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YOU know what they say - "one man's waste is another man's gold".
And that's certainly the case when it comes to the work of the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme - which is working hard to turn by-products from industry into valuable resources.
NISP was established almost two years ago as a national programme to help both business and the environment. A network of 12 regionally - based offices was established - coinciding with each regional development agency area.
The North-East term - based at the University of Teesside - offers free help, advice and support to companies large and small from Berwick to Brotton.
Aimed at reducing th volume of waste which ends up at landfill sites, the project is bringing major benefits to both business and the environment.
Industrial symbiosis brings together companies from all business sectors with the aim of improving cross industry resource efficiency through the commercial trading of materials, energy and water and sharing assets, logistics and expertise.
Nationally, NISP has already diverted more than a million tonnes of waste from landfill, reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1.6 tonnes and eliminated hundreds of thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste.
On top of this, cost savings of more than £48m, the creation of almost 400 new jobs, £35m of new investment in reprocessing and recycling and the training of almost 1,600 people are just some of its impressive achievements.
It's about bringing companies together," said Sam Goss, from NISP North-East, "both big and small.
"In some cases it's clear where the saving can be made - others are not so simple."
NISP North-East also works with the Centre for Process Innovation to work on more complex projects requiring specialist research and development.
Dr Faisal Salam, technical manager for NISP North-East, said: "There are a lot of companies with a waste problem, who haven't got a direct solution.
"We can identify companies with the knowledge and processes to help them.
"Our expertise can also help them secure grants and funding for research and development.
"And while there may not be an immediate diversion of waste from landfill, the long-term benefits, of which there are many, are there."
Mr Goss added: "Everything is free and that's particularly important to small and medium sized businesses where costs are so important."
With an extensive network of contacts and years of experience in industry, the North-East team is linking firms across the region to turn trash into treasure - with great success.
Working with a number of organisations, it has put millions of old tyres to good use - as a landfill drainage material.
When the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced shredded tyres could be used to create a drainage layer at a landfill site, the team approached Scott Brothers of Thornaby to consider the new method for its huge site at Cowpen Bewley, near Billingham.
NISP went on to introduce Scott Brothers to Plasrec, a tyre recycling company based in Shildon, which agreed to shed more than 5.5 million waste tyres to cover the entire site.
The ground-breaking project has saved Scott Brothers £750,000 and created £1.5m in additional sales for Plasrec.
It has also diverted 37,500 tonnes of waste tyres from landfill, reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 400 tonnes, created eight new jobs and safeguarded another four.
Davy Roll Company in Gateshead has also worked with NISP North-East.
The team approached the company, which produced vast quantities of waste sand from its casting process.
Although the current contractor was taking the sand for reuse as an aggregate material, due to the quantities involved the costs were very high.
NISP North-East put the firm in contact with an alternative recycle, cutting Davy's waste bill by "37,200 annually. It went on to save an extra £6,000-a-year by rationalising th way skips are moved around the site.
Procter and Gamble in Newcastle and WesChem of Redcar have also cleaned up thanks to support from NISP.
At its technical centre, Procter and Gamble develops and tests a wide range of washing powders and detergents.
But this leaves it with large quantities of raw materials, such as sodium sulphate and bleach.
But as well as recycling and re-processing polymers, WesChem specialises in finding markets for redundant and surplus stocks of chemicals.
Forging this partnership will now see 200 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill every year, save Proctoer and Gamble £10,000 annually and cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300 tonnes per year.
NISP North-East has also helped waste management and recycling company JWS in Middlesbrough find an outlet for 10,000 tonnes of recycled wood a year, saving it £200,000 on landfill tax and transport costs.
The waste wood is now set to be used as a feedstock for the new Wilton 10 wood burning power station.
The agreement could lead to a 10-year supply contract to divert up to 100,000 tonnes of waste from landfill over the next decade.
Director of NISP, Peter Laybourn says the organisation's philosophy is a simple one.
"Get people from different sectors talking and the way they think about waste will change. NISP is all about looking at the opportunities that companies are missing by not co-ordinating in a cross sector way. In the first 18 months we've saved companies around 48m - and that's before you even get into the environmental benefits."
For more details on NISP North-East, contact (01642) 342409 or email Email
Find out more about NISP at www.nisp.org.uk
Article reproduced courtesy of North East Vision, which is published by the Evening Gazette, Middlesbrough, and The Journal, Newcastle.
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