The Framers Forum

Clearing up at the back of the Morso yet again. Bag on the back with the chute leading into it doesn't get it all. Going back to the good old Avon box (one of the most useful remnants of my time as a ding ding Avon calling representative) at the back. Hate to throw anything out (the curse of the baby boomer), but can't give it away for kindling as people complain it falls through the grate. The guys at the tip, where I could recycle it if I was a private citizen, are becoming suspicious. So what do you do with it?

We put it in the bin.

You could always use it as kitty litter if you don’t like your cat very much.

During the winter, I take the shavings home and do use it as kindling (our fireplace has an open hearth). Because the stuff is kiln dried and has weird finishes, it burns very quickly and very hot so the oak logs catch in a matter of minutes.

The down side: the finishes may be carcinogenic and the fumes will probably kill you.

The up side: the flames are real purdy.

We put it in a black bin bag and take it up the tip weekly.

Just looks like the normal household rubbish that we take. All in black bin bags.

We do that coz we cannot leave the bags outside for the refuse guys to collect as the 'shitehawks' (sea gulls) have a hey day and we have found the mess strewn all over the road when we get home in the evening.

The tip is on the way to work anyway, so its not a problem.

We have a small but growing number of customers who like it for lighting their fires or Agas. We can't produce enough and I'm starting to wonder if we should start selling it as kindling.

We use it in our own wood/coal burner (which is also a Morso, would you believe!)

I give the shavings, plus any useless moulding offcuts, to a friend of mine for kindling.

birdman wrote:We can't produce enough and I'm starting to wonder if we should start selling it as kindling.

We used to have a sign in the window offering it in exchange for a donation to our charity box which collects for our charity Ataxia UK, but no takers for a long time

A unit near me has a wood burner, they have all the waste from the morso, that keeps them nice and warm, and me with less rubbish to despose of, I wish I could get them to have the glass off cuts to, but they say it puts the fire out.

Phill
my glass goes to the tip as well.

For the past 9 years, if questioned, I just keep telling them I have rebuilt the green house and this is the waste.

Got away with it so far.. !!!!!

Nice one John, I will have to use that excuse next time I get caught.

I have just signed up with a recycling company who will take all plastic - bubble wrap, polly bags etc and Cardboard. They wont take glass and were quite insistent that not a scrap of moulding goes in the bin.

The moulding waste is not a problem as it goes on my wood burners at home. Glass - well I have to find a solution as the new green recycling company don't want it at the moment, they say they might later if they get enough picture framers and glaziers interested. At least I am happy that I am recycling at least 2/3rds of my waste - if you can count burning the waste wood as recycling. Before every scrap went to land fill - my attempts to recycle at the local depot ended when I was warned that they look for commercial waste and will prosecute. As the items i dumped often had my address on i thought it wise to stop.

All our wood stuff (morso chippings and off cuts) goes to my father to burn on his wood burner in his workshop.

Glass goes to our local waste site and recycled (apparently it’s used in road building… I ‘aint got a clue how that’s done). I have never been questioned as I guess the people who run the site get paid for the glass.

Paper and board thinner than mount and backing is shredded and composted. I’m also looking in to getting a paper shredder that will shred mount and backing board.

Plastic goes in our household recycling (but don’t tell my local council).

As I empty my Morso about twice a day, unless I keep it in a separate box it's not worth keeping. Can't be bothered to do that so it gets mixed in with the rest of the waste.

Morso waste and small offcuts fire up the Jetmaster woodburner, as do crushed cardboard tubes, un-useable corrogated and most paper waste, including anything with a security issue.

Glass goes for re-cycling, the same for hard plastic products.

Very little gets wasted and sent to the tip.

Foxy

I put the Morso waste in the brown paper bags we get with the organic vegetables. One bag of chippings lights the wood-burner.

I used to put waste glass in the dustbin (cut up very small and disguised in a cardboard box). I've now discovered a local stained-glass artist who can make use of it so I save anything over a few inches square. Anything bigger than A5 gets used for ready-made frames.

Mountboard, packaging and assorted plastic bits get put on a bonfire unless the dustmen are due to call in which case I give it to them.

So far the dustmen haven't objected to taking it away as domestic waste. Last year they even took a computer and monitor. We just make sure we give them a generous tip at Christmas.

most goes in the bin, what doesn't we give to customers and friends for their fires , and our own. We also used to have two morso woodburners at our old place and the chippings provided all our heating and hot water there!
We were warned bya jobsworth a88hole at the local council (whose mate happened to be one of the many "framers" that have come and gone in the fifteen years we have been here) that we were illegally burning trade waste.... so we took it as "fuell" and billed ourselves £1 a year (plus the 5 percent VAT). so it was a case of up yours

If we dared go near our local tips with it the local council would jump all over us and prosecute us for dumping trade waste. So it goes in a big trade waste dumpster at £10 plus vat per lift

Glass has to go in a separate "recycling" bin, which they also charge for, per fortnightly lift, and then dump in landfill anyway

Go on lets have a laugh:
Guess how much we paid last year for trade waste removal? (on top of business rates)

a. nothing
b. £100
c £1000
d £2000

(It was nearer to d)

I seriously wouldn't risk the fine for putting anything from work in my bin at home either.
The Carbon-Cops (fuelled with PC Green Carbon Hysteria) have their EU targets to meet.

On the bright side, our trade Waste company (we have gone back to Biffa after a nightmare with the last bunch of cowboys) are great. They'll call whenever you ask for an extra lift, and at a time that suits too.

I am quite fortunate in having a small piece of land behind the shop. (I won't call it a garden. ) It makes managing rubbish easier. For a start I have a huge compost heap and anything that will rot goes on it (inc morso shavings). Takes years to rot down, buts what's the rush?
I also have a huge shed (30x12) which is handy for shoving all the rubbish in. Most is cardboard packaging which a local firm collects periodically to shred up to make more packing. It's also full of old frames which eventually get revamped. I never chuck timber out.
I even have a big heap of remants of the old fence and there are some nicely whethered slats which I am looking to convert into an exclusive line of barnwood frames.

Re: trade waste disposal in general. I wonder what would happen if you 'sold' all your waste to someone for a nominal fee (10p+vat?) and made out an offical invoice for 'surplus stock' or whatever. The waste would legally become their property and they could dispose of it with all the rest of their rubbish. (The 10p would be refunded later... )

Hi Prospero
I guess you have to watch the varnish and stuff in the chippings, if composting it, I wouldn't expect it is very good for plants (??)

My mate (a garage framer) fills old sawn down cardboard tubes with chippings, Pours PVA through them, and burns them jus as though they were logs. with great sucess!

hmmm. interesting point on passing the "ownership" of the "surplus stock" to someone who is non-trade, and letting them dispose of it in an appropriate manner as private individuals. Nice thinking

I have knocked a hole in the wall between me and the neighbour's house up in the loft.. when they go out I bag up the waste and dump it in their loft.. they're no spring chickens so never go up there. There, no harm done eh?? When that's full I'll stuff it in bags down my trousers and when I walk the dog in the park at night just scatter it about, no one will notice it among the beer cans, WKD blue and vodka bottles and chip wrappers!
How about offering it back to the customer for them to get rid of, after all we charge them for the bit we cut out, dont we??