Taunton MP visits Viridor recycling centre

Rebecca Pow MP for Taunton Deane spent the afternoon on 9 August with waste management company Viridor and visited its recycling centre and reuse shop which are both within her constituency.

Viridor noted that the recycling centre in Priorswood, Taunton hosts a number of operations as part of the company’s work with the Somerset Waste Partnership to help the area achieve a recycling rate of 78%.

Ms Pow met with company Viridor’s contracts supervisor Richard Stent and his team. She also visited the reuse shop, where residents can purchase items ranging from “antiques to tennis rackets”.

The politician also heard how the business has grown from its South West routes to become one of the largest resource enterprises in the UK.

The MP said: “I was fascinated to be able to spend an afternoon learning more about what Viridor does to help boost recycling rates in the UK.  We need to do all we can to encourage people to recycle and use resources efficiently and Viridor helps us do that.”

And, Ms Pow added: “I want to see the UK move towards a ‘zero waste economy’ where resources are fully valued, financially and environmentally. This means we reduce, reuse and recycle all we can.”

Geminor Group opens new facility

Geminor Group has opened a new SRF and RDF bale storage and processing facility at Aalborg in Denmark, which recently received its first UK shipment.

The operation is part of a long-term deal between Geminor, the Port of Aalborg and Aalborg Portland Cement for the supply of 60,000 tonnes per annum.

With the addition of the Aalborg plant, there are now six secondary fuel handling facilities operated by Geminor Group with one in Storoy Norway; and four in Sweden at Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Landskrona and Oxelosund.  All of these facilities handle wood, RDF and SRF.

The biomass and RDF/SRF fuels are sourced from the UK, Ireland and other countries.  In 2015 Geminor UK exported 435,000 tonnes of secondary fuels, RDF, wood and SRF from the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Sheffield council launches service consultation

Sheffield city council has launched a consultation about potential changes to the city’s waste and recycling services.

The council is looking to save £3.4 million by 2017 – despite the local authority already saving £6 million from its waste and recycling budget over the last three years.

Residents are being asked whether they would support increasing the variety of plastics collected for recycling such as yoghurt pots and margarine tubs; introducing a second recycling bin in place of blue boxes and changing recycling collection days so that blue bin and box collection days for individual households may not be the same as black bin days.

Councillor Bryan Lodge, cabinet member for environment at Sheffield city council, said: “How we get rid of our rubbish is everyone’s business, and we know that changes to bin services in Sheffield are usually hotly debated.”

According to the local authority last year Sheffield recycled 32% of household waste and sent less than 1% to landfill.

Sheffield city council is also working with Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham to develop a South Yorkshire Waste Strategy.

For more information about the consultation, click here.

Grundon helps restore Crawley glasshouse

Grundon Waste Management has donated £26,500 to a project which helped to restore a 21^st century glasshouse and centre for horticultural training at Tilgate Park in Crawley.

The work has been undertaken by environmental charity Groundwork South thanks to support for Crawley borough council’s Landfill Communities Fund project from Grundon, and on Monday (8 August) Cllr Raj Sharma, mayor of Crawley officially opened the centre.

The glasshouse had largely been unused since the 1950s. The restoration programme included new glass panels, repair of existing brickwork, the installation of an irrigation system, potting benches, shading and raised beds and other equipment.

Cllr Sharma praised the success of the partnership between the public and private sector.

Andrew Short, Grundon Waste Management estates director, said: “Given that the glasshouse is in the former kitchen garden for the Tilgate Estate, in many ways this could be seen as the ultimate in recycling. Groundwork South’s project has given life back to a glasshouse which, in years gone by, would have made a major contribution to putting food on the table of those who lived on the estate.”

Worcestershire pair fined for waste offences

An investigation by the Environment Agency has seen two men appear in court charged in relation to an unlawful waste operation on land at Cinetic Quarry, Sandy Lane near Wildmoor in Worcestershire.

Brian Williams, of Sandy Lane, Wildmoor pleaded guilty to one charge of operating a regulated facility on land at Cinetic Quarry beyond the extent authorised by the environmental permit. He was issued with a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £250 in costs.

John Chamberlain of Furlong Lane, Halesowen, pleaded guilty to one charge of operating a regulated facility on land at Cinetic Quarry beyond the extent authorised by the environmental permit. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay £250 in costs.

The court heard how the two defendants along with four other defendants sentenced earlier in the year, had knowingly permitted the operation of an illegal waste site between January 2011 and December 2012. Household, commercial, industrial and municipal waste was found buried in the quarry.

Mr Williams held the environmental permit for Cinetic Quarry between January 2011 and June 2011, while Mr Chamberlain managed the quarry on behalf of United Waste management, who operated unlawfully on the site.