Peterborough city council's £38m EfW plans approved
An application for the plant, which will be used to treat 65,000 tonnes of waste a year and comes as part of a £60 million overhaul of the city council's waste and recycling facilities, was submitted in February this year (see letsrecycle.com story). The planning permission stipulates that 75% of the waste must be sourced from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and within a 50km radius of the facility.
Planning officers are now evaluating the credentials of companies that have expressed an interest in building and operating the energy-from-waste facility. A shortlist of potential firms will be drawn up and detailed negotiations will lead to the selection of a preferred contractor, with the facility earmarked to be operational in early 2014.
Verdant wins £2m Conwy collection contract
Waste and recycling collection services firm Verdant has signed a five-year, £2 million deal to provide waste and recycling collections for Conwy county borough council.
The contract is set to see Verdant, which is part of Irish-owned waste management firm Greenstar UK, provide the North Wales council with waste and recycling collections, including a fortnightly collection of green waste in reusable sacks. Around 42,000 of the 54,000 properties across the county borough are regarded as potential users of the free green waste collection service, which is intended to help add to Conwy's recycling and composting rate, which is currently just over 44%.
Kelly Thomas, assistant waste manager a Conwy county borough council, stated: “Verdant's approach to collecting our green garden waste emphasises cost and operational efficiencies that will benefit residents and the council. The company has a great track record and we're glad to welcome the team on board.”
Yorwaste extends confidential waste destruction service
The investment at the Seamer Carr site is designed to help cope with the extra amounts of confidential paper and other items that organisations are seeking to dispose of without letting them fall prey to identity theft and fraud. Local organisations and businesses currently using the Yorwaste service include Scarborough borough council and Scarborough Evening News.
Mark Moorhouse, Yorwaste business sales consultant, said: “Our service provides them with the peace of mind that from the moment the paper leaves their offices until the time it is shredded, baled and sent off for recycling at no stage in the process will there be any risk of their documents getting in to the wrong hands.”
Sheffield issues reminder on HWRC permit plans
Sheffield city council and its waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services are reminding residents that vans will be banned from their household waste and recycling centres from today (November 30).
The system is intended to clamp down on the illegal use of its five recycling sites by traders and comes in the lead up to the introduction of a vehicle permitting system which is set to come into effect on January 11 2010. It means 4x4s with pickups, small vans, short well base transit vans, mini buses and cars with trailers all need a permit to enter the sites, while Luton box vans, van pickups and flat beds will be banned entirely. Veolia is operating the system on behalf of Sheffield city council as it manages the household waste and recycling centre sites.
Gavin Foulstone, recycling manager for Veolia in Sheffield, said: “The new vehicle permit scheme has already been highly publicised with leaflets at many public information points, signage at all five HWRCs and our site operatives have lots of information to hand out to residents. We would like to remind those residents who will need a permit to apply now in good time before January 11.”
MWDA premiers recycling DVD
The 12-minute short film, which was premiered to an audience of 50 school children in Liverpool last week (November 25), shows how waste is treated by the statutory body once it has been put into household bins. The film follows teenagers Jack Mulhanney and Anneka Desai as they track the waste from their doorstep to the reprocessing stage. The film is part of the MWDA's Education and Awareness programme, which aims to get across the message of waste management to schools and other education providers throughout Merseyside.
Councillor Kevin Cluskey, chairperson of the MWDA, said: “We're always trying to get the message over that waste is a resource, and this DVD is another method for telling people. We hope all school kids from around Merseyside like it.”
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