There are many businesses operating within Southwark, giving our team at Bywater’s a challenging job of efficiently and correctly managing the borough’s commercial waste. Fortunately, we have the specialist expertise and equipment to recycle all waste types generated by companies of all sizes. One of our key initiatives is to create a sustainable society for future generations to thrive in, alongside the help of our Green Gurus who offer guidance and create bespoke waste management strategies for businesses.
Bywaters can sort many different materials in Southwark, including food, cardboard, dry mixed items, coffee cups and confidential waste. With a team dedicated to sending zero waste to landfill, we are able to sustainably manage your commercial waste, no matter what kind of material it is.
Situated at our Lea Riverside headquarters in Bow, East London, we house London’s largest indoor Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), which is where we transport Southwark’s commercial waste to. Running on solar power, its state-of-the-art technology sorts mixed waste into segregated streams, which are then bulked and sent off for recycling.
Our other facility located at Gateway Road manages construction and demolition waste, so if your shop premises or office complex is undergoing a refurbishment, for example, we can dispose of the rubbish. This includes bulky waste items such as bricks and metal, that are either diverted to energy recovery or recycling.
Arranged at a convenient time for your business, Bywater’s waste collection service is powered by our sustainable fleet of either fully electric or ULEZ compliant Euro 6 vehicles. Your commercial waste is then transported to one to one of our facilities, where it’s reused, recycled or recovered.
In a bid to improve the sustainability of businesses in London, our recycling services are essential for the necessary changes to be made. As such, we’ll send you a selection of recycling bins and containers, depending on your specific needs, and tailor our waste collection service to suit you. Once in our hands, we ensure zero waste is sent to landfill, helping your company reduce its carbon footprint and reach your sustainability goals.
Over 1,750 tonnes of waste recycled annually
More than 4,150 tonnes of waste collected yearly
16,000 collections a year
150 clients serviced a week
35 individual waste streams currently serviced
Southwark is situated in South London, connected to the city by several well-known bridges, including Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge and London Bridge. The borough consists of historic villages such as Rotherhithe, Southwark (including Bankside, a historic district along the Thames), Bermondsey, Walworth, Camberwell, Peckham (in part), Nunhead, East Dulwich, Herne Hill (in part), Dulwich and Sydenham Hill.
The borough is the oldest in South London, and was first developed as an urban area in the Roman period. Old Southwark, traditionally known as The Borough, was a market town from early Saxon times, though it turned into a haven for criminals and prostitutes in the middle ages.
From the 15th century onwards, Southwark became known for its inns, theatres, spas, country resorts and other entertainment and recreation spots. One of the most notable and recognisable is William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where his plays were first shown. The original building on Bankside was demolished, but the reconstruction that we know so well sits near the original site.
Southwark was formed in 1965 after the merging of metropolitan boroughs Southwark, Camberwell and Bermondsey. The area is home to famous historic sites such as the Bethlem Hospital (also known as Bedlam) and Clink Street prison in St. George’s Fields. It is also associated with the writer Charles Dickens, who set novels such as Oliver Twist in the borough.
Home to over 314,000 residents, Southwark is a densely populated and diverse area, welcoming a patchwork of communities. From Nigeria and Jamaica, to Poland and France, citizens from many disparate cultural traditions come together. Over 60% of the borough’s children and young people, for example, are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
More than 18,300 businesses are registered in Southwark — 83% of these employ fewer than nine people each. Companies within the professional, scientific and technical sector are the most prominent. While management consultancies, specialist design businesses and software development companies also have a strong presence.
This range gives the team at Bywaters plenty of responsibilities. We cater to organisations of all sizes though, so it doesn’t matter if you’re a high-rise office block or an independent coffee shop fuelling workers and tourists — we can collect and recycle your commercial waste.
Alongside the waste we manage from businesses, Southwark has developed a reputation for itself as a cultural hotspot for tourists. Not only will you find a variety of restaurants and pubs, it’s home to the Globe Theatre, National Theatre, Tate Modern, Design Museum and Borough Market, all of which welcome thousands of visitors a day. You can also see the Shard!
We cater to events, hospitality, and facility management industries, so if you’re in one of these sectors yourself, you can rest assured knowing your waste will be correctly dealt with.
If you forget to put your bins out ready for your Bywaters collection, our dedicated customer services team are able to handle any missed services. Simply contact us on 0207 001 6000 or via email at customerservices@bywaters.co.uk
We recycle almost every material in Southwark, including glass, batteries, WEEE, hazardous items and construction waste. No matter what kind of rubbish your business makes, we can take care of it, helping you improve your recycling rates and protecting the environment at the same time.
This is dependent on your area, the noise restrictions in place and when we are in that specific location. Generally speaking though, our service is 24/7 across London.
