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News in brief (02/02/23)

With news on: Re-Gen warns of  EPR costs; ELWA begins market engagement; FCC Environment achieves five stars in health and safety; and, Horsham launches coffee pod recycling.


Re-Gen warns of EPR costs

The managing director of Northern Irish waste management company Re-Gen has warned that extended producer responsibility (EPR) costs could impact the viability of small businesses in 2024.

This is especially significant following the huge increases in PRN prices that obligated producers faced in 2022, Joseph Doherty added.

Joseph Doherty is Re-Gen’s managing director

He explained that for some businesses, the cost of the current PRN system is already having a major impact on viability. But from 1 January 2024, many businesses caught by the new EPR system will see the cost of compliance “rising sharply”.

Mr Doherty also pointed out that “the new system moves away from shared to single point responsibility”.

Under the current system, PRN costs are shared between the raw material manufacturers, the convertors, the pack fillers and those that sell packaged product to consumers. However, this is set to change under EPR, burdening businesses with extra costs that could “severely impact their viability”.


ELWA begins market engagement

The East London Waste Authority (ELWA) has begun engaging with the market as part of its ‘procurement and contract expiry’ programme.

The authority published a prior information notice relating to the market engagement last week (see letsrecycle.com story).

The Authority published a statement on 31 January, explaining that it is seeking views from the waste and recycling treatment market on the availability of treatment capacity for a number of different waste streams.

ELWA’s current contract is operated by Renewi until December 2027 (stock image)

ELWA’s market engagement opportunity is open until 13 February.

The authority’s current long-term contract with ELWA Ltd is in place until December 2027 and is operated by Renewi. The contract was awarded under the Private Finance Initiative in 2002.

It includes the provision of two mechanical-biological treatment facilities for processing residual waste, along with facilities to support the delivery of other services.

Cllr Dorothy Akwaboah, chair of ELWA, said: “The end of the current contract represents a significant opportunity for ELWA to procure new arrangements that support the optimum “whole-system” combination of collection and disposals services for both ELWA and the constituent councils.”


FCC Environment achieves five stars in health and safety

FCC Environment announced on Tuesday (31 January) that it has successfully completed a best practice five star occupational health and safety audit.

The company explained that the audit was conducted by British Safety Council and “demonstrated its commitment towards improvement of its health and safety management systems and associated arrangements”.

The team at FCC’s Eastcroft plant who the company said were one of the keys to the result

The audit process included documentation review, interviews with senior management, employees and other key stakeholders, together with sampling of operational activities, FCC outlined.

Mike Robinson, CEO of British Safety Council, said: “The award of a five star grading following our occupational best practice health and safety Audit is an outstanding achievement and is reflective of a proactive organisation which is committed to continual improvement in its health and safety arrangements and managing risks to workers’ health, safety and wellbeing.”

Paul Stokes, FCC’s head of safety, health, environment and quality, added: “We are delighted that once again we have received this grading, the score is an improvement on previous years it reflects another year of hard work, continual improvement across our diverse business and we are very proud of this achievement.”


Horsham launches coffee pod recycling

Horsham district council is to launch a scheme this month to help residents recycle used coffee pods in partnership with Podback.

The coffee pod recycling service aims to help support the council’s targets to reduce waste, increase recycling and achieve carbon savings.

The local authority noted that some of its other recycling initiatives include the kerbside weekly collection of batteries, bookable collection of textiles and small electrical items and a food waste collection trial.

The council’s scheme with Podback is set to launch in February

Commenting on the scheme, Horsham district council’s cabinet member for recycling and waste Cllr Toni Bradnum, said: “As a council we are always looking for innovative ways to recycle items and avoid them going to waste and like to empower our residents to make more climate friendly decisions where we can.”

“This is a free service for residents who will need to sign up for collections via the established booking service, making it really easy for them to participate at home whilst helping the council increase the amount it recycles,” Cllr Bradnum explained.

Residents were sent a leaflet at the end of January, ahead of the scheme’s launch the following month.

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