Edinburgh announces latest round of recycling grants

The City of Edinburgh council is calling for applicants for its Waste Action Grant Programme, which will see up to £2,500 issued to schemes relating to waste and recycling in the city.

Companies or organisations have until February 8 2010 to apply for funding from the project, which aims to encourage local householders, community groups, youth groups and schools to join in by using the council's recycling services and participating in new initiatives and projects that are already being run across the city. This is the latest round of funding, with schemes beneficiaries to date including the Warm Hearts Quilting Group, which makes bedding from old materials to then be donated to hospices and homes for older people.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, environment leader at Edinburgh, said: "Edinburgh residents have a key role to play in increasing the recycling rate and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. With the aid of grant funding from this programme, groups will be able to develop their own waste action groups to tackle waste in their own communities."

Proposal for large-scale EfW facility blocked

Aberdeenshire councillors have blocked controversial plans to develop a 100,000 tonnes-a-year capacity combined heat and power facility in Peterhead following recommendations from planners.

The proposed Buchan CHP energy-from-waste plant

At a meeting in Woodhill House in Aberdeen last week (January 21), members of Aberdeenshire council voted 49 to 13 to block plans for the plant after the council's planning and environment services said it did not comply with the necessary planning policies. There had been local opposition to the proposed site at the Upperton Industrial Estate at Invernettie, with 850 letters of objection and 5,600 signatures on an petition. The site was being developed by energy-from-waste firm Buchan Combined Heat and Power (CHP).

Some councillors did express support for the scheme due to the perceived energy benefits and role it could play in helping manage the council's waste. Councillor Sam Coull of Peterhead South and Cruden highlighted the energy benefits such a facility would have and the practical issue of cost. He said: "There is no way we can afford the cost of a combined heat and power plant and we have to rely on the private sector to do this for us. I see it as an integrated part of waste disposal."

Northern Ireland posts 39% recycling rate for Q2

Northern Ireland has achieved a 39% household waste recycling rate for July to September 2009, which means the country has exceeded its recycling targets for the second successive quarter.

The Northern Ireland Municipal waste management statistics report for Quarter 2 (July to September 2009) also indicated that composting accounted for 19%, with recycling making up the other 20% of household waste recycled, with the remaining 61% of household waste being sent to landfill sites. Municipal waste sent to landfill was almost 2% less when compared to the same quarter in 2008 and there was a 21% decrease in biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) being sent to landfill by councils in Northern Ireland over this same period. The household recycling targets for April to September 2009 have exceeded the 35% target set for 2010.

Commenting on the results, environment minister Edwin Poots said: "Recycling is increasingly part of everyday life in households across Northern Ireland. People are rethinking how they treat waste and are clearly considering the impact their waste has on the environment."

Lewisham signs up to mattress recycling service

Lewisham council in South London has made moves to improve its recycling rate by introducing one of the first local authority mattress recycling schemes.

Councillor Susan Wise, cabinet member for customer services, and Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham with the mattress recycling sticker

The service is intended to help curb the amount of mattresses fly-tipped in the borough, which saw over 6,000 mattresses dumped in Lewisham between August 2009 and January 2010. The mattresses service is free for residents in Lewisham and will see residents wishing to recycle a mattress place a special sticker on the mattress and place it at the kerbside for collection. The mattress is then sent to Lewisham-based mattress recycling specialist Matt:UK, which established a mattress recycling facility at its depot in August 2009 after handling over 400 mattresses a day (see letsrecycle.com story).

Nigel Tyrell, Lewisham council's head of environment, said: "This new and innovative scheme encourages people to dispose of mattresses responsibly, it diverts away from landfill, it increases recycling in the borough and will reduce fly tipping. We're also using the services of a local business to recycle the mattresses which means reduced fuel and transportation costs. It's a win-win for everyone."

Suffolk outlines plans to redevelop HWRCS

Suffolk county council has outlined plans to give facelifts to three household waste recycling centres in the region to increase materials collected and make them easier for residents to use.

Under the proposed changes, Suffolk will work with Northampton-based Waste Recycling Group - which operates the sites on behalf of the county council - to redevelop the Felixstowe, Hadleigh and Mildenhall sites to include furniture reuse areas and new containers for glass and paper recycling. In addition, the council will also look to improve the layout of the sites to improve traffic flows and reduce the amount of time customers spend on site dropping of their items for recycling.

Councillor Lisa Chambers, Suffolk county council's portfolio holder for waste said "I am particularly pleased to see partnership working with the voluntary sector in action at the HWRCs to reuse furniture. With these opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle more of our waste, we are helping to work towards our ambition to make Suffolk the Greenest County."