In the production of ultra-pure water, the ion-exchange material (resin) is the most important filter component. This is made up of small plastic microbeads that allow all the salts and minerals that are normally present in the tap water to remain in the filter tube. With normal use, the ion-exchange resin may need to be replaced once a year and you then have two choices; either return it for regeneration so it can be reused or discard it as plastic waste and buy new.
Although these microbeads are inherently harmless to handle, they are made of plastic and as more and more people in UK are switching to chemical-free cleaning, it soon becomes a case of large amounts of waste generated annually. This is not sustainable in the long run, which is why Innostream Ltd has chosen to follow the UK's 2015 action plan on the circular economy, which means that we recycle your filter waste.
Here's how Innostream's return system works:
1) When the red light is lit on the water meter, which is located on the filter unit, it is time for a filter change. That’s when you email us
2) We will send a new filter kit to you within 2-3 days
3) Installation of new filters is easily done in a couple minutes and completely without tools. You will not need to handle the ion-exchange resin itself, since you receive a complete tube already filled with regenerated ion-exchange resin. If you cannot or do not want to change it yourself, we will of course send a service technician who can perform the filter change for a small fee
4) Place your old filter tube in the same box, attach the included return shipping label to the box and notify us that the package is ready for collection. We will then arrange for a courier company to pick it up from you. Clear instructions are included in the box for easy handling
5) What we do when we get your spent filter resin back is to apply a special cleaning process, which renews the ion exchange resin so it can be reused.
What is circular economy?
Circular economy, or closed-loop economics, refer to an economic model that is based on a cycle rather than a linear process. It is therefore a question of companies, organisations and entire communities designing products, services and business models that are sustainable. This may involve from the outset designing with reuse, degradability and re-creation in mind, using energy from renewable sources and working towards waste in one system providing bearing for another.
UK waste policy
The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations came into force on 29 March 2011. In the Waste Directive, the waste hierarchy, or the waste ladder, is the starting point that describes priorities for policy and legislation in the area of waste. The priority order for waste consists of the following steps:
1) Prevent waste generation, so-called waste minimisation,
2) Reuse,
3) Material recycling
4) Extract energy through combustion (energy recovery),
5) Disposal - discard waste
