Materials Recycling Week
7 January 2005
View all stories from this issue.
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And the headline today...
TV news presenter Clare Weller has kicked-off a new recycling awareness initiative across Suffolk. The Anglia TV news reader joined the 18-strong Sort-It team of advisors and the street theatre group No Hot Ashes to launch the Sort it for Suffolk campaign. This is a big drive to increase the county's recycling rate from 26% in 2003/4 towards its original 36% target for 2005/6. Weller said: "As a keen recycler, I am delighted to support this campaign to encourage the people of Suff -
Capped recycling targets: the debate rages on
The Government has defended itself after heavy criticism was levelled at its decision to reduce recycling targets for 103 councils. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has insisted the move will not hold back attempts at meeting Landfill Directive targets. Environment Minister Elliot Morley announced in December that local authority targets would be capped at 30% for 2005/6. Councils, recyclers and pressure groups reacted angrily to this, saying it would prevent -
Clear glass: can recycle, should recycle
The decorations are down, the mince pies are eaten and even the hangover is subsiding - but for many of us one thing remains from the festive period. Mountains of rubbish languish in kitchens and garages across the nation, and this provides an opportunity to help the struggling glass recycling industry. With the sector facing steeply rising packaging recovery targets, a TV chef has fronted a campaign to increase the amount of clear glass recovered from waste bins. Kevin Woodford, -
Council backlash
Local Government Association chairman David Sparks has hit out at the Government's drive for waste efficiency. "Hefty targets in efficiency create an obvious tension between pressures to deliver on quality and to save cash," he said. -
Depollution guide for lorries published
The Government has launched a guide on how to depollute vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes under the End-of-Life Vehicle Regulations. The guide aims to help breakers cash in on the substantial resale market for parts from heavy good vehicles. The depollution process for heavy goods vehicles is completely different from that for cars and small commercial vehicles. Each lorry must be cut according to its particular construction, and depolluted as each part becomes accessible -
Europe's police unite against waste
Ports across the UK and Europe are being targeted in a co-ordinated crackdown on the massive illegal trade in waste. Seaport Project 2 is being run by 12 European Union member states and involves inspections and the sharing of intelligence. It comes after Seaport Project 1 found that 20% of waste shipments in Europe between spring 2003 and summer 2004 were illegal. A report by the Industry Council for Electronic Equipment Recycling (ICER) also showed that 23,000 tonnes of waste is -
Industry calls for a joined up approach to exports
History suggests that 2005 may bring rich rewards for the UK recovered paper sector, although the year could well begin with a decline in some domestic prices. Over recent decades, the industry's fortunes have traditionally peaked in 10-year cycles, with the boom tending to be focused in years ending with a five; the top of the previous spike, for example, was in 1995. Twelve months ago, evaluation of the fundamentals had led many industry experts to predict that this boom was destined to -
LARAC unfazed by council cull
Government plans to shake-up English councils will make little difference to recycling rates, according to the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC). The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) will launch five consultations this year that examine the way local authorities are run. The first four will cover issues ranging from leadership to electoral cycles. If the Government is re-elected, a fifth paper due in the autumn will look at the restructuring of English cou -
New year, new Landfill Regulations on the horizon
The Government has proposed a number of changes in the Landfill Regulations for 2005. These changes would further restrict the amount of waste going to landfill by focusing on Waste Acceptance Criteria. This includes applying the same leaching limits and hazardous waste tests for monolithic waste as already applies to granular waste. Also on the agenda is the requirement of waste producers to provide a written description of the waste that accompanies other waste as it journeys th -
Newspapers and magazines hold their own as overall figures slide
UK consumption of recovered paper jumped by more than 20,000 tonnes in October this year but, by contrast, mill production dipped 3.2% during the month to push the cumulative total for the first 10 months of 2004 below that for the corresponding period last year. Once again, Class III newspapers and magazines was largely responsible for the 5.2% increase in recovered paper consumption to 410,572 tonnes during October this year. Consumption of this class surged 19.7% higher in the tenth mo -
Paper mill for Ireland?
A study that is looking into whether it is feasible to establish a paper mill in Ireland was launched in December. Led by the North South Market Development Steering Group (NSMDG) and funded jointly by Northern Ireland's Department of the Environment through the Waste and Resources Action Programme and Ireland's Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the study will assess the strategic contribution which a new paper mill could make to delivering a dynamic and health -
Performance Reward Grant consultation responses published
In the Budget of April 2003, Chancellor Gordon Brown signalled the Government's decision to reform the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund into a waste management performance reward fund. In August of that year, Environment Minister Elliot Morley announced that the new Performance Reward Grant (PRG) would be introduced in 2005/6. Between January and March 2004, the Government consulted on a proposed new grant design. Around 120 people responded, and only at the end of December were -
Plastic ad campaign
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has launched a new advertising campaign that highlights the potential of plastic bottle recycling. Aimed at local authorities across the UK and Northern Ireland, the series of four adverts emphasises the key economic and environmental benefits of including plastic bottles in kerbside collection scheme. Each advert focuses on different key messages, including the fact that incorporating plastic bottles in kerbside schemes can increase inc -
Plea to recycle used mobiles
If all you wanted for Christmas was a mobile phone with video recording, picture messaging and internet access, the chances are you have just added to the 75 million redundant handsets in the UK. But a campaign has been launched to remind people they can put their old phones to good use by recycling them to raise funds for charity. The Recycling Appeal refurbishes and resells mobile phones, giving a proportion of the proceeds to charities. The person recycling their phone can choo -
Pooling resources
Here we are in January, the Christmas euphoria gone, looking at what 2005 holds. For those of us in the world of packaging recycling there is certainly no shortage of interesting challenges ahead. This year will see the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Advisory Committee on packaging re-visiting the packaging recycling targets up to 2008. Will they conclude we're on course to meet the targets? If not, will they adjust the targets? Or, might they take other -
Rebel recycler
Barnet Council has caused controversy by being the only party refusing to sign up to the North London Joint Waste Strategy. Six authorities and the North London Waste Authority have agreed a 20-year deal but Barnet said it was a "blueprint for environmental failure". -
Social enterprise secures £70m contract
The largest environmental services contract ever to be awarded to a social enterprise has gone to ECT. The organisation has secured a £70m deal to provide recycling, refuse collection and street cleaning services to Ealing Council. ECT will look after these issues for the London authority for seven years from March under the Clean and Green contract. ECT managing director Andy Bond said: "We are delighted to have been chosen. As a social enterprise, our aim is to work in a w -
Steel PRN panic: accusers turn accused
Valpak has hit out at its rivals in the wake of the panic that rocked the steel packaging compliance industry in late 2004. Steel PRN prices soared at the end of last year as obligated parties desperately tried to buy enough to meet their obligations. Industry sources claimed this panic was caused by some leading players holding onto excess steel PRNs. But Valpak chief executive Steve Gough has denied his firm has such a surplus - and turned the blame for the rising prices on thos -
Straight set to buy Blackwall
Container supplier Straight is to become a £20 million business this month when it buys competitor Blackwall. Straight will acquire its fellow Leeds firm for an undisclosed figure as long as it gets shareholder approval at a meeting on January 17. Formed in 1993, Straight is the market leading manufacturer of kerbside boxes. Blackwall, founded two years later, is the biggest maker of home composters. Straight chief executive Jonathan Straight said: "I have admired the Blackw -
WRAP reveals £4m plans
Tyre, battery and plasterboard recyclers will be among the main beneficiaries from the Waste and Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) £4 million Landfill Tax windfall. The market-development body has pledged to support those sectors with the money it has been promised by the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme. That fund was set up by the Government to dish out the money made by the £3-per-tonne price hike in Landfill Tax from April. The money is supposed t
