Opening date set for Keynsham HWRC
Bath and North East Somerset council has announced that its new £39.1 million “reuse and recycling centre” in Keynsham will open on 17 April, less than a year after construction work began.
The new site will replace the existing Keynsham Recycling Centre, which will closed to “release brownfield land to build new homes, including affordable housing, supported by Homes England grant funding”.
Mandy Bishop, chief operating officer of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “This new purpose-built public household waste and recycling centre will be quicker and easier for residents to use, with expanded recycling provision to make it possible for people to recycle even more.”
The new facility will also include a materials recovery facility, waste transfer station, fleet maintenance and a public MoT and servicing centre, highways winter service satellite and an extra salt storage facility.
The first stage of the project began in May 2022 when construction firm Farrans began works.
Burnley council installs RCV software system
Burnley council has equipped its entire refuse collection vehicle and sweeper fleet, comprising 17 vehicles, with live camera systems and has switched to a web-based software system to “track, monitor and scrutinise vehicles and drivers”.
The system, Fleetclear Connect, is described as a “powerful management tool encompassing all aspects of vehicle and driver safety, operational efficiency, and compliance”.
It includes, GPS tracking, telematics including fuel and carbon analysis, driver behaviour and compliance monitoring.
Tom Ormerod, contract manager for streetscene at Burnley council, said: “We had previously used a different supplier for some camera systems but there were too many issues and the call out charges became too costly for us. So, we decided to switch to Fleetclear, starting with 7 RCVs and then once we had trialled the system, we rolled it out across our entire RCV and sweeper fleet.”
WRA calls for higher wood targets
The Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA) is again calling for higher packaging recycling targets for waste wood after the latest PRN data showed how easily the targets were met in 2022 compared to other materials.
The data, published on 31 March by the Environment Agency, showed that the amount of wood packaging accepted for reprocessing in the calendar year 2022 was almost double (634,687 tonnes) that required to meet the target for the year (384,534 tonnes). This was in stark contrast to all other materials which relied on carry over from 2021 to meet their targets for the year.
The material-specific packaging recycling target for waste wood in 2022 and 2023 is 35%, this was reduced from 48% in 2020 to reflect the demand for a large amount of material being used by the biomass sector. The target is below those for other materials such as plastic, paper and steel which have targets of 61%, 83% and 87% respectively.
Julia Turner, executive director of the WRA, said: “These figures perfectly illustrate why the packaging recycling targets for wood need to be raised. Wood stands out for being the only material which is not only comfortably meeting its targets but is far exceeding them.
“For years targets for wood have been set too low, meaning that our sector has not received sufficient support. This support is vital for panel board manufacturers and other wood reprocessors. We need targets that are meaningful to ensure the UK’s wood packaging recycling rates remain high.”
Axil announces £20m revenue growth
Lincolnshire-based waste management company, Axil Integrated Services, has reported that its revenue has grown by £20 million in five years, after signing deals with some of the largest UK manufacturers.
Established in 2018, the company works with brands such as Birds Eye and the BMW group to reduce waste costs through “more efficient waste processing”. It’s revenue has grown from £8 million in 2018 to £28 million in 2022.
With large multi-national firms persuing zero waste to landfill plans, the company says it can then identify opportunities to segregate waste streams and find “more sustainable outlets for products”.
Edward Pigg, Managing Director at Axil Integrated Services, said: “It’s always great to be able to announce business growth, despite challenging economic headwinds I feel proud of what we’ve built at Axil. Since day one we’ve been committed to helping businesses unlock the value of their waste, and I’m proud of the incredible growth we have achieved.
“This reflects the collaboration with our partners who, are committed to better and more efficient ways of managing waste.”
With a continued push from companies to reach ESG goals, Axil said its work helps to reduce the net environmental impact of the manufacturing customer, “and creates more valuable outlets for materials – which typically generates better rebates and higher cost savings for customers.”
Ekman hires Keir as purchasing manager
Steven Keir has joined recovered waste paper specialist Ekman Recycling as a purchasing manager, joining from FCC Environment.
Mr Keir was responsible for material offtake at FCC for the last two years, and has also worked with DS Smith and ACN.
He joins Ekman from April 2023 and will take a purchasing manager role.
The UK division of Ekman is based in north London and is a major exporter of recovered fibre, particularly to south east Asia and India. The Ekman Paper and Packaging Division is active globally in a wide spectrum of paper and packaging grades.
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