News in Brief

A new household waste recycling centre in Priorswood in Taunton opens its gates to the public this week, following investment of nearly 1 million.

The new facility has a capacity of about 25,000 tonnes a year and has been built by waste firm Wyvern next to the new MRF and transfer station. A new road layout has also been built to allow for an easier and safer access to the site. There will also be an increased number of bays at the site for visitors to park in.

Andrew Olie, managing director of Wyvern, said: “With levels of recycling among householders growing all the time, the old facility was just not fit for the job. We have invested heavily at Priorswood to provide the kind of facilities we know the public is expecting.”

According to Wyvern, already nearly 70% of all household waste taken to Priorswood is recycled and Wyvern believes its new facility will allow an 80% recycling rate to be achieved.

Claire Gloyne-Phillips of the Clean Merseyside Centre and Dr Andy Owen of the Sports Turf Research Institute with the recycled glass bunkers

Trials using sand made from recycled glass at bunkers on golf courses have been deemed a success by the Clean Merseyside Centre.

The six-month project was carried out at Merseyside golf courses – Caldy golf club, Allerton golf club and Blundells High golf club – and as a result the recycled glass sand has won seal of approval from the Sports Turf Research Institute.

Claire Gloyne-Philips, Clean Merseyside Centre manager, said: “Recycling is a waste of energy unless there is a market for the material. The idea of recycled glass bottles for use in golf bunkers is an imaginative solution but as we have proved – it is a viable one.”

A computer recycling event held by manufacturer Dell at its European headquarters in Bracknell has collected ten tonnes of equipment for recycling.

The event – organised alongside Bracknell Forest council, Reading borough council, Windsor and Maidenhead borough council and Wokingham district council – gave local residents the chance to bring computer and computer related electronic equipment to be recycled.

The event is one of several being run by Dell in Europe, Australia and the USA this autumn.

Jean Cox-Kearns, take back and recycling manager at Dell, said: “These recycling events and the public-private partnerships that make them possible, enable us to reinforce the message that no computer should go to waste.”

Scarborough borough council has introduced a recycling service to around 25,000 local households in the south of the borough.

John Miller of Yorwaste (left) with Sally Emmerson of Scarborough council and David Williams of Corus celebrate new scheme

Residents will be supplied with a blue bin in order to collect paper and re-usable bags to collect plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans.

The collection will be provided by waste management company Yorwaste. The steel collected through the scheme will be sent to Corus recycling, which has provided the collection sacks through producer responsibility money.

Sally Emerson, recycling co-ordinator at Scarborough borough council, said: “We are very grateful to Corus for their help towards the funding of the recycling bags. They will last for around three years and are ideally suited for use in the home.”