.

Case study—water pollution investigation to defend proposed prosecution
The regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, were threatened with prosecution for allegedly causing pollution to controlled water. Environmental Management Consultants staff investigated the pollution incident and quickly determined the cause of the pollution. Subsequently a neighbouring industrial site was prosecuted for the pollution incident that Yorkshire Forward were initially being held responsible for.