Defra and BIS to work together to encourage business innovation in the waste sector A Government report has highlighted ways that businesses can increase resource efficiency while tapping into lucrative business opportunities across the product supply chain. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have jointly published Less is More: Business Opportunities in Waste and Resource Management, part of the Government’s New Industry, New Jobs report. more...
18 Mar 2010
RRS submits appeal against Derby's planning refusal Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) has lodged an appeal against Derby City Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for its waste treatment facility. A spokesperson for RRS said: “RRS has a strong case to lodge an appeal against Derby City Council’s planning committee decision to refuse consent for the facility. Not only does the application conform to all relevant planning policies, no statutory consultees objected to the application and Derby City Council’s planning officer recommended the application for approval on two occasions.” more...
17 Mar 2010
Specialist metal recycler begins construction of new plant Specialist waste recycler Edelchemie has begun construction on its new treatment plant in Cheshire, which will meet increased demand for its services. The firm provides recycling solutions for the recovery of metals, ammonia and other components from industrial residues and by-products. It has seen increased demand for its services recently due to stricter environmental regulations, higher disposal rates and high commodity prices. more...
17 Mar 2010
Richer countries produce richer waste The more affluent a country is, the more waste it produces a report by CyclOpe and Veolia Environmental Services has found. Following up from its 2006 report From Waste to Resource, results show developed countries China, the USA and the EU15 top the list as the biggest producers of municipal waste. According to From Waste to Resource: An abstract of 2009 World Waste Survey, waste from richer countries contains more packaging materials such as paper, glass and metals but less organic waste. Up to 50% of the total municipal waste could be made up from paper and cardboard, with a substantial percentage of plastics, metals and glass mixed in too. more...
17 Mar 2010
Mineralogical firm calls Government tax on waste oil "bizarre" A minerals manufacturer has called the current tax on the use of waste oil “bizarre” and believes the Government is actually incentivising the use of virgin fossil fuels rather than re-use fuels.The firm, which does not want to be named, asserts that it cannot use fuel derived from waste oil because it is not economically viable since the Government started taxing it in November 2008. Having recently invested £1.1 million making its plant compliant to burn the fuel under the waste incineration directive (WID), the firm is now using natural gas to power its plant as a cheaper alternative. more...
A group of British businesses is to pioneer the development of a process to turn municipal and wood waste into transport biofuel which could potentially achieve a carbon saving of 95%. The consortium, led by Axion Energy, has been put together by The Carbon Trust and will work on an enhancement of the pyrolysis process which will turn waste biomass into a cheaper alternative to existing biofuels.
Protests to continue against proposed Dartmoor incinerator A group protesting against a proposed bid to build an incinerator on the site of a former quarry in Devon has said it will continue to campaign against the plans. The plan to build the incinerator on land at Lee Mill, close to Dartmoor National Park, forms part of a proposal submitted to South Devon Waste Partnership by Viridor Waste Management. more...
NTR, the parent company of Greenstar UK and Ireland, is looking at selling off the waste management business, according to reports. An NTR spokesperson said: "NTR plc is aware of some speculation regarding its interests in Greenstar UK. The group does not, as a matter of policy, comment on speculation but can confirm that it regularly explores strategic options for different parts of its portfolio of businesses as a matter of course."
Emphasis on a 'blue-green' Party with the launch of the Conservative Environment Network Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert stressed the importance of the Conservative Party being a ‘blue-green’ party at the launch of a new green public policy forum advocating a conservative approach to the environment last night (10 March). The Conservative Environment Network (CEN) is an independent organisation, which will support the leadership on environmental issues and look objectively at policy. Formed in 2008 by a group of green policy advisers and specialists, CEN wants to keep action on climate change and environmental issues at the core of the Conservative Party.
Shanks supply agreement for Closed Loop Waste management firm Shanks will supply plastic bottles collected
from its London operations to bottle-to-bottle recycler Closed Loop
Recycling’s plant in Dagenham, east London. more...
11 Mar 2010
Viridor plans Sutton AD plant with half initial capacity Viridor has submitted a fresh planning application to build an anaerobic digestion facility in the London Borough of Sutton, after a reassessment found less waste will be produced in the surrounding area than originally thought. Initially, Viridor received permission to build an AD facility capable of processing 75,000 tonnes of waste each year along with other waste management infrastructure in 2008. However, after a fresh assessment of how much waste is likely to be generated by the four boroughs it will serve – Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton – it was concluded that a smaller facility would be more appropriate. more...
10 Mar 2010
LWaRB allocates £28 million to London's waste infrastructure The London Waste and Recycling Board has allocated £28 million to help develop waste infrastructure in the Capital. The money is to be allocated within a group of 20 preferred projects. These projects will be identified by the board over the next 12 months according to which ones suit the Mayor of London’s preferred approach to waste management. more...
10 Mar 2010
City Waste fire extinguished A “severe” fire which broke out at City Waste’s recycling centre in Campsie, Northern Ireland last week has now been extinguished. Fire crews put out the fire on Saturday 6 March, after the fire blazed for five days. On 2 March, fire crews were called to a fire which had broken out in one of the buildings at the recycling centre, which housed dry recyclables. more...
09 Mar 2010
Drax calls on Government to change co-firing regulations The Government needs to change biomass co-firing regulations which restrict competition and create an uneven playing field for independent electricity generators, power plant owner and operator Drax believes. Britain’s biggest and most efficient coal fired power plant, is concerned that its plans to further increase its co-fired coal and biomass capability are being damaged by regulations restricting the number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) from co-firing with regular biomass that electricity suppliers can present. more...
09 Mar 2010
Biffa to sell off landfill gas business Privately-owned waste management firm Biffa, is seeking a buyer to purchase its business which generates electricity from landfill gas for £350 million, according to media reports. The Financial Times said that those familiar with Biffa believe the money from the sale will be used to finance the construction of new cutting-edge waste facilities in the UK.
Biomass "hungry animal" is "morally wrong" The biomass sector’s use of high quality wood, which still has recycling value, as feedstock is “inefficient and immoral” – according to wood panel industry insiders. more...
03 Mar 2010
Cyclamax unveils plans for East London gasification facility An advanced gasification facility planned for Dagenham Dock will provide heat and power from East London’s waste – diverting it from landfill sites, according to plans revealed by eco-waste management company, Cyclamax. more...
02 Mar 2010
Corus fined £5,000 after worker "severely" injures leg Corus UK has been fined £5,000 after a worker “severely” injured his leg, while trying to clear a jam in a machine. Team leader David Harrison was working on the mill floor rolling steel into long beams at the Corus Special Profiles factory in Skinningrove, East Cleveland when the accident happened in May 2008. more...
02 Mar 2010
Veolia drops injunction to bring fresh proceedings against Thurrock Council Veolia Environmental Services has withdrawn its application for a High Court injunction against Thurrock Council and is instead launching fresh legal proceedings. A Veolia Environmental Services spokesperson said: “We are issuing fresh legal proceedings against Thurrock Council in the Chancery Division of the High Court. These new proceedings relate to what we believe to be the council’s unlawful termination of the procurement process. We are also maintaining and pursuing our damages claim against the council, issued on February 8.” more...
02 Mar 2010
WRG expands into wind energy sector Waste Recycling Group, together with its Spanish parent company FCC, is planning to build wind turbines on its landfill sites. Investing £100 million into the project, WRG and FCC expect the wind turbines will produce 80MW of electricity once they are built.
BDR Waste Partnership selects two companies Two firms have been shortlisted for the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham Waste Partnership private finance initiative after the decision was delayed by a month. The chosen firms are Sita Lend Lease and 3SE, which is a consortium of Shanks Group and Scottish and Southern Energy. Earth Tech Skanska and AmeyCespa lost out on the recent round of bidding. more...
24 Feb 2010
A million vehicles taken off the road may be being sold on 'illegally' instead of being destroyed Online auction house for automotive salvage Bluecycle is calling on the Government to increase enforcement of the European End of Life Vehicles Directive to stop vehicles, which should be scrapped being sold on ‘illegally’ through unauthorised car yards. A subsidiary of insurer Aviva, Bluecycle claims that up to a million vehicles a year, which are taken off the road and should be destroyed are not due to insufficient resources available to enforce European legislation governing their recycling. more...
24 Feb 2010
Private equity firms attracted to huge growth in waste industry The waste industry continues to attract private equity investors for premium waste industry assets, according to corporate finance advisor Catalyst Corporate Finance. In its research identifying the top 50 fastest growing private businesses within the waste industry for the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management, CCF found private equity firms are backing the leaders in the sector. more...
18 Feb 2010
'Duped' Brazil waste shipping company awarded £730,000 The shipping company involved in exporting and repatriating ‘illegal’ waste sent to Brazil, has won £731,615 in damages and costs. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) brought the claim in the High Court against Worldwide Biorecyclables, its director Julio Da Costa and its previous co-director and company secretary Andre Oliveira. more...
It will take “several weeks” for the judgement from the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority case to come out, according to waste firm Sita. The GMWDA recently launched an attempt at London’s High Court to “strike out” Sita UK’s bid to secure more than £90 million in damages over the award of the Greater Manchester waste private finance initiative bid to Viridor Laing.
RFA: Biogas may have more potential than UCO as an alternative fuel Biofuel made from used cooking oil remains a “niche” product but biogas made from waste could have much more scope, says an industry expert. Revealed in the Renewable Fuels Agency report Year One of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation for 2008/09, just over 12 per cent of the biofuel supplied to fuel manufacturers in the UK is made from wastes and by-products, such as used cooking oil (UCO), tallow – animal fats – cheese-by-products and municipal solid waste, which creates biogas. Other biofuels were made from crops such as oilseed rape, tallow, palm oil and soy. more...
15 Feb 2010
Veolia fined £130,000 after worker is killed Veolia Environmental Services has been fined £130,000 after a worker was killed when a recycling bin fell on his head because of a faulty bin lift. David Ives from High Wycombe was collecting waste from outside a pub in Easington, near Aylesbury, when the incident happened on 5 May 2004. A 1,100 litre recycling bin fell from a bin hoist on the recycling lorry, killing 56-year-old Ives. more...
12 Feb 2010
Biffa charged with breaching health and safety regulations after man's death Biffa has been charged with breaching health and safety regulations after a member of the public was killed at its Newbury household waste recycling centre. The case was brought after the Health and Safety Executive investigated the death of Dennis Krauesslar at the site in 2007. more...
12 Feb 2010
Veolia seeks High Court injunction against Thurrock Council Veolia Environmental Services is seeking a High Court injunction against Thurrock Council in Essex after it awarded its bin collection contract to its own in-house bid. Veolia has been in charge of Thurrock’s bin collection services for seven years under a large contract, which incorporated kerbside collections, collecting recyclates, green waste processing, residual waste disposal and managing household waste recycling centres. The contract with Veolia is up for renewal in April. more...
11 Feb 2010
Consumers and businesses should shift their consumption attitudes to help resource efficiency, suggests Liz Goodwin UK businesses should shift their focus to making goods last longer by becoming service providers in order to optimise resource efficiency, according to Waste & Resources Action Programme chief executive Dr Liz Goodwin. Speaking at the Resource Waste Management Summit, Goodwin suggested that by developing business strategies focused on resource efficient practices, UK firms would have a competitive edge over others. She said: “Can we develop business models that allow businesses to make money out of providing a service rather than just providing us with stuff all the time?” more...
10 Feb 2010
British Gas to trial five biomethane projects British Gas has announced it is going ahead with five biomethane demonstration projects, which could be the first in the UK to inject green gas into the national grid. The news comes after the Government has professed its support for renewable technologies such as biomethane injection, biomass technology operators and biogas plants under the renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme. The new initiative will see individuals, communities or businesses injecting biomethane into the grid receive financial support of 4p/kWh. more...
04 Feb 2010
New Luton plant for laminate packaging recycling Waste firms or producers looking to recycle their laminate packaging waste such as drink cartons, toothpaste tubes and coffee sachets can now test this at a new engineering facility in Luton. more...
03 Feb 2010
Viridor to invest £800M in Scotland's 'green' infrastructure Viridor is investing up to £800 million in Scotland’s green infrastructure, with much of it going into waste and recycling. In a step which will boost Scotland’s efforts to reach its zero waste to landfill goal, Viridor is financing the development of new cutting-edge waste infrastructure. Already, £600 million of the investment has been earmarked; with £250 million being used to build a residual waste facility in the west of Scotland and three new plants - which use ‘bespoke’ technologies - to be built at £80 million each. The remaining balance will be use to enhance current facilities and finance acquisitions to drive business development. more...
03 Feb 2010
Local authorities may have to reassess waste infrastructure solutions, according to industry figures Local authorities may have to assess how waste infrastructure can be developed, according to industry figures, after the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed only one major waste PFI project reached financial close in 2009. While another PFI project and two PPP projects were scheduled to close last year, the Greater Manchester Waste PFI was the only major waste project signed off in 2009. more...
02 Feb 2010
Shanks group continues takeover talks Waste management firm Shanks Group has confirmed confidential discussions are still taking place with the Carlyle Group over a possible take over bid in its latest Interim Management Statement. The statement said: “On 7 December 2009 the board announced that it had received an unsolicited approach from a private equity group regarding a preliminary and highly conditional cash offer for the group. The company confirms that confidential discussions are taking place which may or may not lead to a formal offer being made.” more...
02 Feb 2010
Sterecycle to invest £10 million in UK waste plants Waste recycling technology company Sterecycle has raised £10 million of investment to build more of its recycling plants which use autoclave technology. The firm plans to invest part of the funds into its Yorkshire plant to double its capacity from 100,000 tonnes of waste each year to 200,000 tonnes of waste each year by the end of 2010. Waste will come from Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham local authorities along with some commercial waste. more...
02 Feb 2010
WRAP funds mixed plastics facility Construction of a new 20,000 tonnes per year capacity mixed plastics facility is to be funded by the Waste & Resources Action Programme. Redcar-based waste firm Greenstar WES received the grant to reprocess non-bottle household plastic packaging waste in January this year, after successfully entering a £2M capital grant competition launched by WRAP in June 2009. more...
01 Feb 2010
Biffa signs three-year contract to take Sainsbury's food waste Waste management firm Biffa has signed a contract with Sainsbury’s to process its Midlands food waste using anaerobic digestion. Over three years, Biffa will handle food waste from 40 Sainsbury’s Midlands stores in another step towards diverting all the supermarket’s food waste from landfill. more...
01 Feb 2010
Veolia wins huge Westminster waste contract Veolia Environmental Services has been named the preferred bidder to take on Westminster City Council’s £518M waste management contract. It is one of the UK’s largest waste, recycling and street cleansing contracts and will last for seven years, with a possible seven year extension. more...
01 Feb 2010
Private equity fund will target waste and recycling companies The £125 million environment fund launched by the UK Innovation Investment Fund will target waste management and recycling companies among others. The Environmental Innovation Fund, managed by Hermes Private Equity will start providing venture capital to help small growing businesses, start ups and spinouts - including those in pre-profit and pre-revenue stages - to innovate in low carbon and clean technology. more...
29 Jan 2010
CO²Sense Yorkshire offers SMEs funding to reduce food waste CO²Sense Yorkshire has made funding available to help food waste producing, collecting and processing SME’s in Yorkshire and Humber reduce their output. Businesses will be able to bid for funds from the Greenhouse Gas Savings Capital Investment fund to deliver waste reduction initiatives, recycling services or reuse projects. more...
Cambridge City, Fenland and Huntingdonshire District Councils have signed a five-year waste contract with recycling firm Viridor. Viridor will sort and market the councils’ estimated 34,000 tonnes of recyclates at a materials recycling facility based in Peterborough which is owned by Peterborough City Council and operated by Viridor.
Waste boss throws hat into General Election ring The managing director of a Manchester-based waste firm has confirmed that he will run as an independent candidate in the next general election to stand up for ethics in waste management. Marcus Farmer, head of STE (an acronym, which stands for Save The Environment) Waste, will contest the Liberal Democrat incumbent MP John Leech’s seat in the Didsbury and Withington constituency. more...
27 Jan 2010
Foresight Group backs small businesses Environmental infrastructure asset manager Foresight Group has launched a £20 million funding scheme to help develop small recycling and renewable energy businesses. The firm’s Planned Exit Venture Capital Trust is targeting materials recycling and waste to energy firms. However Foresight will also be interested in companies looking at combined heat and power technology and those producing renewable electricity. more...
26 Jan 2010
'Ground-breaking' trials show carpet can be recycled Recycling specialist Axion Consulting has discovered polypropylene carpets can be recycled into good quality polymer pellet for injection moulding. Trials to investigate recycling options for post-consumer carpets and possible new end-use markets for polypropylene products made from recovered material were initiated by Carpet Rcycling UK and funded by Envirolink North West. more...
26 Jan 2010
Defra: Commingled collection systems may stunt textile recycling Commingled collections could stunt the increase of textile reuse or recycling if not ‘controlled’, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs believes. In its report Maximising Reuse and Recycling of UK Clothing and Textiles, Defra says the rise in the use of commingled collection systems are a ‘threat’ to the growth of the textiles recycling industry. more...
The Environment Agency is using underground detection technology to thwart illegal waste-dumping criminals.
The specialists on the environment crime team use the equipment to map buried materials before applying CSI-style techniques - like forensics, handwriting analysis and Smartwater tracking.
MGB Plastics helps Hull recycle more Bin manufacturer MGB Plastics has helped Hull achieve record recycling rates with its new delivery of bins. From September 2009, the firm has replaced residents’ old bins with three new ones including its own brown bins for food and garden waste, blue bins for recyclables and bin supplier Straight’s kitchen caddies. more...
21 Jan 2010
Biofuel to power Dover Port Renewable Energy Generation Group, owner of biofuel manufacturer REG Bio-Power, has signed a five-year contract to supply the Port of Dover with heat and electricity.REG has constructed a combined heat and power plant at Dover Docks, which will be powered with fuel derived from waste cooking oil. more...
