Urban Mines is a team of Environmental Specialists committed to finding practical and innovative solutions to resource management. With a wealth of expertise from a variety of sectors, we have Green Minds & Business Brains – we understand commercial realities as well as environmental costs.
Being not-for-profit and independent allows Urban Mines to work with clients and partners across the public and private sectors and give excellent value for money, with having no shareholders we are able to plough back the benefits of our commercial work into other projects and initiatives which support our core goals.
Urban Mines is therefore able to act in a number of roles:
- As a Consultant
- As a Charity
- As an Innovator
- and in Market Development
Urban Mines as a Consultant
Urban Mines is able to give expert advise and support to a wide range of clients in both the public and private sectors, as well as regional and national government bodies. This has included areas such as:
- Development of Strategies and Policies – from waste management and waste minimisation strategies, to Environmental and Carbon Neutral Policies
- Partnership Development – between public bodies in delivering initiatives, local authorities in joint procurement, and between public and private sector organisations
- Auditing and Surveys – from manufacturing facilities to Household Waste Recovery Centres
- Procurement Support – from technology assessments to PFI support (for public and private sector clients)
- Training and Up Skilling – in environmental practises and legislation
So if a local authority needs help in developing a Scrap Store Scheme, or advise in purchasing £1.3m worth of LATS allowances; or a private manufacturer needs to reduce his £650,000 waste disposal bill, or wants to develop a Green Office scheme; or an RDA wants to map its regional recycling sector or forecast the business impact of new government legislation, Urban Mines can provide the expertise to help.
Urban Mines as a Charity
Urban Mines became a charity in 2005, to support our education and upskilling programmes, and our work with community recycling groups and social enterprises. This has helped us get more involved in school and college initiatives, as exemplified by our being supported by the HBOS Trust in delivering environmental lessons in primary schools in West Yorkshire, or the support from the Esmee Fairburn Trust in developing educational facilities to support the West Yorkshire Sustainable Growth Park.
Urban Mines as an Innovator
The vision for the innovative “Sustainable Growth Park” was developed initially by Prof. Peter Roberts, the Vice Chair of Urban Mines. For a number of years we have worked hard to develop these Resource Recovery Parks or Recycling Business Parks in various locations around the UK. By providing a local market for recycled material, developing local refurbishment and training schemes, and in turn supporting regeneration, inward investment and jobs, the SGP is an effective way for a region to grasp the benefits of its own waste.
Other Urban Mines innovations include support for novel waste technology development, and the development of advanced LATS and waste modelling techniques. Developing partnerships with Universities and technology providers such as the DTI supported Knowledge Transfer Networks, keeps Urban Mines up to date and relevant in the world of technology.
Urban Mines in Market Development
Urban Mines is a founder member of the ReMaDe UK Network, and has delivered recyclables market development (ReMaDe) initiatives in the North and Midlands. These initiatives have included waste support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to expand regional recycling in the private sector, environmental training to companies, assisting in the start up of a number of innovative recycling businesses, and in the development of our own computer recycling and training business, which has since been spun off as a successful private enterprise (End-of-Life Computers in Halifax).
Urban Mines is Quality Assurance Accredited under "Customer First (2008-10)"
