News in Brief

Vehicle manufacturer Dennis Eagle has extended its refuse collection vehicle range with the introduction of the Phoenix High Capacity Twin Pack 50/50.

Dennis Eagle's new Twin Pack 50/50 aims to make kerbside collections easier

Aimed specifically at local authorities and waste management companies collecting recyclables from the kerbside, the Twin Pack features two separate and equally sized compartments.

The Twin Pack 50/50 is based on the company's existing dual body concept, which it has manufactured in the UK since 1987. The original vehicle's build is split two third/one third.

Dennis Eagle's managing director of commercial operations, Norman Thoday, said: “In developing the High Capacity Twin Pack 50/50 we are now able to offer customers an enhanced body offering, in particular relation to recycling.”

West Dunbartonshire is aiming to make recycling more appealing to children

Schoolchildren in West Dunbartonshire are being encouraged to recycle through an interactive DVD featuring the adventures of a new superhero known as &#39B;inman'.

Waste Aware Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire council are launching 'The New Adventures of Binman' DVD aimed at older primary and younger secondary school children.

Robert Robb, senior waste services officer at the council said: “We have tried to make these issues more appealing to children. We hope the DVD will prove to be a successful teaching tool in schools throughout West Dunbartonshire.”

The DVD is supported by a text information line by which school children and parents can access information about recycling facilities in the local area by texting their postcode and details of what they wish to recycle.

Biffa Waste Services is starting work on a new refuse and recycling collection contract this month in the Surrey district of Tandridge.

The contract will cost the council a little over 30 million during its 14-year period, and will see weekly refuse collections and fortnightly recycling collections. Biffa, which now has a 13.3% share of the collections market, will use a fleet of new vehicles – including new kerbsiders – for the Tandridge contract.

Councillor Eric Morgan, Chairman of the Community Services Committee, said: “Every week we collect rubbish and recycling materials from 32,700 households at a cost of less than a 1 a week per household. It's a key council service and one of the most highly visible. The new contract will enhance the service we currently provide.”

The next step for the council is to pilot a plastics recycling scheme.

High street clothing company Topshop has launched a new clothing label using recycled textiles.

Designer Emmeline Child with some of her recycled creations

The &#39E;mmeline 4 RE' range went on sale last week at Topshop's flagship store on Oxford Street, designed by University of Northampton fashion graduate Emmeline Child. The clothing was designed using textiles from the Salvation Army's Recycling Trading Company and Kettering Textiles in Northamptonshire.

Ms Child said: “I am over the moon and it still hasn't sunk in. My &#39E;mmeline 4 Re' collection is a huge honour for me, Kettering Textiles and the Salvation Army Trading Company.”

Following the launch on October 9, the label sold over 1,000 worth of stock in its first two days of trading.