A DORCHESTER businessman is urging his local council to help businesses with recycling their waste.

Darren Scott, the managing director of Dorchester-based Deane Computer Solutions, wants West Dorset District Council to provide a polystyrene crusher to enable companies to recycle the tonnes of polystyrene they throw out every week.

Deane Computers is the largest independent computer company in the area and supplies NHS Dorset with much of its technology.

It is a green-thinking company and takes its environmental role ‘very seriously’.

Darren explained: “At present polystyrene is disposed of in landfill sites, which is wrong. At present, West Dorset District Council have no real target for business waste, but they could easily put a compactor for polystyrene down at the tip.

“Most businesses use polystyrene and I know that if we have a big delivery of equipment, we can fill a whole room with the polystyrene that is used as packaging.

“Then we have to put it in the green wheely bins and wait for it to be collected.

“But a crusher – which only costs £14,000 – can compact two cubic metres of polystyrene into something half the size of a paving slab.

“This stuff sells at £170 a tonne and can be recycled. You can extract oil from it and it can be made into garden furniture.”

But West Dorset District Council’s recycling officer Leah Wistrand said: “As the council’s recycling service is provided for households only and paid for through council tax rather than business rates, we would be unable to offer polystyrene recycling for businesses.

“West Dorset District Council operates a commercial paper and cardboard recycling service for local companies and can provide information on how they can recycle waste.”

Darren also said that companies can help the environment, and themselves, by investing in new equipment rather than recycling their old technology.

He said: “Old machines are not practical from a performance point of view as they do not work as fast as more modern machines.

“Modern kit is much more efficient from an energy point of view and it will help your electricity footprint to fall. Recycled equipment can reduce your energy efficiency by 25 to 30 per cent, whereas after three years, new equipment will have paid for itself through reduction in energy bills.

“On top of that, it reduces noise pollution because it is quieter to run, making your office a better place to work.”

He added: “Old technology is broken down and components are recycled where possible, with any chemicals being disposed of carefully in a responsible way.”