Arthur’s Skips commences £3 million expansion

Sheffield-based Arthur’s Skips has expanded its premises and facilities with the support of a £3 million funding package from NatWest and Lombard Asset Finance.

Having purchased a five-acre site adjacent to its materials recycling facility on Parkwood Road in Neepsend, the company’s total operational footprint has been increased to more than 20 acres.

Arthur’s Skips says the additional space will allow it to increase its processing capabilities significantly, and it will now look to invest in the waste processing technology including the potential creation of a small-scale energy from waste (EFW) facility.

James Hartley, director of Arthur’s Skips, said: “As one of the largest skip hire and waste management firms in South Yorkshire, we are continually looking at how we can expand to offer our customers the best service possible.

“By growing our existing site by another five acres, we can now process more waste in less time.”

As part of the expansion, Arthurs Skips has purchased an aggregate wash plant with the capacity to process more than 100 tonnes of material an hour. The material from the company’s recycling activities will be used as feedstock for the plant.

Mr Hartley said: “Sustainability has always been a priority for the firm, and we want the ethos of the wash plant – recycle and reuse – to run through everything we do.”

Deadline looms for Merseyside recycling fund submissions

The deadline for organisations who want a share of the £165,000 Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and Veolia Community Fund 2020/21 is looming.

The deadline for submissions is 11.59pm on 15 March. These can be made here.

Run annually since 2006, the funding has been made available for community and voluntary groups, schools and not-for-profit organisations, who can reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource re-use and prevent carbon emissions in Merseyside.

Chairperson of the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) councillor Tony Concepcion said: “We know that there are a lot of communities concerned about climate change and sustainable living.

“Giving groups the opportunity to get involved in looking after their environment can only bring benefits to all and can help us appreciate items as valuable resources rather than something which otherwise might be just thrown away.”

Bids must tackle one or more of the four priority household waste materials identified by MRWA, which are food, plastics, textiles and furniture.

Previous Community Fund projects have included local recycling guidebooks, cookery clubs to improve people’s diet and reduce food waste, the restoration of old furniture to sell for charity and the refurbishment unwanted rugs for resale.

Eunomia surveys Welsh waste legislation

On 4 March Eunomia launched a study on behalf of the Welsh Government assessing the potential impacts of proposed legislation on the competitiveness of companies involved in managing business waste across Wales.

The survey aims to understand how waste management businesses might be affected by several new policies designed to increase the amount of recycled business waste.

The proposed policies will require nondomestic waste producers including businesses, charities and the public sector to present several kinds of waste separately from one another so they can be collected for recycling. Waste collectors will be required to arrange for these materials to be collected separately.

Various practices are to be banned, including the disposal of recyclable wastes to landfill, the incineration of recyclable waste materials and the disposal of food waste to sewer from nondomestic premises.

Views are being gathered through an online survey.

Viridor sponsors beach cleaning trommels

Viridor has sponsored 15 beach cleaning trommels which can be used to sift through the sand and remove microplastics from the natural environment.

Viridor says it is working with community interest company Nurdle to distribute the trommels to environmental, community and beach clean groups as they clean beaches on a microplastic cleaning tour of the South West.

The first organisations to receive trommels were: Plastic Free North Devon, North Devon AONB and local Eco Schools. More donations will follow as the events take place on beaches throughout the South West and South Wales.

Viridor MD Phil Piddington said the company was supporting efforts to keep plastic out of the natural environment by giving beach clean groups the tools they need, empowering them to make a real impact beyond the great work already taking place by targeting micro and macroplastics.

He said: “We think the thousands of dedicated volunteers who regularly give up their time to clean up our beautiful beaches need the support of local businesses and the right tools to make the most of their efforts.”

“Since we are in the business of recycling and putting the Right Stuff in the Right Bin, this is the kind of community activity that we are proud to support”

Dan Cooke, Viridor’s Head of Sustainability, said: “Sponsoring the Nurdle trommels helps us accomplish our goals in terms of practical action to capture and recycle more plastics. But we wanted to take that one step further and so we will be taking the beach plastic which is collected to give it a recycling solution.”