Line-up announced for free seminars at Stoneleigh Live

The recycling and waste management exhibition is being held in the National Agricultural Centre in Stoneleigh, near Coventry, on March 15 – 16 – featuring a seminar centre sponsored by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Topics to be covered in the free seminars include the waste electronics and the WEEE Directive, developments in the paper recycling market and the new end of life vehicles (ELVs) legislation.

Free seminars on collections, publicity, paper recycling, ELVs and WEEE are being held at the Stoneleigh Live exhibition

Collections
Local authority officers will be able to hear and discuss how to make a success of alternate weekly collection systems for household waste. Controversial with some residents and the local media, experience suggests that collecting residual waste fortnightly, alternating with fortnightly collections of recyclables, can hugely improve council waste performances.

Pete Mansfield of collection specialists Abitibi Consolidated Recycling Europe will present a local authority case study, while Ed Potter of Cherwell council will reveal successes in the Oxfordshire district. Delegates will also hear from Andrew Simmons, chief executive of Recoup, on the benefits and practicalities of including plastic bottles in alternate weekly collection systems.

Publicity
Once councils have committed to new recycling services, the work of a recycling officer does not stop there, and visitors to Stoneleigh Live will also be able to find out how to make a success of publicity and awareness campaigns.

Gareth Lloyd, communications director at WRAP and a key figure in the national Recycle Now campaign, will be joined by Steve Haugh of national waste education specialists Waste Watch, to discuss the finer points of boost participation. And a local authority officer's point of view will come from Glenn Fleet of Warwickshire county council, a council that has helped lead the way in the use of television as a recycling publicity tool (see letsrecycle.com story).

ELVs
Stoneleigh Live's emphasis as an exhibition is on “recycling and waste management in action”, with exhibitors giving practical demonstrations of equipment, including end of life vehicle specialists such as Crow, Rozone and Power Transmission Engineering.

The free seminars will also deal with the important topic of vehicle recycling – especially topical with the new ELV regulations coming into force on March 3.

Visitors to Stoneleigh will get a first opportunity to hear from the DTI's head of waste management and vehicle recycling policy, Steve Norgrove, on how the regulations will affect them. Other speakers at the ELV seminar will include Derek Wilkins from metal recyclers EMR and Duncan Wemyss, association secretary at the Motor Vehicle Dismantlers Association.

Click here to find out which companies are exhibiting at Stoneleigh Live, March 15-16
WEEE
While the industry gets to grips with the new ELV regulations, regulations on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment are not yet finalised, with experts suggesting further government consultation may be on the way.

The free WEEE seminar at Stoneleigh will give visitors the chance to hear from experts in the field including Phil Conran, of the WEEE specialists Transform and waste management firm Biffa. Mr Conran will be joined by James Potter from waste firm Onyx and other experts in the WEEE sector.

Paper
Paper continues to be arguably the most important household material for local authorities to collect for recycling, and the Stoneleigh Live seminar series reflects this with a line-up including David Symmers of the Independent Waste Paper Processors Association and Peter Seggie from the Confederation of Paper Industries.

The seminar will look at current trends in markets as well as policy, and will discuss issues including quality and how collections can be expanded further in the local authority sector and in commercial areas.

Visitors will also hear from WRAP's paper technical manager, David Powlson, and as with all of the seminars there will be a chance for questions and answers from the floor.

• To register – free of charge – as a visitor for the Stoneleigh Live exhibition, and for more information on exhibits, see the official website.

Transport
In addition to the free seminars at Stoneleigh Live, the Environmental Services Association will be holding an important forum regarding the issue of transport, and how the Working Time Directive will affect the waste and recycling sector.

Chaired by ESA chairman Mike Hellings, speakers at the event will include David Rawlinson of SITA UK, Peter Needham of digital tachograph manufacturers Siemens, Michael Green, the managing director of G & P Batteries, Onyx group fleet and procurement director Rob Stubbs and David Hook, senior policy manager at HM Customs and Excise.

Visitors will also hear from James Hookham, policy director at the Freight Transport Association, who has warned that “the working time directive will see the biggest legislative change for 40 years in the way the road transport industry operates.”

For more information on the ESA event, Transporting Waste: meeting new challenges, see the ESA website or email d-young@esauk.org.