Materials Recycling Week
17 December 2004
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2004 consigned to the recycling bin as DEFRA looks to the future
By Greg PitcherThe Government has ended 2004 with a series of announcements on how waste will be dealt with in the new year and beyond.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published its strategy for the next five years.Environment Minister Elliot Morley then revealed two measures to lessen the 2005/6 spending burden on local authorities.A three-year Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant of £260 million was announced to he -
Burning passion leads to ASBO
A punishment usually reserved for yobs that terrorise communities has been used to deal with a serial waste offender.Alan Yarlett received an Anti-Social Behaviour Order last week for illegally setting fire to waste on land in Dartford, Kent.He has been banned from being involved in any way with burning rubbish in England or Wales.Dartford Magistrates Court heard that the Kent Fire Service had to fight around 40 fires at Yarletts skip company on Victoria Road, -
Concerns as targets slashed
By Greg PitcherConcerns have been raised after the Government reduced recycling targets for over 100 councils.The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) fears the move will hamper attempts at complying with the Landfill Directive.The Governments Waste Strategy set out to hit a recycling rate of 25% in 2005/6 in order to comply with the EU law on reducing the use of landfill sites.But with latest figures showing English councils recycl -
Forward thinking
As uncertainty continues to cloud the Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, with the finer points of producer responsibility and a national clearing house being thrashed out, there are concerns that barriers have been created, not only to investment in recycling facilities and infrastructure but to innovation. According to a report from Waste Watch, Plastics in the UK Economy, there is currently very limited recycling of post-consumer plastics from WEEE in the UK an -
Fridge clean up begins
M Baker Recycling has won the contract to clear one of the sites of devastation left by bust fridge recycler Britannia Import Export that forms part of Manchesters fridge mountain. Around 3,000 disused fridges lie waiting for treatment and recycling at the site in Oldham. M Baker client and contracts manager Julianne Adams said the company, which won a National Recycling Award for its involvement in the All Island fridge disposal contract, hoped to have the Oldham site cl -
Government plans to ban farm dumps and fires
By John McKennaThe Government is no longer willing to turn a blind eye to the way farmers dispose of their waste.It has launched a consultation paper Waste Management Regulations for England and Wales 2005 that proposes the open burning of farm waste on farm dumps becomes illegal.Environment Minister Elliot Morley said: For many years agriculture has been excluded from our national waste management controls. These proposals will extend existing waste managemen -
Improving efficiency
An innovation forum has been launched by Environment Minister Elliot Morley to improve efficiency in waste management for local authorities.West Sussex County Council will lead a group of local authorities supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Local Government Association (LGA) in identifying barriers to joint-working in waste management, and provide solutions and develop best-practice models for joint wor -
Just recycle & go
The worlds first bring-bank to automatically smash glass and shred plastic was launched at Tescos Winchester store last week.The machines compression of materials means it has a storage capacity 50 times greater than normal recycling igloos and only needs to be emptied half as often.At the banks official opening, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said: I am delighted to see retailers using their unique position to help encourage their customers to recycle. -
London SME Service
London SME serviceThe Mayors Green Procurement Code has teamed up with Envirowise to offer an improved service to its small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) signatories in London. As a signatory to the code, run by London Remade, SMEs will benefit from a free brokerage service that London -
Merseyside fridge recycler fined
By John McKennaThe illegal storage of waste fridges and freezers has cost a recycling company and its director £13,500 in fines and costs.Global Environmental Recycling Company of Campbeltown Road, Birkenhead, was found guilty at Wirral Magistrates Court last Friday of two charges relating to the deposit and storage of controlled waste without a waste-management licence.Director Robert Shepherd, trading as RJS International, was found guilty of three charges r -
Minimise Xmas waste and save
Christmas can be the most expensive time of year, so the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has pointed out the savings individuals can make through waste minimisation.WRAP has reminded shoppers of the Prudentials Soggy Lettuce Report that showed the average person throws away £424 of food every year.WRAP head of innovation Richard Swannell said: £424 for every adult in the UK is a massive figure. Imagine how much easier Christmas would be this year if that money -
Performance Reward
Performance Reward Responses to the consultation on the Performance Reward Grant have been published on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website. The document sets out the key concerns raised by stakeholders during the consultation which ended on March 31. -
Recycling Magazines
Recycling magazinesAll magazines in the UK are being encouraged to use the Recycle Now logo. The Periodical Publishers Association contacted all its members to ask them to include the logo in their magazines to persuade readers to recycle. MRW will use the logo from this -
Reviving canals and railways
The Congestion Charge has found an unlikely ally from the waste-management industry in its battle to decongest Londons busy roads.Planning permission has been received for a recycling centre that plans to move more than a million tonnes of material by canal and rail each year.Freight experts hope that the Powerday site at Old Oak Sidings, Willesden Junction, will kickstart a revival of these modes of transport.This would reduce the burden on Londons busy roads -
Save a Christmas card
Olympic rowing legend Matthew Pinsent wants people to recycle their Christmas cards.The four-times Olympic gold medallist is again fronting a campaign for Recycle Now, to support the Woodland Trusts Christmas Card Recycling Scheme.In September, he launched the Recycle Now campaign that uses national and local advertising to encourage people to recycle.After retiring from the sport, Pinsent has already received a boatload of early Christmas cards wishing him we -
Supermarket deal helps charity
The Co-operative Group has joined forces with Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development (TRAID) to place the charitys clothing recycling banks at some of its stores.TRAID sells the clothes at its stores in London and Brighton. But clothes that are torn or stained are customised into new, one-off pieces sold under the designer label TRAID Remade.Former Red or Dead fashion chain supremo and patron of TRAID Wayne Hemingway (pictured) said: It makes perfect sens -
Take recycling away from councils
By Greg PitcherAn influential group of MPs has been told by an independent consultant that local authorities should not be responsible for recycling.Industry expert Chris Maltbaek told the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group (APSWG) that funding would be better channelled if councils concentrated purely on residual waste.The APSWG, which has more than 100 Parliamentary members, met at Westminster last week to discuss the way forward for private fin
