China’s recyclate inspection agency, CCIC, has awarded Greenstar UK’s Aldridge materials recycling facility quality “rare” approval. Greenstar invested £7million developing the “state-of-the-art” MRF, near Birmingham. Chief executive Ian Wakelin described its CCIC accreditation as “strategically important” and “rare”. He said: “In these tough times, when national and international markets have ...
The Somerset Waste Partnership has inspired an Early Day Motion to support a Waste Recycling (End-Use Register) Bill. An Early Day Motion is a formal motion submitted for debate in the House of Commons. If the Bill gets through Parliament and is turned into law it could require all local authorities to publish what happens to all the recyclable materials they collect. The SWP published its ...
A rallying call for continued support for quality recycling collections has gone out to Welsh Recycling Minister Jane Davidson. In an open letter to the Minister, Campaign for Real Recycling chairman Mal Williams, asked Davidson to resist the pressures of the credit crunch and back quality materials. “There is still a healthy and enduring UK market for good recyclable material,” he said. ...
Watch out it may breathe on you! This intriguing sculpture has been produced by sculptor Chris Pilmore. It is made from 99% recyclable materials “apart from the nuts and the bolts”. The materials are mainly collected from a farm. Tractor inner tubes and old bike tyres cover a frame of reclaimed plywood and the wings are made from old pond liners. Pilmore said: “Hopefully it will make people ...
Applications for emergency storage of recyclate have gone down since the Environment Agency allowed operators to stockpile materials. In November, the EA offered recycling operators the option of extra storage for a six month period, in answer to concerns about the build up of recyclate tonnages. But, despite a glut of stories in the national press about widespread stockpiling, applications for ...
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 ...
An Essex council has issued a tender for its waste collection services including, for the first time, an opportunity for a contractor to run its materials handling facility. Colchester Borough Council has issued a contract notice with intention of receiving expressions of interest from companies that can handle recyclable materials (sale or purchase) and to oversee the partnership management of ...
Environment Minister Jane Kennedy has told Parliament that maintaining public confidence in recycling is a priority, despite market concerns. Responding to questions about the recycled materials market from MP Geoffrey Cox, Kennedy said her department was well informed on the matter, maintaining close contact with major players. She said Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ...
Falls in the value of collected recycled materials could have a knock on effect for local councils, with the possibility of council tax rises and delays to infrastructure building. The Local Government Association (LGA) has written to all local authorities to “determine the extent of the problems they may be facing,” an LGA spokesman said. “The global economic downturn has caused prices to ...
A plea to consumers and householders to keep recycling paper to supply market demands, has come from the president of the Bureau of International Recycling’s paper division. Paper division president and J&H Sales managing director Ranjit Baxi said suggestions that recycled paper was “unsaleable” were “not a true reflection of current market conditions”. Baxi added it was “paramount” that ...
Strong concern about the current volatility in recycling markets and possibility of material going to landfill was on clear display at the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) conference last week. Environment minister Jane Kennedy told delegates: “We need to work together to understand what is happening. This is a very big issue that we are monitoring closely.” She confirmed ...
Police are looking for a couple in connection with the discovery of the body of a baby boy at Greenstar UK’s recycling plant in Addlethorpe. The body was found on 15 October on the conveyor belt while an employee checked for glass in the material brought in for recycling. Lincolnshire Police are investigating the circumstances behind the discovery and the recycling plant is currently closed ...
The European Commission and the European retail sector have launched the Retail Forum as part of a plan to promote more sustainable products, including products made from recycled materials. The Forum is voluntary and is open to all retailers who join the Retailers’ Environmental Action Plan, which is an EU strategy for sustainable production and consumption. The British Retail Consortium is ...
A UK plastics trader and recycler has warned the industry not to get complacent with the current strong demand for material from China. AWS eco plastics commercial director Duncan Oakes said: “Demand should be lower as the Chinese economy is shrinking, compared to what it was in the past. But at the moment you can sell more than you can buy.” Oakes said the current strong overseas demand and ...
Government needs to help small firms fund recycling infrastructure for materials such as batteries to help the UK meet its waste targets, according to Rabbitt Recyclingchief executive Michael Morris. Speaking to MRW Morris said: “The Government has got to have the infrastructure in place and make the money available to help make industry small companies in industry more dynamic. Trying to get ...
Consumers rate glass as their top packaging material for food and beverage products, a recent survey has found. The survey carried out by the Federation of European Glass showed that a whopping 74 per cent of the 6,200 households across 12 European countries involved favoured glass packaged products over other materials. Furthermore, nine out of ten people knew glass could be endlessly ...
Fragile but stabilising is the view of the Waste & Resources Action Programme on the current state of the recycling market. Following months of uncertainty in the industry and national media stories suggesting vast volumes of stockpiled recyclate following a market collapse, WRAP director of market development Marcus Gover told MRW materials were still getting to market and it was ...
Dr Liz Goodwin OBE, CEO of WRAP, received the Editor’s Award (previously known as the Lifetime Achievement Award) at the MRW National Recycling Awards, last night. The event, hosted by Material Recycling World (MRW) magazine’s Editor, Robin Latchem, noted that she had led her organisation through ‘profound’ change, with WRAP becoming a charity and increasingly, being ...
ADBA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2014 AD 2015-2020: What can we achieve? “The single change in policy that could have the biggest impact is probably a ban on food to landfill." Robin Latchem, Editor, Materials Recycling World Magazine Panel Session: How will food waste policy affect AD in the next 5 years? Chaired by Robin Latchem, Editor of Materials Recycling World Magazine, this session ...
There is confusion over how Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) plans to cut £1.166bn from its budget will affect local authority waste collection services. The DCLG announced yesterday that the £29bn ‘general grant’ which is described as “the main source of funding that local government receives every year” is not being reduced and “will ensure that key frontline services can ...