News in Brief

Container manufacturer Straight has said local authority trials of its new kitchen waste home composter have gone well.

Blackwall retail marketing co-ordinator Sarah Wharton with Professor Higa, developer of the composter's micro-organism technology.

The company claims its Blackwall Kitchen Composter can compost virtually 100% of household organic waste including meat, fish and dairy products. The caddy-style composters are based on Japan's Bokashi system and can be conveniently sited on kitchen counters, Straight said.

The air-tight unit uses a mixture of micro-organisms to break down the material and after a few days, the contents of the container can be placed in regular home composting bins.
The container also features a tap, which allows liquid to be drained off, which can be used to fertilise gardens.

Results of trials in East Sussex have led to high interest among local authorities according to retail marketing co-ordinator Sarah Wharton. She said: “We’re developing trials with a number of local authorities, some with up to 1,000 participants.”

Waste management company Onyx is to expand its recycling services in the city of Sheffield after a successful textile recycling trial.

The city's long-term waste contractor is to double the 6,000 homes currently offered textiles recycling services through local community group Reclaim. The 12,000 homes involved in the textiles scheme will also be given bags to recycle aluminium and steel cans.

Collections of cans and textile bags will be collected on the same day as the council's blue bin paper and card collection service, which is picked up every four weeks. Reclaim, which provides opportunities for disadvantaged people within the labour market, will sort and sell the materials collected.

Cllr Harry Harpham, Sheffield city cabinet member for Streetscene and Green Spaces, said: “Working in partnership with Onyx and Reclaim will help us to test whether these schemes are value for money and if they will have a real impact on our recycling.”

Selby district council has teamed up with local businesses in the area to offer a new “sorted” trade waste recycling scheme.

Launch: (left to right) Mike Thompson and Cllr Gillian Ivey of Selby District Council; Craig Bond of local business Arcsign; Colin Wallwork of Selby Chamber; Andrea Wiley of local business Yor-Kitchen; and Heather Lowe of Selby council

The service, is being run in the Selby, Sherburn and Tadcaster areas and will enable firms to have paper and card collected by the council's recycling team.

About 80 firms are taking part in the first phase of the project, which is expected to eventually run district wide.

The council has said that businesses that sign up will gain both financial and environmental benefits. Each of the firms taking part on the scheme will get accreditation from Selby district council, with a certificate and posters to display at their premises.

Councillor Gillian Ivey, vice chair of Selby district council's environment board, said: “The Selby district's a growth area, and the council is committed to working in partnership with businesses to enable firms to expand and develop – this is another way we can work alongside firms to deliver real benefits,” she added.

Work developing a new 4 million materials recycling facility is getting underway in Cardiff.

The city has signed Bollegraaf Recycling to equip the plant at Lamby Way in Rumney, which is being constructed by Stradform Ltd. The council said the new MRF will allow recyclable waste to be processed 10 times faster than the current facility, with a capacity of about 60,000 tonnes each year.

The new plant will allow the city to roll out its kerbside recycling scheme to all Cardiff householders. The city is trialling various forms of three-stream waste collection systems, picking up residual waste, mixed dry recyclables (paper, cans, plastic and glass) as well as green waste.

Cllr Elgan Morgan, executive member for environment, said: “The new recycling plant will be far more efficient and will help Cardiff to meet the challenging recycling targets for 2009/10 set by the Welsh Assembly.”