News in Brief

JBS Fibre opens mattress recycling centre in Telford

The new facility at Stafford Park in Telford, Shropshire, enables mattresses to be split down into five separate components: fabric, polyurethane foam, metal springs, flock, and the base. Each of the first four components is fully recyclable, and although the base usually comprising of some form of coconut matting cannot be recycled because it is so low-grade, the material can still be used to generate energy from waste by the process of anaerobic digestion, eliminating the need to send any part of the mattress to landfill. The Shropshire-based company has already recycled 180,000 mattresses since it started recycling them 12 months ago

John Neill, director of JBS Fibre Recovery, said: This fantastic new facility gives us the additional capacity to work alongside stakeholders including Wolverhampton city council, Telford and Wrekin council, major retailers such as John Lewis, bed manufacturing companies, and the general public to significantly slash waste and reduce our dependence on sending materials to landfill.

Biffa Municipal slates rumoured push for weekly collections

Collection contractor Biffa Municipal has hit out at mainstream media suggestions that the forthcoming Waste Review will include incentives for councils to adopt weekly waste collections.

The company, which is a subsidiary of waste firm Biffa, has branded claims 100 million will be made available to councils to alter their collection methods a bribe to go backwards. Biffa claimed that changing a perfectly acceptable alternate weekly collection into a weekly collection service could cost councils as much as 400,000-a-year. It is understood that food waste and not residual waste will be the subject of the incentives for adopting weekly collections (see letsrecycle.com story).

Commenting on the media speculation, Roger Edwards, managing director of Biffa Municipal, said: I see this rumoured fund as a bribe to councils to go backwards. Why change collection systems that are established, accepted and proven to work? I suspect most councils with fortnightly schedules would shudder at the thought of introducing weekly refuse collections.

SWR purchases glass crushing firm Smash & Grab

Hampshire-based waste management firm SWR has purchased glass crushing equipment specialists Smash & Grab.

Smash & Grab, which is based in Surrey, has developed a compacting machine which is designed to turn a large number of bottles into small pieces and reduce the volume of waste by around 80%.

SWR has purchased the company in order to extend the services it offers and now plans to bundle the machine into its waste management contracts for customers whose businesses have a lot of bottles to dispose of rather than to actually focus on selling the machine.

Giles Whiteley, chief executive of SWR, said: From the outset we were really impressed with what the machine was achieving, it solves a number of problems for customers in one hit; waste volume is reduced, collection costs are reduced, space required for bins is reduced and the problem of the noise of emptying bins full of bottles goes away.”

SITA UK submits plans for Kirkby rail waste transfer

Waste management firm SITA UK has submitted a planning application for a rail waste transfer station at Knowsley Industrial Estate in Kirkby.

Under its proposal, SITA UK proposes to transport waste from Merseyside to a planned energy-from-waste facility in Wilton, Teesside in conjunction with Sembcorp (see letsrecycle.com story). The transfer station would enable up to 500,000 tonnes of residual waste a year to be bulked and transported via rail. And, as part of the formal planning process, SITA UK has submitted a request to Knowsley Borough Councils development control team for a screening opinion. This seeks to clarify the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment and to agree the topics which the planning application will cover.

The plans will only be developed if the company is successful in its bid to secure a 30-year contract to treat waste from the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority which represents five Merseyside local authorities and Halton borough council. SITA UK is currently vying with energy-from-waste specialist Covanta Energy for the PFI-backed contract (see letsrecycle.com story).

Rugby league giants join R4GM textile recycling efforts

Players from Super League side Salford City Reds have donated the rugby shirts off their backs as part of Recycle for Greater Manchesters (R4GM) world record attempt at recycling clothes.

The sportsmen joined the appeal to recycle clothes for World Environment Day, which takes place on Sunday (June 5). Working in conjunction with R4GM and childrens charity Barnardos, staff at The Trafford Centre are hoping to collect more than 34,000 items of clothing as quickly as possible, with the current Guinness World Record standing at 33,088 items. After the Big Recycling Weekend, the R4GM network will be collecting items on behalf of The Trafford Centre around the region.

Karen Hall from Recycle for Greater Manchester said: There will be lots for people to get involved with after donating, such as the Recycle Pledge where you could win 100 of shopping vouchers, a living room made from entirely pre-loved furniture, a Recycle Right video brought to you by Dave Spikey.