News In Brief

Viridor donates compost to growing project

The Well Bean Project, which is run by the Outreach Team at Wincanton's Balsam Centre, intends to help young families, vulnerable adults and primary schools to grow fruit and vegetables across Somerset, with sites in Henstridge, Templecombe, Wincanton, Bruton and Castle Cary. The Big Lottery funded project will also see those who take part taught how to prepare and cook the food they produce, with physical activities such as yoga being potentially added to the programme in the winter.

Richard Griffith, Viridor's organic sales manager for Revive, said: “It's good to see our compost, which is made entirely from garden waste and collected from households in Somserset, used for community projects such as this.”

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Food waste trial for Camden

Camden Council has started a year long food waste collection for local residents.

Households in Hampstead, Frognal and Fitzjohns, Gospel Oak and Belsize have been provided with kitchen caddies and compostable bin liners and, where appropriate, an outside container. The waste will be collected weekly and free-of-charge along with green waste. The food waste goes to a North London facility for composting.

Councillor Mike Green, executive member for environment said: “We hope this new opportunity for residents to recycle their food will help to encourage them to do it more and cut the amount we are sending to landfill.”

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Interest invited for South Yorks site

A Sheffield-based developer is inviting recycling organisation to bid to develop a waste and recycling ‘village' on a 45-acre plot of land in South Yorkshire.

Loxley Land and Property acquired the site in Beeley Wood, off the M1, two years ago and has touted the strategic location, capacity and flexibility of usage as ideal for the development of a site where a vast number of local companies could deal with a wide array of recyclable materials. The developer's parent company Euro Dismantling Services has already undertaken a comprehensive dismantling programme at the site and the proposal has received support from Resource Efficiency Yorkshire.

Eldon Stevens, property manager for Loxley Land and Property, said: “Beeley Wood presents an excellent opportunity for a broad range of recycling companies who are looking to create bespoke buildings in which to house their operations.”

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Lafarge name new supply chain manager

One of the UK's largest cement makers and suppliers Lafarge Cement has appointed Clive Roberts as supply china manager for the company's resource recovery businesses.

Mr Roberts, 44, will be responsible of coordinating and managing movements of materials for both tyre recovery and disposal business Sapphire Energy Recovery and resource recovery company Glacier, with this being the first time that such a role has existed across the two businesses. Calling on 22 years of experience in the supply chain industry, Mr Roberts will be located at the recovery businesses' head office in Cauldon, Staffordshire, and initially focus on collections and deliveries in the tyre recovery for Sapphire Energy.

He said: “There are exciting developments ahead in the Sapphire and Glacier businesses as the UK comes under more pressure to make the most of waste streams and aim for recovery as opposed to landfill.”

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HWRC road foundations made from tyres

Sefton Meadows household waste recycling centre has unveiled a new road foundation built from baled and compressed car tyres.

The Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority and Mersey Waste Holdings have introduced the innovative construction for the road foundations as part of ongoing site improvements, and will see between 100 and 110 baled and compressed car tyres used as a low-cost alternative to natural aggregates. The scheme, which is expected to be completed by November, will incorporate almost a quarter of a million tyres that would otherwise have found their way into the waste stream.

The bales are structurally strong and are able to be constructed over soft soil, with recovered crushed glass cullet being used to fill the spaces between the tyre bales.