Waste company helps brewery stay on the right side of pollution laws

serious**, the Burton on Trent based waste company, has been re-appointed to look after the waste water systems of 230 pubs throughout mainland UK belonging to Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries.

The contract, which has been renewed after 4 years for another 2-3 years gives serious** the responsibility for equipping and maintaining pubs belonging to the Midlands based brewery and is worth more than £150,000.

David Birkett of serious** said: "The Environment Agency has strict rules and regulations about the way we all treat waste and there are punitive fines that they can impose if a company gets it wrong—up to £20,000 for a first offence. As professionals who know the job inside out, we’re able to act as environment managers and make sure that there is nothing seeping into the water courses that can cause any harm."

serious**, who used to be called Envirotech, was re-named last year to show how a waste company can be professional and yet have a sense of humour about an essential service. The company is run by husband and wife team, David and Joanna Birkett and now employs more than 25 staff, including specialist engineers.

Philip Bytheway, Facilities Manager of Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries said: "For a company as big as ours, it’s essential that we bring in experts to make sure that we act as a beacon to other breweries on how to approach the subject of waste.

"We have learnt that serious** are excellent at their job and we know they will deal with any problems before they arise, which gives us the security of being sure we’re taking care of the environment and not risking contravening the high standards set by the Environment Agency."

serious** design, install and maintain domestic and commercial sewage and waste water systems and have been flying the environmental flag for best practice in dealing with non-hazardous waste for over nine years. They have an extending client base throughout the Midlands and the North West.

As part of the contract, the company also takes responsibility for sewage pumping stations, getting sewage to mains sewerage, as well as sewage treatment on site. The new contract has also been extended to include a total review of grease management which will mean upgrading as well as installation of new parts and systems where required. Along with the rebranding, this extra service is enhancing the reputation of serious** as leaders in the waste water field.

David Birkett added: "Our technicians do personal inspections of every single pub with a waste water system to make sure there are no problems. In the same way that regular servicing keeps a car on the road, we’re able to spot problems before they arise and that means the brewery doesn’t end up paying for a problems they can’t see, even hefty fines."