Veolia celebrates sixth anniversary of Nottinghamshire EnviroGrant
Veolia is celebrating the sixth anniversary of its Nottinghamshire EnviroGrant scheme which helps provide funding for community and environmental projects.
Veolia, as Nottinghamshire county council’s waste management contractor, has been running the scheme since 2010 and it has supported projects ranging from upcycling workshops for communities and schools to the provision of recycling bins at youth centres.
Julie Adams, Veolia’s Nottinghamshire contract performance manager says: “Our EnviroGrant scheme has been a great success over the years; and we’re proud of the help we’ve given to some very worthy projects.”
Through the scheme, not-for-profit community groups based in Nottinghamshire, excluding the city of Nottingham, can apply for grants of up to £1,000 for projects to improve their local environment.
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re3 recycling centre staff undergo dementia training
Staff at re3 recycling centres in Reading and Bracknell are undergoing special training to help spot dementia in order to help visitors at the centre’s sites who may be affected by the condition.
Referred to as ‘dementia friends’, staff enrolled on the programme will learn what it’s like living with dementia and how they can support and welcome those affected at sites.
re3 is a waste management partnership between FCC Environment and Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham borough councils.
Chair of the joint waste disposal board, councillor Dorothy Hayes MBE said: “To get more people recycling, we need to make doing it an attractive, accessible task, and providing safe, welcoming facilities for all sections of society is a huge part of that.
“After going through the training myself, I am confident a trip to the re3 recycling centres will be a very safe and welcoming environment for anyone affected by dementia.”
Launched by the Alzheimer’s Society in February 2013, the Dementia Friends initiative aims to help people understand what it’s like to live with dementia and turn that understanding into action.
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Legal professionals launch web facility for recyclers
A barrister and solicitor have combined to create the ‘Environmental Waste Permit Lawyers’, a web facility for recycling and waste businesses.
Forming the London-based team are Gordon Wignall, a barrister at Chambers 6 Pump Court who has acted for major recyclers and Yogesh Patel, a criminal specialist and solicitor with Edward Hayes.
The website provides waste and recycling businesses with information on how to cope with regulatory and criminal enforcement proceedings brought by the Environment Agency and local authorities.
Mr Wignall said: “We decided to provide legal information to the waste sector because the Environment Agency has been particularly active recently.
“The site is intended especially for well-informed operators who may not know where to turn and who are at risk personally by putting their heads well down into the sand.”
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Reading starts collecting small electricals kerbside
Reading borough council is this month phasing in collections of small unwanted electrical items from residents following a successful six-month trial.
Items including kettles, irons and radios can now be put out for collection and residents are ask to place them in an untied carrier bag next to their red bins or boxes. One bag per household is permitted on each collection day.
Electricals larger than 30cm x 24cm are not being collected under the scheme with householders advised to take these to the re3 Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Alison Bell, Reading’s director of environment and neighbourhood services, said: “The trial of the small electrical items collections clearly demonstrated there is demand for the service.
“I’m delighted we are now able to roll out the collections to the rest of the borough and I would encourage all households to take advantage of this new service.”
The cost of operating and promoting the service will be met by £30,000 funding from the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Distributor Take Back Scheme local project fund.
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Lancashire children win ReFood design competition
Two Skelmersdale school children will have their artwork toured across Lancashire on ReFood’s latest collection vehicle after winning a design competition run by the food recycler.
Kyle Unsworth and Wiktor Slojewski, from Woodland Community Primary School in Skelmersdale, won the ‘ReDesign a ReFood Truck’ competition, which aimed to get children more engaged with sustainability.
Food waste recycler ReFood operates two anaerobic digestion plants in Doncaster and Widnes, with its newest facility in Dagenham set to open this year. As part of the prize, the children will receive a visit and tour of the company’s AD plant in Widnes.
Trudi Derbyshire, regional sales manager at ReFood Widnes, commented: “At ReFood, we understand the importance of getting young people to think about food waste – they’re the next generation of recyclers!
“Our creative design competition aimed to make the whole process more fun and understandable, helping to support the concept of sustainability – both in schools and at home.”
