News in Brief

The Bureau of International Recycling has appealed to China's AQSIQ to put back the date for the registration of overseas scrap suppliers.

With the deadline of January 1 2005 approaching and the delay of a further list of registered overseas suppliers, originally scheduled for release December 20, the BIR has claimed that many companies whose applications have already been received by AQSIS would not be authorised to ship to China.

Without a registration number these companies would be denied authorisation to export by the Chinese pre-inspection authorities and by the shipping lines.

In a letter to AQSIQ, BIR stated: “As a responsible organisation, BIR cannot accept that administrative hindrances and delays prevent well-established companies and regular suppliers to ship valuable commodities to their Chinese customers.”

“Postponing the deadline until March 1 2005 is the only way to allow trade those companies whose applications were received and accepted by AQSIQ in due time to continue to do business with China in the coming weeks.” Said BIR director general, Francis Keys.

Waste Watch has so far signed up 33 organisations and individuals to its campaign for more funding for waste education work in schools, which began earlier this month.

The waste education specialists are calling on Defra to recognise the valuable role that education plays in helping to achieve sustainable waste management.

Waste Watch said that the government should give urgent priority to the allocation of a proportion of landfill tax revenue waste education in schools and make provision for a grant scheme for which waste education based projects are eligible without the need to prove a direct effect on household recycling targets.

The Audit Commission has criticised Kingston upon Thames council for its failure to reach its 2003/04 recycling target, despite it being one of the better London boroughs.

In a commission report published this month, the Commission stated that despite the council's combined recycling and composting rate being high in comparison with other London authorities, Kingston was set a target of 30% for 2003/04 and the council's current rate of 18.5% is well below that.

The Commission rated Kingston as having a “good” two star service with “uncertain” prospects for the future.

A Commission inspector noted that the council had not used information canvassed from areas of low participation to help improve its recycling rate.

There was also concern levelled at the recycling facilities for estates and private flats which the Commission claimed were “underdeveloped.” Bring sites were described as “unevenly spread and poorly maintained.”