Howarth Timber’s Scunthorpe branch has set a benchmark for sustainability after a waste management overhaul led to over 96% of waste being diverted away from landfill.

The firm worked with waste management specialist Go Green over the last 12 months to assess existing processes and identify ways to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

The project involved a careful restructuring of the waste procedures at the branch, to ensure as much waste as possible was recycled – without impacting on productivity.

Staff at the branch were provided with more efficient waste segregation facilities, as well as being given access to the Go Green portal, which allows staff to track all the branch’s waste and recycling.

Go Green’s business development manager Rich Welch, explained: “With rising costs and ever-changing legislation, Howarth Timber wanted to make sure its company was protected and it had full control over where its waste was going.

“In the year to date, we are achieving 96.6% diverted away from landfill, which compares very well with our other customers.”

The results of the Scunthorpe recycling initiative further boosts Howarth Timber’s reputation as a leader in environmentally-focused timber trading, as reflected by the company’s launch of the Howarth Greenhouse in 2013 – a facility dedicated to offering the latest environmentally focused products with specialist proven training solutions.

Howarth Timber’s sustainability development manager, Jay Pickup, said: “We have been given the go ahead to apply the same principles to the rest of our branches from our managing director Nicholas Howarth and are currently in the process of agreeing terms with Go Green on delivering the program.”