Biffa : Brighton’s beaches undergo major clean up with Biffa

Press release

25 September 2018

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Brighton's beaches undergo major clean up with Biffa

Biffa, the leading national recycling and waste management provider, has been working to tackle the issue of litter on Brighton beach, sending a group of employees from around the country to participate in Saint-Gobain Building Distribution's 'Great British Beach Clean' as part of the Marine Conservation Society initiative.

The initiative was one of six beach cleans being organised by Saint-Gobain Building Distribution (SGBD), a world leader in builders merchants, in the wake of the plastic epidemic currently affecting oceans around the globe..

A group of eight Biffa employees from around the country attended the clean-up efforts this week, alongside the Saint-Gobain Building Distribution team, covering the area of beach from Black Rock to Brighton Marina. The team collected 22 sacks of waste, however the work to keep Britain's beaches clean will be an ongoing mission.

Matt Mernor, Corporate Account Manager at Biffa, explains: 'We're proud to be one of the companies supporting Saint-Gobain Building Distribution's beach cleaning initiative, and it was fantastic to see such a large group of people come together to contribute to the efforts on the day.

'During a three-hour beach clean, we were able to rid a small section of Brighton beach of litter, reinforcing the importance of recycling responsibility for not only large corporations, but local businesses and members of the public too.

'Biffa is committed to promoting high standards of environmental management and altogether ensuring long term sustainability for our operations.'

Jayne Kennell, Head of Environment at Saint-Gobain Building Distribution, said: 'I used to do beach cleans on the Isle of Man when I was a child, and so when I saw an advert for the Marine Conservation Society's Great British Beach Clean I thought it was a great opportunity to do one again and to get Saint-Gobain Building Distribution involved.

'The Brighton beach clean was organised and run by Angela Kalnins and Kay Smith from Jewson, as part of six cleans across the country, and we were delighted when Matt and the rest of the Biffa team accepted our invitation to get involved.

Angela Kalnins, from Jewson, added: 'We collected a huge amount of litter on the day, even though on the surface the beach looked very clean. The majority of the waste was metal bottle tops, cable ties, plastic bottle rings, and small bits of plastic. It was altogether a very enjoyable and worthwhile exercise which generated a lot of interest from the public on the day and we hope to do more.'

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) runs 'The Great British Beach Clean' as an annual event as part of their Marine Conservation Society Citizen Science Project across UK. Data on each beach clean is collated relating to types and quantities of waste collected at each beach, which becomes part of a national and global survey.

The information volunteers have collected over the last 25 years has helped make some of the most significant impacts on beach litter ever. The study has also helped to bring about a number of initiatives aimed at tackling plastic waste, including the plastic bag charge, microplastics banned in personal care products, better wet wipe labelling, and massive support for a tax on 'on the go' plastic single use items.

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Notes to Editors:

Biffa is a leading UK-based integrated waste management business. The Group operates across the breadth of the waste management value chain, including the collection, treatment, processing and disposal of waste and recyclable materials, as well the production and sale of energy derived from waste and the sale of recovered commodities such as paper, glass, metals and plastic. Biffa's customer base for these services includes local authorities (which includes the collection of waste from households), large corporates and SMEs, and purchasers of end-product commodities and energy. Across its operations, the Group handled approximately 7.8mT and treated approximately 3.7mT of waste in Fiscal Year 2018. The Group's services are organised across four operating divisions: Industrial & Commercial; Municipal; Resource Recovery & Treatment (RR&T); and Energy employing c.7,900 people. In Fiscal Year 2018, the Group's total revenue was £1076.7 million and its underlying EBITDA was £150.0 million. Biffa trades on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities under the ticker 'BIFF'.

For more information visit www.biffa.co.uk

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