At Devon Contract Waste we are very proud to be the first and only company to offer a Zero to landfill solution in the South West. About Us at Devon Contract Waste
Setting the Future of Waste
At Devon Contract Waste in Exeter we are setting the standard in the UK for the most efficient collection and separation practices for commercial waste.
The company, now in its 27th year, has an enormous wealth of experience across all aspects of waste management both locally and internationally with our project in Africa.
We have seen huge changes in the way waste is collected and processed since we began, but during years of following the trends to landfill waste as it was a simple solution, our Managing Director was frustrated by the resources being wasted and set about researching what could be done as an alternative.
Needless to say we came across lots of dead ends, negativity and more feedback on what cannot be done than anyone willing to listen.
This all started in 2010 when we hired a big warehouse, tipped out four full dustcart loads of mixed waste and spent two weeks sorting it by hand into sizes and types of material. What we discovered was nearly 70% of the waste we collect and send to landfill could be recycled.
We then set out to find the technology that could sort this waste in high volumes and at speed. What we found was a sorting technology used to separate clean grades of plastic and then discovered this could be adapted for our mixed waste, but with careful consideration as to the order we separate the waste.

So as not to bore you, fast forward to 2016 and we now operate as the most efficient of the 5 waste sorting plants in the UK and we are proud to be the only one in the South West.
It was a painful and expensive process with over £5 million invested and thousands of man hours perfecting the process. There were moments of total despair but by January 2015 we were achieving 68% recovery on recycling at a throughput of 12 tonnes per hour.
The remaining 32% is a high calorific fuel used in industry to create power and heat in place of fossil fuels and the resulting ash (3%) is made into construction products so nothing is wasted.

The Carbon Issue
As we process the general waste at the same time as recycling, we recover everything that can be recycled. This has removed the need to collect the general waste and recycling separately (with the exception of food and glass).
The amount of CO2 saved every time a bin of recycling is collected at the same time as a general waste bin, is 3.04 kilograms. In addition to this massive benefit of course we separate everything for you to ensure no resources are wasted, not to mention the time saved at your end.
Since this process has started we have reduced our fleet of refuse vehicles by 5 and yet our turnover has doubled.

Of course if you prefer we can collect the recycling separately but as it has to be processed anyway to ensure the high quality standards required are met but we are as a company committed to reducing our carbon output.