Materials Recycling Week
17 June 2005
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Cardiff to open £4 million MRF
Cardiff Council is to build a £4 million Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) that it believes will be the first of its kind in the country. The council has signed a contract with Bollegraaf Recycling and building contractor Stradform to construct the single installation plant. Owned and operated by the council, it should be operating by next spring. Cardiff Council's chief officer for waste management Phil Sherratt said: "It has been estimated that the new MR -
Comment: Big business can make a profit from waste
As a magazine working in the recycling industry, we are fortunate to be writing about an industry that is on the up-and-up.Last week, MRW wrote about Sainsbury's, Tesco and Marks & Spencer getting involved in various recycling projects (we look in a little more detail at this on page 8 in this issue by the way).In previous magazines, we have also covered stories about big retailers such as Dixon's and Comet getting involved in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment collec -
England moving forward too slowly
England's recycling progress is too slow according to an Environment Agency (EA) report. Last year it beat its national 17% recycling target and the amount of household waste produced fell for the first time ever. However, the EA's A better place review of the environment in England and Wales said that although the tide may be turning, England isn't recycling enough to get near the 2006 target of 25%. Local Government Association environment board chairman David Sparks said: "Loca -
Feature: Collective clout
Designed to dispel the myth that plastic bottle recycling is a no-go, high-cost option, a series of regional seminars under the label Message in a Bottle has been targeting local authorities across the UK in a bid to persuade them of the benefits of collecting plastics. Organised by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the aim of the seminars was to highlight the true potential of plastic bottle recycling, and emphasise the key economic and environmental benefits of including -
Feature: Future focus
It has been said that if the whole world replicated the consumption and production patterns of developed countries, we would need three planets' worth of resources. But as Tony Blair struggled in talks with George Bush to get the world's biggest economy on board over climate change earlier this month, you have to wonder if things are ever going to change for the better. However, as Britons get richer and leave an ever-increasing environmental footprint, the Government is attempting to -
Feature: Knowledge transfer
Five miles from Oxford City Centre, a combined effort is being made to reduce, recycle and re-use Oxfordshire's waste. Based in Cassington for more than 10 years, sister companies M and M Skips and Worton Composting have recently invested in the waste transfer station at Worton. This investment in the site's infrastructure has seen development of a new drainage system, hard standing for material reception, green waste composting, provision for wood shredding and recycling of hardcore -
Ford expands its ATF network
Ford motor company has announced that its network of Approved Treatment Facilities (ATFs) for End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) now covers 25 sites in all four UK countries. When the motor industry giant first announced in February that it would run a collection network in partnership with Cartakeback, the company had only confirmed eleven sites, none of which were in Wales. However, this has been remedied over the past few months with 17 ATFs now in England, four in Scotland, two in Norther -
Government denies Rover ELV bill claims
The Government has denied reports that BMW could be landed with a multi-million pound bill for recycling old Rovers. An article in The Times this week claimed that the German manufacturer, despite selling off MG Rover to the Phoenix consortium five years ago, could take on the bust car firm's responsibilities under the End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) directive because it still owned the Rover marque. However, a Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) spokesman said: "We don't know w -
London households use less waste
Londoners generate less waste per household than any other region in England, according to a new report. The report, The Environmental Effectiveness of London , found that in London in 2002/3 household waste in London was 0.46 tonnes per capita, while the average for other regions was 0.53 tonnes per capita. London mayor Ken Livingstone said: "Like most cities, London faces formidable challenges in improving its environment and reducing the impact it has on the re -
Merseyside begins search for new waste treatment facilities
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) has begun its procurement process for a new waste disposal contract that could lead to the building of a PFI processing plant. With its current contract up for renewal in 2008, the authority is preparing to consider a range of options for new treatment technologies. As part of a 25-year joint municipal waste management strategy among the five Merseyside councils, a range of options are being investigated including incineration a -
Morley opens compost plant
He may have been given a new role to focus on global warming, but Climate Change and Environment Minister Elliot Morley proved this week that he just couldn't stay away from recycling. Morley officially opened a £2.5 million compost plant in Fixborough, North Lincolnshire, which will turn 25,000 tonnes of local households' green waste into compost every year. The site, owned by North Lincolnshire Council and run by SITA UK, was funded by money from the Government's £140 Wa -
My old man's a poorly dustman
Binmen wishing to avoid trips to the chiropractor are being urged to visit a manual handling website. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has appealed to waste management and recycling industries to visit its Better Backs site at http://www.betterbacks.hse.gov.uk or call 0845 345 0055 for practical tips on how to avoid back-related injuries in the workplace. Back injuries accounted for 23% o -
News analysis: Is it right to give supermarkets taxpayers' money to recycle?
Last week MRW carried three news stories on retailer recycling projects funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). One of the featured projects was a £1.2 million trial of front of store recycling and reverse vending techniques at branches of Sainsbury's and Tesco. WRAP is a Government-funded agency, created to remove barriers to recycling and waste minimisation while creating markets for recycled products. Is it right to be handing £1.2 million of taxp -
Packaging fraudster given community service
A fraudster that issued more packaging recovery notes (PRNs) than the packaging waste he recycled has been ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service. Stephen Leigh of Staffordshire-based SS Thermoplastics pleaded guilty at Stoke on Trent magistrates to two charges of obtaining monies by deception. Leigh's prosecution was the result of a joint investigation by the Environment Agency (EA) and Staffordshire Police during 2004. EA officer Alan Farmer said: "It is essential t -
Quality key in paper recycling awards
Three local authorities that boosted both the amount and quality of recovered paper they supplied to Aylesford Newsprint's mill have won the company's Supplier Quality Awards. East Hertfordshire District Council scooped the £500 first prize in the twice yearly awards for its kerbside paper collection scheme, which last year diverted 4,591 tonnes of used newspapers and magazines away from landfill to Aylesford's mill. "The quality of the paper supplied by East Herts District -
Recycler launches paper collection guide
Paper recycler Aylesford Newsprint has launched a guide to help local authorities and waste management firms provide top quality recovered paper. The company, which produces newsprint made entirely from recycled paper, reviewed how it communicated what paper was acceptable for the mill. As a result of the review, Aylesford has published its Quality Specification Datasheet. "The UK has a mature but growing paper recycling market, although there is always room f -
Speedy WEEE machine developed
An 18 tonnes per hour Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) processing facility has been developed by recycling firm EnvironCom. Defunct electrical items going through the facility will be de-manufactured and processed, with items such as printed circuit boards, external cables, capacitors removed. Both small and large WEEE will go through this process before being separated and shredded. The facility's speed will allow EnvironCom to be able to process 100,000 tonnes of WEE -
Urgent action needed for failing capital
Recycling in London is desperately behind the rest of the country, it was revealed this week. During a London Assembly meeting members were told that the capital, home to one in eight of the UK's population, recycles on average just 13.2% of its household waste, compared to a national average of 17.7%. Assembly members also heard that London was unlikely to meet the Government's national target of 25% by 2006, which was endorsed by the mayor's municipal waste management strategy. -
VCU Europa gets animal composting first in Spain
A UK-based pioneer of in-vessel composting has become the first company to be awarded Spanish accreditation under the Animal By-Product Regulations (ABPR) for its plant at Jumilla. The site is owned by Compost Reciclables and was built by VCU Europa to treat animal by-products including poultry waste, fish waste and meat and bone meal. VCU Europa group sales and marketing manager Carl Beck said: "With the Spanish government enforcing the EU ban on the acceptance of waste -
WRAP looks to boost recycled paper in magazines
A new project has been launched by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to investigate the use of recycled paper in magazine publishing. It will investigate the opportunities and barriers to using recycled content paper in the magazine industry. The idea behind it is to help stimulate recycled content paper in magazine production and to possibly encourage further investment in recycled magazine paper mills. WRAP paper product manager David Adams sai
