CIWM, the professional body for the resource and waste management sector, has set out a new code of conduct that organisations affiliated with the body must agree to adhere to – or face possible expulsion – with an aim of encouraging excellence within the resources & waste sector.
The affiliated organisation code of conduct (code) applies to businesses that become official Affiliated Organisations (AO) of CIWM. When becoming an AO, companies are agreeing to adhere to the “standards and behaviours” of the code (full code below), which includes ensuring compliance with all relevant sector-related legislation and regulation.
The purpose of the code is so businesses can publicly commit to excellence in resource and waste management, demonstrating to customers and regulators the highest levels of professionalism and compliance.
“In a sector experiencing challenges and scrutiny around hazardous waste, duty of care, health and safety and waste crime, we all need a standard to which we aspire, giving confidence to those we work with,” says CIWM chief executive Dr Colin Church.
Dr Colin Church, CIWM chief exacutive – “In a sector experiencing challenges and scrutiny around hazardous waste, duty of care, health and safety and waste crime, we all need a standard to which we aspire, giving confidence to those we work with”
“Signing up to the brand new CIWM Affiliated Organisation Code of Conduct makes a powerful statement to your customers, regulators and the public about your commitment to excellence in sustainable resource management.”
If an AO has been discovered to have breached the code in any way, CIWM will decide whether a suspension, or even an expulsion, from the scheme is warranted.
CIWM says that it might be possible, if a firm has breached the code, for CIWM to offer advice and assistance in order to rectify any violation.
CIWM currently has over 300 AOs, including Biffa, Veolia, Simply Waste Solutions and Biogen. AOs receive a certificate, as well as various logos, which can be displayed to show a visible commitment has been made to CIWM’s standards. They gain access to business support, including technical advice from the CIWM professional development team, and also two affiliate memberships to support the personal and professional development of individuals in their own organisation.
AO Code Of Conduct
- To uphold the good reputation of CIWM, its members, and the resource and waste management sector as a whole by seeking to achieve and maintain the highest standards of professional expertise, operational and business practice.
- To ensure compliance with all relevant sector related legislation and regulation, striving to lead in using and establishing sector best-practice.
- To conduct all activity with honesty, professional integrity and diligence; treating staff with fairness, respect and dignity and complying with the laws of the countries operated in.
- To employ, develop and train staff so that they are fully competent in their role and equipped with the knowledge and skills to work to high professional standards.
- To provide products and services which are within competencies and expertise, and deliver these to the standards described and promised to customers.
- To address customer concerns promptly, with professionalism and courtesy, and seek to negotiate an equitable solution in the case of dispute.
- To share and contribute towards achieving the goals laid out in the ‘objects’ set out in CIWM’s Royal Charter: “To advance for the public benefit the art and science of wastes management worldwide and so to promote education, the protection of public health and the preservation of the environment, and for that purpose to further promote and maintain good standards of practice, competence and conduct by all its members”.
