News in Brief

Recycled newsprint manufacturer UPM Shotton is celebrating its 20th anniversary, with former staff invited back to the mill at Deeside.

The site was opened in 1985 by Prince Charles, and since then has undergone extensive development. A series of multi million pound projects has brought the total investment at the plant to more than 400 million.

Old uniforms, company memorabilia and photographs from the 20-year history are on display at the mill. The mill started life making newsprint from renewable forests, it then created newsprint from a blend of 65% recycled fibre and 35% virgin fibre.

Last year the company came full circle, when Prince Charles once again visited to open to unveil a 128 million development which enabled the Mill to produce newsprint from 100% recovered fibre.

Martin Green, head of fibre purchasing, said: “It is such a fantastic feeling to look back at the last 20 years and to see how much of a difference the company and the workers have made to changing people's perceptions about recycling.”

Paper and cardboard recycler Smith Anderson has begun producing a new heavyweight press board for the packaging industry, using high quality coated drinks cartons.

Smith Anderson recycles the materials at its plant at Fettykil Mills, Fife which was opened in July 2003. The facility, the only plant of its kind in the UK, uses hydrapulping technology to turn waste cartons into recycled paper products. It is now recycling 100 tonnes of cartons each week, the company said.

Because of the improved quality fibres, the 600gsm product is stronger than its predecessors the company said. It is also available in an extended range of colours.

Stephen Hutt, commercial director at Smith Anderson, said: “This is the first new product which we have been able to produce purely because of the new facility.

“The high quality of the card used in drinks packaging when stripped from the aluminium foil and plastic coating, produces long fibres. These have enabled us to produce stronger and more attractive products,” he added.

The Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs will be launching a new information guide on alternative treatment technologies for waste later this month.

Defra's Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) has developed a series of waste management technology briefing documents, which are to be unveiled at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management exhibition in Torbay from June 14-16.

WIP will provide materials focussing on three main areas of new waste technology – advanced thermal treatment, advanced biological treatment and mechanical biological treatment as well as mechanical heat treatment.

Each guide includes an explanation of how the technology works, case studies, a summary of market issues for outputs from processes, planning and environmental issues in addition to social and economic issues.

Plastics recycler JFC Delleve has won the 2005 Plastics Industry Award for Best Environmental Initiative.

The Warwickshire-based company won the award for its long-term commitment to plastics recycling and the boost this gives to the UK industry.

Judges were unanimous in their selection of JFC Delleve based on the company's 100% use of recycled material for its high volume application of corrugated drainage pipe production, which offered the “largest overall benefit to the environment”.

Backed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme, JFC takes bottle waste collected principally by local authorities and turns the plastic into surface drainage pipes. The company has been using the slogan “if you must bury plastic, bury it as a pipe.”

Lee Clayton, general manager at Delleve, said: “For us this award is about getting the recognition for our efforts. We have grown from a relatively small company into a significant recycler of plastic bottles, one of the biggest in the UK at the moment.”