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.

Yes, it’s nearly that time again; when the little darlings will finally be out from under your feet and become somebody else’s problem. So it makes sense to start getting ready for their return to school.

Everything seems to cost more these days, as a parent you’ll spend £5,203 on school uniform and PE kit over the 11 years your child is in school. The major supermarkets are offering cheap uniform deals but we can’t help thinking there’s a little bit of a false economy going on there. So what can you do instead? Well there are always hand-me-downs, but that’s not always suitable.

How about a uniform swap meet?

More and more people are doing it and you can organise your own. There’s still time, but you’ll need to decide a few things in advance. For example:

• Who will run your swap? Will it be parents or the school?
• How will it be organised? Will you just have a free for all or do you want to be a little more organised?
• Arranging for vouchers is a good idea e.g.  Parents receive vouchers allowing them to swap one set of items for similar items in a different size
• Remember, some parents won’t have items in one size to swap for a different size.  You might want to put a monetary value on the items and the vouchers instead.
• Doing that would allow you to sell items too, which is great for parents who have nothing to swap.

So, get together with likeminded parents and involve the school, they’re usually happy to help with this sort of thing. Be sure that all items are clean and suitable for reuse. And you might want to have a contingency plan for those items that you will inevitably be left with at the end. Not everything will go, so be sure you know where to send unwanted items for recycling.

Putting your kids through school can be expensive so do something about it.

There is more labelling on food than ever was before. It’s there for a reason of course. Much of it is to inform you about what you’re eating. So you can’t complain that your Dino Bites don’t contain actual dinosaur. But what about those labels that tell you if the food is still edible? How familiar are you with those?

They’re not difficult are they? It’s just Best Before dates. Or should that be Use By dates? How about Sell By or Display Until? Food waste campaigners claim that the confusion caused by these labels is the source of a lot of food being thrown away. According to WRAP that’s a total wastage of about £680 per year, per household. And you know how much we hate waste.

Things have got so bad that the government is now planning to review the labels and their uses. For the record, here’s what those labels actually mean:

• Use by – Food items should not be consumed after this date. If you think you won’t eat the item before this date, check to see if it’s suitable for freezing.
• Best before – This is a quality indicator. After this date, food might not be at its best, but it’ll still be edible.
• Sell by/Display Until – These dates are for the retailer only so don’t concern yourself with them.

Remember, the best way to avoid wasting food is, only buy what you’ll use and use what you buy. And don’t rely on those date labels too much; you can still use your eyes and nose in most cases. If something smells ok and looks ok, have a little taste. If it tastes ok, it probably is ok. Use your common sense. It worked for your old gran.

Wasting food is just plain wrong but you’ll always have something you can’t eat or reuse. Here in the Newcastle-Under- Lyme area we have food waste collections. Please use them.  Or if not, then start your own compost heap. It all helps.

Food waste isn’t just something that catering establishments like restaurants or kitchens such as those in schools, colleges and hospitals should worry about. Waste food happens wherever food is processed.

There can be so much of it that even businesses with professional food waste solutions can have trouble coping. So, what can be done when you’re producing food waste on that sort of scale? How about turning it into electricity?

We’ve talked about turning waste wood into electricity and it’s something that Cherry Hill Waste is very excited about. But, surprisingly, food waste can be put to the same use in bioenergy plants.

The main issue with bioenergy has always been in the growing of crops for fuel rather than food. Farmers, who need to make a living, have been looking to fuel crops to make their money. Great for them, but not so great when hardly anyone is growing food crops and prices get out of hand. If we didn’t need to rely on fuel crops so much, we could have a more balanced bioenergy industry.

That’s where waste food comes in.

In Scotland, for example, whisky manufacturers have begun putting their waste into bioenergy. Rothes Distillers have teamed up with Helius energy to combine their leftover grains, known as draff, with woodchips for use in a modern bioenergy plant.

These plants work in exactly the same way as those used for waste wood, by burning the waste in a controlled combustion. Rather than just turning to ash and smoke, the waste releases a gaseous mixture known as syngas. This product can be burned like natural gas and used to power homes. In the case of this new Scottish bioenergy plant, 9000 homes will get their power from processed organic waste.

Not bad for a product that would just get thrown away. Given our reliance on fossil fuels, we need alternatives. Waste wood, waste food and other organic waste materials can provide that alternative.