Business recycling boost in Dorset
Working in partnership with the business forums representing the Ferndown and Verwood Industrial Estates, the council has helped negotiate a range of recycling schemes for businesses. The council has reported an enthusiastic response with one company, Arena Business Centre, increasing recycling by 50% while cutting its waste budget in half. The company signed up to a service run by local firm Commercial Recycling Ltd.
Stuart Burley, economic development officer at East Dorset district council, said: “By establishing the range of possible waste recycling services available to businesses we were able to inform them about simple, effective and economical services that met their individual needs.”
Major food waste disposer study published
A long-awaited study into the environmental impacts of using food waste disposers to process household food waste has been published by the County Surveyors' Society.
The report, by the society which represents councils' chief officers, claims that disposers provide a cost-effective, convenient and hygienic means of recycling food waste. It adds that this is backed up by findings from Worcestershire and Herefordshire county councils – the only local authorities in the UK to promote food waste disposers.
Jeremy Howell-Thomas, Worcestershire county council's project development officer, who last month urged councils to promote food waste disposers ahead of the report being published (see letsrecycle.com story), said: “I hope it will help to bring about a step change in the way we dispose of kitchen food waste in the UK.”
First bins approved for the blind
Bin manufacturer Titan Environmental has reported that its bins, which have Braille marking to denote size, and notches to identify different colours have been formally approved for blind and partially sighted people – and have already been trialled in England's top-performing recycling council, North Kesteven.
Siobonne Brewster, senior business development manager at RNIB, said: “Dealing with household waste is an everyday task that most people take for granted. We are pleased to see Titan taking this inclusive approach to the design of their products and look forward to working with them in future.”
New recycling route for insulation panels
A method of recycling cladding panels used to insulate buildings has been developed by metal recycler Sims, steel firm Corus and mineral wool producer Rockwool.
Working with panel manufacturer Eurobond, the firms have managed to separate the steel sheets from the mineral wool inside panels, at the end of a building's life. Once recovered, the materials are then delivered back to Corus and Rockwool who use them in their manufacturing processes.
Eurobond managing director Simon Thomas said: “We have successfully demonstrated that a Eurobond panel can be part of a closed loop recycling process. Many companies claim the “recyclable” badge but few have proved their products to be truly recyclable as Eurobond's, where all component parts can be genuinely reused to make the same products again.”
Sheffield “Reclaims” more recyclables
The social enterprise, which provides employment for people with learning difficulties and mental health problems, has collected more than 100 tonnes of material a month, from the most frequently used banks in Sheffield. It has also extended its collection service to seven days in agreement with recycling collection contractor Veolia Environmental Services.
Reclaim managing director Darren Fitzpatrick said: “We are ecstatic about these results and can't believe the positive response. Employee morale is high and thanks to Veolia we can provide employment and training for even more people.”
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