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Universal Participation Needed for LP Gas Cylinder Retrieval Scheme

By Malcolm Macmillan, consultant to UKLPG

UKLPG has been working on a large-scale solution to the problem of lpg cylinders entering the waste stream and is close to an effective model for a UKLPG Cylinder Retrieval Scheme

Lp gas cylinder gas suppliers face a real problem with their bottles straying into the waste stream. Everywhere in the country, councils and scrap metal processors are up in arms about the resultant costs and health and safety implications. The Health & Safety Executive and the Environment Agency are pressing for more effective remedies too.

For our part, the lpg gas industry is haemorrhaging masses of cylinders into the waste stream. That’s bad enough, but many of the bottles stolen for illicit scrapping and export will have been collected from (frankly grateful) council waste sites.

Is this solely our fault? By no means entirely – though we could and should do better. Is it solely our problem? No – but we must be the ones to take the lead in fixing it. So we have been working on a large-scale solution, and we are now very close to a workable model in the form of a new UKLPG Cylinder Retrieval Scheme.

It hasn’t been easy, and we have still to reconcile some differing views and needs – not just amongst ourselves, but also with external stakeholders, such as councils and the waste trades. We must satisfy their demands too or our problems won’t go away.

Councils and others tell us repeatedly the two things they most want are a central contact number for all lpg cylinder collections and a far more responsive and comprehensive removals service, with no brand name ‘cherry-picking’. They know the ‘orphans’ are not ours, but they’d really like us to take them away too.

In the meantime, serious money is being wasted on duplication of effort by different owners and their separate contractors. Council sites will typically be visited by three or more collectors just to clear out the major brands – each one taking only their ‘authorised’ bottles. Often these sites also have to make repeated phone calls, so inevitably some of these operators will turn in frustration to the clear-it-all cowboys.

So how can the new lp gas cylinder retrieval scheme satisfy all legitimate needs? The ideal scenario is for everyone to do what many of us are already doing, but make it far more effective by unifying and integrating our systems. Could we be sharing the same resources to clear as many brands as possible and in as few visits as necessary? Properly done, everyone wins…except our constant companion Nick Ure-Steele!

Elements under consideration for the scheme are:

• Single point of contact for all requests and queries
• Contractor based proactive collection service
• Full or partial ‘self-collect’ option for some owners
• Auditable lp gas cylinder tracking system from host site to final disposition
• UKLPG Code of Conduct setting out the key performance criteria (same standards apply to contractors and owner-collectors).

 

Simply asserting we own our bottles will never be enough. To be taken seriously, the lp gas industry must be seen to take full and meaningful ownership, with all that implies. Otherwise, we undermine our own credibility and invite both predation and legislation. Once operational, we believe the new scheme will soon rebuild our reputation with officialdom, enhance our environmental and safety record, and quickly repay its visible costs by greatly reducing our unseen losses.

Realistically, baseline prices cannot really be more than existing clients are paying. However, there are different service level options and still a few unknowns. So before they can quote confidently, contractors need to know more – the performance criteria, the suppliers committing in principle to the scheme, their estimated annual volumes and their chosen service level (e.g. self-collect, direct repatriation by contractor, etc).

We will shortly contact all lpg gas cylinder supplier UKLPG members with an outline of the scheme, seeking their comments and support in principle. We will then ask contractors to comment on the specification and tender for the work. Once we have a provisional price structure and baseline prices, we will come back to the suppliers.

It is vital to get this up and running as soon as possible, but to succeed we also need critical mass. This implies participation by all serious players – certainly all major national and regional lpg suppliers – but ideally everyone, even non-UKLPG members.

We will strongly recommend proactive contractor repatriation as the only realistic year round option. We can review and refine things later – for example, we may open the call centre to non-lpg cylinders and orphans to expand the ‘one call clears all’ service the host waste sites so badly want.

For now, we must recognise that we have far worse threats out there than each other, and therefore view this not as a new cost but a reallocation of existing hidden costs. Personally, I’d rather feed the rescue team than the kidnappers.

Contact UKLPG on 02476 711601 www.uklpg.org