Hazardous is well named and no mistake. It takes an expert to handle it but half the battle is knowing what actually counts as hazardous.

If you’re having a clear-out as part of your annual spring clean, you should make yourself aware of just what can and cannot be placed in a skip. Keep an eye open for things such as:

• Televisions
• Computer monitors
• Fluorescent lighting
• Fridges
• Paint (oil and solvent based)
• Car batteries
• Engine oil
• Gas bottles
• Disinfectants and solvents
• Asbestos

If you’re going to be putting anything like this in your skip, think twice. Contact us (on the usual number 0500 13 06 06) and make us aware, especially if you’re about to dump asbestos. We can then take the proper precautions to deal with these items.

Whatever you do, don’t sneak it into the skip or try to hide it at the bottom. And absolutely don’t fly tip. If hazardous material is dangerous in the world of waste handlers, imagine how dangerous it can be if it’s just dumped in a field. Even electrical components are full of chemicals that will eventually leak out as the item breaks down. This not only cause damage to the environment but can be fatal to the local wildlife. And nobody wants to trip over an old pot of paint while out on a walk through the park.

Remember, let us know and we can take care of it. If you’re not sure, call us anyway. We’d all rather be safe than sorry.

No, I don’t mean you should recycle your entire office, not unless you work in demolition and are tearing down an entire block. And if you are, we can help with that.

No, what we’re talking about here is the recycling that goes on in the office environment. It’s not just paper that your office should be concerned about, but that’s a good place to start. Ensure your office has recycling bins. Everywhere there is a trash can, there should be a recycling bin. Once you’ve made sure of that you can look to other office recyclables.

Offices are full of things that can and should be recycled. Ink and toner cartridges, computers and even furniture can all be reused or recycled in some way. If you’re not sure what can be reused, make a list. Allocate someone as recycling officer and make it their responsibility to list everything in use in your office that can be recycled. There’s a lot of info about this available on the internet so your recycling officer will have plenty of help.

Remember, it’s not just paper. A huge amount of IT equipment can be recycled, but it can be hard to find out just what bits of equipment can be reused. Your best bet is to find a specialist. You’ll need somebody who can handle hazardous material as electrical gear can have some nasty things in it. If you’re getting rid of computers make sure you take care of the hard drives separately. You don’t want your company secrets getting into the wrong hands and your staff won’t thank you if you simply dump discs with all their information on them.

Do it right, but do it, and maybe you’ll finally achieve the dream of the paperless office.

As you might know, 97% of the 30,000 batteries sold in the UK each year end up in landfill. Which is why new legislation was brought in to stop it and to encourage recycling. But, as of 2011, we’re woefully shy of our target.

Here in the UK we were aiming for an 18% battery recycle rate in 2011 and 25% in 2012. At present, we’re nowhere near that and while the 2011 target was only voluntary, the 2012 target is mandatory. So we really need to do more this year.

Remember any store selling more than 32kg of batteries per year (that’s about one pack of four AA batteries per week) is required to provide a recycling point for old batteries. And that’s ALL batteries, not just your normal torch or TV remote style ones. They want your old mobile phone batteries too. And those odd looking ones you get in some cameras.

Businesses need to step up here and make sure that, if they’re’re eligible, they provide a recycling bin for batteries. And the rest of us need to make sure we remember to use them. It won’t take much effort to bring your old batteries with you when you go to do weekly shop.

What You Can Do

The people in the know are worried that not enough is being done to make everyone aware of this new legislation. So we’d like to take this opportunity to encourage you all to do your bit. You should start seeing special battery recycling bins in all the supermarkets pretty soon. And if you don’t then please inform the manager.  They can contact BatteryBack on their website and fill out the form. You can choose what size bin you want and they’ll do the rest. They even arrange for collection. So never mind if the law is making you provide a battery recycling service or not, let’s just get those bins in as many places as we can.

Filmed on location at Cherry Hill Waste, Dust is set in the year 2060 and tells the tale of a man who has rejected society and has chosen to live in isolation. He has built his home away form the rest of the population and recycles everything he needs.

Made by up and coming film maker Lauren Hatchard, Cherry Hill Waste was proud to offer its services to Lauren and her team. The film had its début last year and has been seen by many people at film festivals. Now we are very excited to be able to show you the finished product on our own website.

Do yourself a favour and open it up to full screen and enjoy, Dust: Survivor of the West, by Lauren Hatchard.

We’ve been in the skip hire business for a long time, but we’re not sitting on our laurels, that’s for sure. For some time, we’ve been expanding and one of the most popular additions to our business has been the Doppstadt shredders.

Doppstadt are well known and in our opinion produce the best shredders around. That’s why we went with bothe the Doppstadt DW3060 Slow Speed Shredder and the Doppstadt AK430 High Speed Shredder. Two different shredders for two different jobs.

A slow speed shredder like the Doppstadt DW 3060 is perfect for ripping up tough and awkward loads like large lumps of waste wood. You get real power with this machine and there’s very little that will stop it. There are automatic fail safe mechanisms that will open the shredding comb if anything jams it and as with everything on the Doppstadt, it’s really easy to handle. It’s also incredibly mobile and because of its low gearing, it’s nice and quiet as well as being economical.

Equally as good is the AK430 High Speed model, perfect if you have a lot of, shall we say, less awkward chunks of material. A high speed shredder will get you through your pile of waste in no time and as with the slow speed shredder, you’ll finish with a usable product.

Shredders are going to be more and more useful in the future as new ways of handling waste come to the fore. Landfill is no longer an option so processing our waste for other uses is something we’re all going to have to look at. Whatever you plan to do with your waste, shredding it will usually be near the top of your to-do list.

What do you need to next? First of all, we’d encourage you to click the links above and have a look at both models. Then either give us a call on 0500 13 06 06 or fill out our contact form. We’ll go through everything with you and help you to decide what’s best. You won’t be disappointed.

At Cherry Hill waste, we think skip hire is great. And what better time of year to hire a skip? But there are few things you might want to think a few things through before you give us a call.

• How much rubbish do you have? You might not have an exact idea of the amount of waste you’ll be dumping, but you can estimate. This will give you a better idea of how big a skip you’ll need. You can check our Skip Hire Size Guide here.
• What are you going to put in it? This is important for a number of reasons, the main one being that if you’re going to be dumping rubble and soil, you need to realise this can be surprisingly heavy. You may quickly overload your skip without realising it!
• Where will you put your skip? You’ll need to make room for the skip and if it’s going to go on your drive, you’ll need to make sure that our truck has easy access. You should make certain that your drive can take the weight of a fully laden skip too. If you want your skip on the road in front of your property, don’t forget to leave room for both the skip and the truck.
• Do you need a permit? Permits are required if you’re putting your skip on the public highway. Skips placed on a public highway are subject to a few rules and regulations, but Cherry Hill Waste take all the hassle out of it. We’ll make sure you have the right permit.
• How long do you need it? Again, you can estimate this based on the amount of rubbish you have. If you’re going to be keeping the skip overnight it needs to be safe and secure. That means making sure it’s lit if it’s on a public highway. Cherry Hill Waste can help with all of.

For help or advice on choosing a skip, talk to us on 0500 13 06 06 we’ll answer all your questions about sizes and prices and make sure you get exactly right skip for your needs.

Christmas is over. At least it’s only once a year, right?

Now is the time to start thinking about getting things back to normal.

Starting where? Well, first of all, work out what you need to get rid of. Then check your council website (or the sticker on your bin) to see if your usual bin collection day has changed. Many councils make changes to their normal refuse collections during the Christmas season so make yourself aware.

While you’re checking that, have a look for the opening times of your local tip or recycling centre. They will be open, but it’ll likely be holiday hours. Expect large queues.

We advised you to separate your recyclables and this is why. If everyone separate s their waste before they load up the car, we can all be in and out much quicker. Get organised in advance.

Check on your neighbours too, you won’t be the only one struggling under the weight of extra waste at this time of year. You can do the green thing and share cars or vans with your neighbours, too.

Remember recycling isn’t a chore; you are doing your bit. Recycling isn’t that hard, and if you can do it during the festive season, why not the rest of the year? See, now you have your New Year’s Resolution sorted too.

Did you get everything you wanted? Did you get more packaging than you thought possible? It was bound to happen.  The trick is in coping with it all.

As the gifts start pouring in, you’ll need to keep the packing separate as the gifts are unwrapped. Sorting early will save you a lot of messing around, something which is never a good idea in the chaos of a family Christmas. You could even attempt not tearing your gift wrap as you open your presents. Go on, we dare you to try. That way you can reuse the paper later in the year.

Boxes, bags and packing materials can all be reused or recycled too. Useful if you plan on hitting the auction sites in the New Year. And if you’re not, you most likely know someone who is.

Christmas is about food and drink too and not just on the big day. The season brings so many excuses to eat drink and merry that it’s worth having planning in advance.

Bottles can all be recycled, so keep them separate from the rest of your general waste. Christmas brings so much more waste it’d be a shame to not dispose of it correctly. Please try to keep recyclables separate, there’ll be so many more of them at this time of year.

If you’re not drinking, we bet you’ll be eating. Try to avoid wasting food if you can. Everybody expects leftovers at Christmas; but when you’ve had your fill of turkey sandwiches, what then? Composting is our recommendation. But don’t throw that turkey carcass on your compost heap unless you want to attract rats. But the veg, and all the peelings, are perfect compost fodder.

Above all, enjoy the day and make sure that whatever happens, you have a very merry Christmas.

It’s not long until the big day is here and you’re probably expecting lots of lovely presents.  But, do you have room? You’re might think you do, but you can never really be sure. So let’s get prepared shall we?

The first thing to do is have a rummage, especially if you’ve got kids. Toys take up so much room and the thought of introducing even more can be something you might not have considered. Go through those cupboards and toy boxes and you’re bound to find a few things that hardly get played with. Things that lit up a face last Christmas now sit unused and unloved. Or maybe they’ve outgrown their kid’s toys and don’t play with them anymore. Dig them out and put them to one side while you go through your own possessions too.

It’s not just kids who have too many toys. Even adults acquire more and more stuff. Got an MP3 player and a smart phone? Face it, you don’t need both and you’ve probably still got the box for that MP3 player, somewhere. Or maybe you’re getting a new one for Christmas. MP3 players, cameras, phones and the like all get replaced eventually. Put the old stuff to one side and if you don’t pass it on to another member of the family, you’ll be able to make a little extra money in the New Year.

Someone somewhere would love to have your old gadgets and auction sites are always busy just after Christmas. You can even find a buyer for those odd gifts that you really don’t know what to do with. So remember, rummage, but don’t throw. Keep your boxes and make yourself a little extra money.

December is here again and brings with it, Christmas. And that means you’re going to be buying decorations, presents, wrapping materials and food. Lots of food.

But it’s at this time of year that recycling should be something you’re thinking about too.

Let’s start with the decorating. It can get expensive so why not save a little money by making your own decorations. Kids love this sort of thing, so get them involved. Start them off by having them collect things like jars, coat hangers and bottle tops. You might also need few cheap supplies like glitter, tinsel and glue. But once you’ve got everything together you can try your hand at things like Christmas tree decorations; or how about a festive snow globe for the table centrepiece. More ideas can be found at craft sites throughout the internet.

If you’re not the handy type and find the things you make look a bit odd, then how about recycling boxes to use as containers for those hard to wrap presents instead. Awkward shaped items become much easier to wrap when you put them in a box. And it’s a great way of disguising gifts such as bottles, too.

Of course some people just don’t like the look of recycled anything, if that’s you how about spending a little extra on some heirloom decorations. Well-made baubles, wreaths and centrepieces last for years if they’re carefully looked after.

The best way of being green is to not throw away anything you can reuse, whether you’re recycling or buying to last. So don’t go blindly into the festive season, give it a little thought and be green.