MWDA plans £1.5m household waste recycling centre
The HWRC is intended to replace an existing facility 300 metres away. It is intended to handle 15,000 tonnes of household waste and recycling each year and is will also include expanded space to allow for the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Plans for the centre were submitted by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) late in 2009, after a consultation exercise to inform over 6,300 local residents and businesses. The site will be operated waste management firm Veolia Environmental Service under its 20-year contract signed with the MWDA in May (see letsrecycle.com story) and it is hoped that construction will being in late 2010.
Carl Beer, director the MWDA, said: “This is fantastic news for Merseyside residents and especially those in Knowsley. It is not only a major investment in the area but also means vastly improved recycling facilities for a service which is very well used.”
TRA welcomes Defra report on clothes recycling
The Textiles Recycling Association (TRA) has welcomed the publication of a Defra report on clothes recycling and has pledged to help deliver its recommendations.
The report, entitled ‘Maximising Reuse and Recycling of UK Clothing and Textiles', outlined the need to improve the collection and sorting arrangements for clothing and textiles. It highlighted that an increase in household collections could lead to higher reuse and recycling rates and keeping clothes and textiles out of commingled collections would also be beneficial (see letsrecycle.com story). The TRA said it intended to work with councils, charities and relevant agencies to improve the collection routes and help boost the number of kerbside collections. The TRA also highlighted that need to tackle so-called ‘Bogus Charity Collections' and theft of clothing put out for collection by the public.
Alan Wheeler, national liaison manager at the TRA, said: “Although collection rates have improved significantly, we are still throwing away over one million tonnes of clothing and textiles annually, of which nearly two-thirds has a reuse and recycling value. From both an economic and environmental point of view this is a terrible shame.”
Lancashire launches first furniture reuse centre
Hyndburn Used Furniture Stores (HUFS) collects unwanted household items and looks to redistribute them to needy householders. The charity has been awarded a grant to develop a ‘deconstruction centre' for unwanted furniture under its bulky waste collection contract with Rossendale borough council. The centre will take old furniture that cannot be reused and separate it into materials for recycling. HUFS secured funding for the project from Community Solutions, run by Lancashire Community Recycling Network (Lancashire CRN), which supports community-based sustainable waste management initiatives in the county.
Michael Miller, HUFS director, said: “We hope this additional funding will aid in achieving our objectives to develop recycling solutions for local authority bulky waste streams. These are very exciting times within HUFS and the reuse sector and we see partnership working as a key factor in delivering these services.”
Metro and Northern Rail target on-the-go recycling
Free urban national newspaper Metro has signed an agreement with Northern Rail to help increase the number of copies of the newspaper that are recycled by commuters.
Under the deal with Northern Rail, which is one the largest train operators in the UK, Metro will look to drive train passengers towards taking their copy of the newspaper with them and on-train posters will encourage them to think about recycling. Northern Rail will run the adverts until the end of February on more than 300 trains of its trains which serve the North of England. The posters show a copy of Metro left on the seat of a train featuring the headline ‘HORROR – Woman abandons Metro on train' along with the slogan ‘Leaving it behind is littering. Please recycle your Metro.' Over the last year, Metro has installed recycling bins at Ashford International railway station and at six London Underground stations.
John Leitch, executive director of distribution and partners at Metro, said: “We are delighted to partner with train operators in communicating our recycling message and to provide recycling facilities at stations. We hope this latest step in our campaign will remind readers that they play an important role in getting their free newspaper recycled.”
May Gurney appoints new health & safety director
Mr Duffy joins the company from Serco Civil Government where he occupied the position of safety and assurance director, prior to which he was health and safety director for Accord plc, which is now owned by services firm Enterprise. Having taken over the role at the start of January, Mr Duffy is also involved with a number of national working groups and brings with him over 20 years experience managing health and safety environment systems. In addition to overseeing the company's strategy for safety, health, environment and assurance, Mr Duffy will assist in building strategic business links with clients and stakeholders to ensure May Gurney is well positioned in its chosen markets.
Mr Duffy said: “I am delighted to join May Gurney, a company that has such a great reputation for delivering innovative solutions. I look forward to working with the team to further develop the organisation's outstanding health, safety and environmental credentials.”
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