Recycling news: 2016

Industry news Balance needed over EU policy, says Stewart Recycling minister Rory Stewart has told the Environmental Audit Committee that it is important to strike a balance between what was expected at EU and regional levels in terms of environmental matters. And, turning to Scotland and the Scottish Government’s own Zero Waste agenda – which include targets that surpass those set by the EU … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 21 Jan 2016 Industry news Lambeth council trials wheeled bins for recycling Around 2,000 households in the Herne Hill area of Lambeth are to receive green bins for commingled recycling in place of existing clear sacks, as part of a two month trial by the London borough. Councillors made the decision in December 2015 to pilot the use of bins as they believe it will make it … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 20 Jan 2016 Industry news Municipal waste services: in or out? Dr Adam Read of environmental consultancy Ricardo Energy & Environment examines the issues around private and public sector-run waste services, in the wake of January’s Remunicipalisation Conference. Since the 1980s there has been a need for local authorities to contract out their waste management services, or to test their in-house provision against the market. We … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 20 Jan 2016 Industry news Hills to sign Wiltshire waste services contract Hills Waste Solutions is to take full control of Wiltshire council’s waste and recycling services under a new eight-year contract due to begin in August 2017. The contract award, which was decided at a meeting of the council cabinet yesterday (19 January), around 18 months after it had drawn up a shortlist of bidders for … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 20 Jan 2016 Industry news Plastics recyclers face export ‘challenges’ Plunging oil prices and depressed demand for scrap from the Far East are causing concern amongst plastics recyclers, as the sector looks to recover from what was described as a ‘difficult’ year in 2015. Businesses collecting plastic scrap have historically been heavily dependent on export markets – particularly China – to take a significant proportion … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 20 Jan 2016 Industry news NLWA workshops to encourage clothing reuse The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has teamed up with behaviour change charity Hubbub to run a campaign aimed at encouraging people to reuse and repair old and unwanted clothing. The campaign will see a series of events launched across north London over the last two weekends of January (23-24 January and 30-31 January) which … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 20 Jan 2016 Industry news Council warns over rise in fridge fly-tipping Rules governing the depollution of end of life fridges and freezers appear to be a factor in an increased number of the white goods being fly-tipped, according to one local authority in the West Midlands. Lichfield district council has noted that 2015 saw an increase in the number of fridges and freezers being left on … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 20 Jan 2016 Industry news Kent gains over £100,000 for fresh recycling drive The Kent Resource Partnership has received more than £100,000 to fund plastics and metal recycling communications across 11 local authority areas. Over £70,000 has been secured via WRAP’s ‘Increasing Communications through Local Authorities’ fund – and a further £40,000 from private sector organisations. The WRAP money will be used to support communications to over 300,000 … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 19 Jan 2016 Industry news Circular Economy speakers grilled amid food waste frustration Voluntary agreements have a role to play in ensuring businesses limit or recycle food waste in England, representatives from WRAP and the European Commission have insisted. WRAP chief executive officer Dr Liz Goodwin considered that while targets would help “sweep up the laggards”, she was reluctant to back legislating on the mandatory reduction of food … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 19 Jan 2016 Industry news Heavy rainfall leads to odour problem at Path Head landfill Waste management company Suez has said it is making ‘good progress’ in tackling odour emissions at its Path Head Landfill site, near Gateshead. Problems have arisen at the site following an accumulation of surface water caused by heavy rainfall over the course of the last month. The site has been closed to any incoming waste … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 19 Jan 2016 Industry news Study highlights need for more can recycling points A lack of visible recycling points is holding back recycling rates according to research for the Every Can Counts organisation. Rick Hindley, executive director of Every Can Counts, takes a look at some of the issues the research raised and how the organisation is developing its campaign to boost recycling levels. A year ago, in January 2015, … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 18 Jan 2016 Industry news Operations begin at £72m Peterborough ERF A £72 million energy from waste plant designed to handle all of Peterborough’s non-recyclable household waste has officially begun operations. Viridor’s Peterborough Energy Recovery Facility in Fengate will treat up to 85,000 tonnes of residual waste per year, generating up to 7MW for the National Grid. The plant, which will serve the East Midlands city … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 18 Jan 2016 Industry news North East Lincs struggles to meet budget shortfall Proposals to reduce the frequency of recycling collections in North East Lincolnshire have been deferred – after the council found the change in service would not be enough to deliver required waste budget savings. North East Lincolnshire council previously floated switching from weekly kerbside sort to fortnightly commingled rounds as a solution to achieving a … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 18 Jan 2016 Industry news News in brief (18/01/2016) With news on: app to boost recycling; Mick George LCF projects; Harrogate council extends kerbside recycling scheme; FCC Environment teams up with Forth Valley Football Academy, and; Essex cabinet to consider new Replacement Waste Local Plan. Councils launch recycling-themed phone app A new smart phone app has been launched to keep residents in Armagh City, … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 18 Jan 2016 Industry news Kingston begins fortnightly recycling switch Kingston upon Thames council is preparing to reduce the frequency of its recycling collections, with the first delivery of new wheeled bins to households taking place today (18 January). From next month, residents in the South London borough will see rounds alternate between green box collections of cans, glass and mixed plastics one week, and … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 18 Jan 2016 Industry news High Peak to remove bring banks over contamination issues A Derbyshire council is to remove all of its bring bank sites due to ongoing problems with contamination which is hampering its overall recycling performance. High Peak borough council, which has 10 bring bank sites, said that a large quantity of non-recyclable material was being deposited at the sites by residents – while the overall … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 18 Jan 2016 Industry news The Week in Waste – 15 January 2016 Take a look at the ‘Week in Waste’ video report. In this week’s report by letsrecycle.com, sponsored by Biffa, we report on the Environment Agency’s clarification on the status of waste from flooded homes. And, we also report from London’s Lumiere Festival where Veolia hosted a special recycling-themed event. The video report comes as letsrecycle.com … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 15 Jan 2016 Industry news Viridor’s Heathfield landfill to close after 35 years A landfill site in South Devon received its final waste delivery today (15 January) after 35 years in operation. The Viridor-run Heathfield landfill in Newton Abbot has provided a disposal outlet for over 8 million tonnes of waste from local authorities and businesses across Devon since 1980. The site has also generated over £5 million … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 15 Jan 2016 Industry news BANES seeks temporary staff as strike continues Bath & North East Somerset council (BANES) is now looking for temporary and casual contract waste collection staff to help clear the area’s uncollected recycling and food waste because of a strike over pay at its contractor Kier. The council call for extra staff comes as it bids to reduce the backlog by putting its own … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 15 Jan 2016 Industry news ‘Spiralling costs’ see Falkirk take recycling in-house Councillors in Falkirk have voted in favour of plans to end an interim recycling contract with waste giant Suez, after it was claimed that the costs being paid by the local authority were ‘unsustainable’. Instead the council is to purchase £200,000 worth of sorting equipment and take on 10 extra staff at an annual cost … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 15 Jan 2016 Industry news Birmingham recycling wagons ‘too wide’ for streets Collection vehicles used to empty the new wheeled recycling bins in Birmingham are “too wide” to fit down some streets, it has emerged. Speaking at a Birmingham city council Q&A session this month, councillor Lisa Trickett, cabinet member for sustainability, admitted that the split-bodied vehicles had been procured on poor business advice. She added that … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 15 Jan 2016 Industry news Plant and vehicle round-up (14/01/2016) With news on; Hadley Recycling installs Poundfield wall; Remondis adds to collection capacity; Suez recycles vehicles for internal hire; WLWA selects Integrated Waste Data system, and; Fulcrum launches biogas service Hadley Recycling installs retaining wall Hadley Recycling & Waste Management has installed a retaining wall system at its new £1.5 million recycling centre in … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 14 Jan 2016 Industry news Veolia supports plastic bottle light innovation VIDEO REPORT: Veolia, the UK’s largest waste management company, has given its support to an innovative project which aims to bring light to deprived areas of the world through two innovative approaches involving plastic bottles. Launching the company’s support for ‘Liter of Light’ at London’s University of the Arts near King’s Cross station yesterday, 14 January, … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 14 Jan 2016 Industry news Metamorphosis Series, Lucy Connier, Year 13 Student In the Autumn term of 2015 TRAID Education visited Raines Foundation School students to launch the start of their ‘Metamorphosis’... TRAID · 14 Jan 2016 Industry news Textile recycling industry predicts difficult year due to wet weather Textile recyclers have said they are facing “increasing pressures” as a result of the heavy rainfall in the UK over recent weeks. Speaking from northwest England, which has seen high levels of rainfall, Phil Geller, director of Manchester-based textile recycling firm I&G Cohen, said he considered that the extreme weather has affected the public’s ability … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 14 Jan 2016 Industry news EU referendum and markets shape packaging outlook Global commodity markets, revised targets and uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum are all expected to shape UK packaging recycling over the course of 2016. This was the message from compliance schemes, reprocessors and the chair of the Advisory Committee on Packaging, who together have painted a picture of the market trends and regulatory changes the … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 14 Jan 2016 Industry news News in brief (13/01/2016) With news on: Bulgarian RDF contract; Recoup OPRL announcement; Veolia biomass contract; Biogen Christmas waste processing, and; BPI and Bunzl donate to Carlisle flood appeal. Niramax secures Bulgarian RDF contract Hartlepool-based waste management firm Niramax Group, has signed a three-year refuse derived fuel (RDF) supply deal with Probio Energy Limited to send material to Bulgaria, … Read Mo… letsrecycle.com News · 13 Jan 2016 Industry news Whitham Mills supplies Veolia with tenth installation Waste management machinery designer and manufacturer Whitham Mills has installed a conveyor system and baling plant for Veolia at the company’s materials recycling facility and transfer station at Armoury Road, Birmingham. The 25 metre conveyor and Godswill baling system is the fourth installation Whitham Mills has carried out for Veolia in recent years, and the … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 13 Jan 2016 Industry news Environment Agency clarifies flood waste position Household items such as carpets and furniture are ‘unlikely to be classed as hazardous’ in the event of flood damage, the Environment Agency has confirmed. And, landfilling is not the only waste disposal option available to authorities disposing of the material during clear-up operations. The clarification follows some questions from waste operators and local authorities … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 13 Jan 2016 Industry news East Devon recycling trial continues ahead of contract decision East Devon council will continue its trial of three-weekly residual waste collections in several wards as it gears up to announce the preferred bidder for a new seven-year waste and recycling services contract next month. A report to the council’s cabinet last week (January 6) hailed the “great success” of the trial involving 1,800 households … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 13 Jan 2016 Industry news ISWA calls for clarity on ‘biodegradable’ plastics An international waste body has called for improved awareness about the properties of different types of biodegradable plastics, and how these affect the processing of organic wastes. According to a ‘key issue paper’ issued by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) last month, confusion exists over the range of ‘environmentally friendly’ alternatives to traditional polymers … Read Mor… letsrecycle.com News · 13 Jan 2016 Industry news Grundon wastes no time in sponsoring Forest Green Rovers’ U15 The post Grundon wastes no time in sponsoring Forest Green Rovers’ U15 appeared first on Grundon . Grundon Waste Management · 13 Jan 2016 Industry news UK lags behind Europe on plastics packaging The UK lagged behind some of the top-performing EU member states in the amount of plastics packaging recycled during 2013, latest data from the European Commission suggests. Figures published via the Commission’s data website Eurostat show that the UK recorded a plastics packaging recycling rate of 31.6% in 2013, compared to an average of 37.3% … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 12 Jan 2016 Industry news UK waste policy ‘unclear’ in post-EU scenario An exit from the EU could potentially lead to more ambitious waste legislation for the UK – but also risk destabilising cross-boundary relationships, the Environmental Audit Committee has heard. This was the message from environmental lawyer Angus Evers, of London law firm King & Wood Mallesons, who was speaking at a session of the Committee’s … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 12 Jan 2016 Industry news WRAP seeking online charity contributions Want a world without waste? Give generously today – is the new message from WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Programme. WRAP, a charity since late 2014, is now seeking donations from the public and other interested parties to help fund its work as it develops its charitable activities having moved on from being a … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 12 Jan 2016 Industry news Barnet to target flats in long term recycling strategy The north London borough of Barnet has targeted a significant increase in the capture of recycling from residents living in flats, under a draft strategy agreed by councillors at a meeting last night (11 January). The strategy, which could also herald the introduction of food waste collections for flatted properties, will now be put out … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 12 Jan 2016 Industry news Environment Agency chairman Dilley resigns The Environment Agency is braced for further changes at the top – after it was announced that the environmental regulator’s chairman Sir Philip Dilley has resigned from his position today (11 January). Sir Philip the former chairman of the engineering and design firm Arup, joined the Agency in 2014, replacing the Labour peer Lord Smith. … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 11 Jan 2016 Industry news Industrial action continues on Kier’s Bathnes contract Bath & Northeast Somerset council has brought in additional crews to clear recycling and food waste from households as a result of ongoing industrial action from Kier employees. Backed by Unite the Union, workers have been on an overtime ban since 2 January 2016 (see letsrecycle.com story). Due to a disagreement regarding pay, Kier workers … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 11 Jan 2016 Industry news Arc21 seeks landfill deals ahead of EfW appeal A consortium of six councils in Northern Ireland is seeking new short-term landfill contracts while it separately appeals against the refusal of planning permission for a major £240 million energy-from-waste (EfW) project. The Arc21 group of councils currently landfills its residual waste under contracts with Biffa Waste Services Ltd and Alpha Resource Management Ltd, with … Read More letsrecycle.com News · 11 Jan 2016 Industry news Full operations begin at Plymouth CHP plant A 245,000 tonnes-per-year capacity energy from waste plant designed to treat municipal refuse from across three Devon councils has commenced full operations. MVV Environment’s Devonport Docks facility in Plymouth will process around 163,000 tonnes of municipal waste on behalf of the South West Devon Waste Partnership, an organisation which includes Torbay, Plymouth and Devon county … Read More … letsrecycle.com News · 11 Jan 2016