Essex keeps booking systems for HWRCs
Essex county council has decided to keep its booking system process at all of its 21 recycling centres permanently, subject to a three-day call-in period.
February 2022 marked the first phase of the council’s booking process, with the first phase specifically for vans and large vehicles at its nine van-friendly sites. In June of that same year, the Rayleigh recycling centre trialled a booking process for cars. The system was then extended to cover all of Essex’s recycling centres in March 2023.
Towards the end of 2023, the council launched a six-week public consultation, giving the public the opportunity to feed back on the process.
More than 18,000 people are said to have completed the consultation survey. Independent analysis of the responses shows 58% of respondents were in favour of keeping the booking process for cars, while 72% wanted booking for vans alone.
Councillor Peter Schwier, cabinet member for climate, environment, waste reduction and recycling, said: “Efficient waste services play an important role in increasing recycling and reducing waste. This is why we are pleased that a decision has been taken to keep the booking process permanently.”
Bath and NE Somerset limits DIY waste disposals
Due to a change in government legislation, Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) council plans to restrict the amount of domestic DIY waste that its residents can recycle at once and how often.
Although DIY waste recycling will remain free of charge, the council stated that no more than the equivalent of 50-litre bags of
plasterboard, rubble, soil and ceramics are allowed to be disposed of at one time.
The number of visits is also capped to four single visits per household in a four-week period.
Currently, the council permits a maximum of six black sacks per week, which no longer complies with the department for environment food and rural affairs (Defra) legislation published in December 2023.
Councillor for B&NES, Tim Ball, said: “Disposal of DIY waste from residents at our recycling centres has always been and will continue to be free, but the new legislation more clearly sets out the limits on the volume brought in any one visit and also the frequency of the visits.”
The council will introduce the changes from 4 March 2024.
The government announced a ‘ban’ on DIY waste charges last year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Calderdale council recycles single-use vapes safely
Callerdale council has announced that more than 7,000 vapes have been recycled since rolling out collection points at household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) in November 2023.
Introduced as a joint project between Calderdale council and Suez recycling and recovery UK, the scheme is intended to increase the safe disposal of single-use vapes.
Calderdale council utilised street sweeping crews to collect and segregate vapes on their rounds, as well as the introduction of vape disposal bins at HWRCs in the borough.
The vapes are collected in vessels at the five HWRCs and are sent to an approved authorised treatment facilit in Huddersfield, operated by Waste Experts, as part of its “vape recycling solution”.
This initiative uses a recycling process to recover tonnes of materials from the vapes collected in Calderdale and diverts the vapes from normal waste processing.
GRF urges use of carbon and plastic credits
The Global Recycling Foundation (GRF) is encouraging the recycling industry to “reap the rewards” of voluntary carbon credits (VCC) and plastic credits.
The foundation said offsetting over a billion tons of carbon savings made by the recycling industry globally will provide “billions of dollars of revenue” to drive the circular economy, reduce the environmental impact, conserve depleting resources and increase investments in environmental projects.
Ranjit Baxi, founding president of GRF, said: “Integrating the symbiotic relationship between VCC and plastic credits with the recycling industry will help to build a reliable source of funding to facilitate growth, while offering a platform to offset carbon emissions helping to meet Net Zero Goals of 2050 as defined by COP28.
“Additionally, it increases employment by creating jobs and strengthens community engagement, helping build sustainable supply chains.”
Mr Baxi concluded: “Integration of VCC into recycling initiatives helps to harness the collective power of the global markets, enabling the stakeholders to drive meaningful progress towards a greener, more resilient future.”
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