Waste and resources operations can, no matter what their benefit to the environment, be seen at best as an unpopular necessity. Everyone accepts the need, but not always on their own doorstep. Virtually all environmental permission systems have a statutory duty to consider local issues. Companies which do not foster good relations will find the gaining of new, or revision and maintenance of current, permissions at best difficult.

We have an open door policy and encourage visits from local communities, customers and other interested stakeholders. Open days are held at some sites, while at others education centres have been established. Formal liaison groups are encouraged at high-profile sites and engagement with local political systems is a direct duty of operational management.

We cannot rely on regulators and internal monitoring systems completely when assessing the potential impacts of its operations and it is essential that local populace concerns are accounted for. As a result we have put in place complaint and comment response systems at all of our sites. Trends in complaints are tracked centrally with the aim of addressing any issues before they become a widespread nuisance issue for our site neighbours.

Where our sites do experience issues with local communities our approach is one of engagement and improvement. Waste facilities are rarely popular, but at Shanks, we aim to take responsibility to minimise any potential effects and, where these occur, tackle the causes based on full engagement and accurate feedback from the communities in which we operate.