News in Brief

Instone leaves post in Defra waste team shake-up

Mr Instone has been head of the programme since spring 2008, and was previously head of the department's waste strategy division, a role he took up in August 2005. He led the work on reviewing the Government's waste strategy, culminating in the Waste Strategy for England being published in 2007.

His departure comes as part of a major reorganisation at Defra which will see Neil Thornton, who is currently Defra's director of sustainable production, consumption and waste, taking over responsibility for overseeing the waste programme.

TRAID defends charity role in textile recycling

Textile recycling charity TRAID, Textile Recycling for Aid and Development, has defended the role charities play in local authority textile collections and called for transparency over just how the relationship between commercial textile recyclers and charities.

The charity's comments come in response to claims made by the organisers of a new alliance of textile sorters looking to advocate UK-based sorting of textiles for recyclers (see letsrecycle.com story). Following the story, TRAID has called on textile recyclers operating textile banks on behalf of charities to make it “absolutely clear” to people putting clothes donations into the bank if the charity won't receive all the profits generated from reselling the clothing.

And, the charity's chief executive, Maria Chenoworth-Casey, also said: “The reality is that TRAID – which is the only registered charity in the UK dedicated to reducing landfill by increasing clothes reuse and recycling – finds it very difficult to compete with textile recyclers which are increasingly offering local authorities payment for clothing collected. Most of these (but not all) are commercials, and some cash-strapped councils tendering for textile recycling providers often pass over TRAID choosing money over charity. In fact my message to councils would be not to give up on charity.”

SITA claims success for Calderdale food waste collections

SITA UK claims that the success of the weekly kerbside collections of food waste it introduced in April 2009 under its contract with Calderdale council in West Yorkshire has “exceeded all expectations”.

The company, which won the contract to run Calderdale's recycling collections in April 2008, said that the 121 tonnes of food waste collected in the first three weeks of the contract was 30 tonnes, or around 25%, more than initial estimates. Food waste collected under the scheme is transported to an in-vessel composting facility at Todmorden, which lies within Calderdale council's boundaries, where it is processed into a PAS100-accredited compost, the majority of which is sold onto agricultural customers.

Commenting in the scheme's initial success, Nick Browning, area general manager for SITA UK, said: “We are extremely pleased that Calderdale residents have given the scheme such overwhelming support. Diverting biodegradable waste away from landfill is a key target for the council, so to have had such as good start to the scheme is encouraging.”

WAG backs “world's first” plastic-bag free day

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) lent its support to the “world's first” Plastic Bag Free Day, which was held on Saturday (September 12).

Ahead of the end of its consultation on plans to introduce a charge of between 5p and 15p for single-use carrier bags, on September 21 (see letsrecycle.com story), the Assembly Government's environment minister, Jane Davidson, called on householders to take part in the day of action by using reusable bags instead of single-use carriers.

She said: “Wales alone used an estimated 480 million plastic bags last year and the numbers used globally enter the billions. We cannot go on using up our precious resources like this. These bags can take between 500 to 1,000 years to degrade and can be seen across Wales littering our towns and countryside. It would be great if people across Wales could support this special day by taking their own reusable bags with them when they visit the shops. If all of us could ditch our plastic bags for just one day we could create a lifetime habit that will benefit our planet.”

Unlicensed vehicle dismantlers fined following EA operation

Both Oldham Van Breakers of Mumps in Oldham and Breaking Toyotas Ltd of Bury pleaded guilty to operating waste vehicle dismantling facilities without the required permits. The companies' sites were visited by Agency officers in autumn 2008, and, despite being advised they were operating illegally, continued to trade without applying for a permit, therefore enabling them to gain a competitive advantage over other companies. As a result, the two firms were ordered to pay £7,462.84 and £5,306 respectively in fines and costs.

Gordon Whitaker, environment manager for the EA in Greater Manchester said, “The Environment Agency is committed to ensuring that all vehicle dismantlers operate in a way which protects the environment, as well as ensuring that there is a level playing field for all commercial companies. Both these companies knew they were operating illegally, and continued to do so. I would remind all operators that they should check they have the necessary permits in place to carry out their activities, or they could face prosecution.”