SUMMERTIME STINKS!

Following our latest bout of hot weather, have you ever wondered why things get smellier when the weather heats up? Bacteria grow faster, and smells travel further when temperatures increase. As a result, odours become more intense during the summer months. Not only this, but people also spend more time outside in warm weather. So, they notice unpleasant smells more. All in all, summertime can be a challenging test of your odour management practices.

For these reasons, we find that many of our clients receive higher odour complaints during the summer. Often, this is despite no changes in odour sources. And, of course, more complaints mean heightened scrutiny. Specifically, the regulator may wish to determine if you are operating within the terms of your environmental permit conditions. The key is effective odour monitoring, including an odour management plan. It will help if you treat this as part of your ongoing best practice around odour compliance.

DO I NEED AN ODOUR MANAGEMENT PLAN?

It is a good idea to consider odour as part of your ongoing environmental permit compliance work. You should have an odour management plan if you operate a facility that may produce odorous emissions. Examples include (but are not limited to) the following sectors:

• Waste water and sewerage
• Waste management, composting and landfill
• Foundries, refineries and rendering plants
• Biofuels and anaerobic digestion
• Food processing
• Intensive farming
• Commercial and restaurant kitchens
• Housing development and planning

A CASE IN POINT

We helped a large waste management company based in East Anglia that received an abnormally high level of odour complaints. The complaints related to mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) and composting plants. As a result, the regulator tasked them with developing an odour management plan. The goal was to tackle the issue and ensure compliance with their permit.

We worked closely with the company to understand the challenges posed by its sites. Our team of odour consultants developed a wide-ranging odour monitoring plan to assess the impact of their activities. In addition, we considered the influence of other odour sources in the local area that could be incorrectly attributed to our client. We conducted a series of fortnightly sniff surveys across four months. Our specialist odour panellists attended the site and made observations. They assessed the odour intensity and characteristics present at the 18 monitoring points we identified. From this, we gained comprehensive findings. We presented these to our client as part of an independent assessment of their odour emissions. They were then able to address the issue and satisfy the regulator. 

We also helped to support the company’s internal odour evaluation processes. Six of their employees joined us at our UKAS-accredited odour laboratory to complete odour sensitivity testing. These employees hold responsibility for daily odour monitoring across the company’s sites. Having completed our assessment, they can now accurately represent the effectiveness of their internal procedures to the regulator.

FORMULATE YOUR ODOUR MANAGEMENT PLAN

Whether you need to formulate or improve an odour management plan, our expert odour consultants can help. Or perhaps you have one in place already but need support to implement the odour practices you have outlined. Again, our team are happy to talk to you about your needs. Call us on 01525 860222, or click the button below to get in touch.

Updated 7th April 2021