Local Green Points to deliver King’s Lynn recycling project
King’s Lynn & West Norfolk council has appointed Local Green Points to provide a behaviour change programme that aims to embed positive recycling behaviour amongst its residents.
The programme, which will be launched in Spring 2016 to all 71,620 households in the borough, is being supported through a grant of £272,606 from the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Recycling Reward Scheme.
The programme will target specific waste behaviours including increasing dry recycling, increasing food waste recycling and reducing contamination of recyclate materials. The programme will be reviewed after 12 months with the potential to trial a range of activities in targeted areas across all seven boroughs in Norfolk in its second year.
Councillor Brian Long, cabinet member for environment at West Norfolk, said: “Many of our residents are already keen recyclers, however, we want to improve on our 41% recycling rate. This behaviour change programme is a great opportunity to apply some cutting-edge innovation to how we engage with our residents so that recycling becomes the norm. We’re also keen to explore ways for reducing contamination through the programme as this is a cost for the council and if our residents can improve the quality of recycling then everyone benefits.”
Graham Simmonds, managing director at Local Green Points, says: “I am really looking forward to working on this new behaviour change programme with the council and other key stakeholders. King’s Lynn & West Norfolk is a varied borough with an interesting mix of towns, rural areas and coastal communities, and embedding positive waste behaviours amongst local residents will be a really exciting project.”
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Sainsbury’s to scrap mutli-buy promotions
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has announced its commitment to phase out ‘multi-buy’ promotions, such as buy-one-get-one-free, across its grocery business by August 2016.
The move has come in part as a response to growing concerns over food waste, but the retailer also claims that research suggests multi-buy promotions are “out-of-step with today’s shopping habits” and attitudes towards food waste.
Sainsbury’s marketing director, Sarah Warby, said: “Careful management of household budgets, a growing awareness of the cost of food waste and more health-conscious living has driven a trend away from multiple product purchasing towards more single item purchasing.”
Research from WRAP suggests that consumers generate 4.2 million tonnes of avoidable food waste each year. Some have suggested that offers such as ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ (BOGOF) encourage shoppers to buy more food than they are able to consume and lead to greater volumes of waste.
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Powerday raises awareness of cycle safety
London waste management firm Powerday attended the London Bike Show with Construction Logistics for Cyclist Safety (CLOCS) to raise awareness of cycling safety in London.
The event, which ran from February 11-14 at the ExCeL centre, saw one of Powerday’s vehicles used as part of the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London initiative, Exchanging Places, where cyclists were invited to sit in the cab of a lorry and see for themselves what the drivers can and can’t see around the vehicle.
According to Transport for London, cycling journeys in London reached 23 million a year in 2014 with 432 cyclists serious injured or killed.
Bill Cox, Powerday’s transport manager, said: “Powerday is passionate about protecting vulnerable road users and committed to supporting the CLOCS scheme. The Bike Show will be a great opportunity to highlight drivers’ blind spots and to help cyclists minimise the risks when cycling on London’s roads.”
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Totus achieves management and safety standards
Waste derived fuel and hazardous waste exporter, Totus Environmental, has achieved certification for Quality Management, Environmental Management and Occupational Health and Safety.
Totus was found to have achieved the required standards for ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management, ISO14001:2004 Environmental Management and BS OHSAS 18001:2007 Occupational Health & Safety following a rigorous series of audits by business standards company, BSI.
The company has now fully embedded the management systems in to its business. This includes adopting policies, targets and mechanisms to constantly measure performance and processes to ensure continual improvement across the business.
Commenting on the achievement, Totus’ Compliance Manager, Joel Studley said: “Outside of the major waste management businesses I believe this triple certification is a first in the alternative fuels market. It demonstrates our commitment to providing a high quality and consistent service to our clients and a safe and productive work environment for our employees.”
Totus’ Managing Director, Andy Jones added: “The confidence that it brings both internally and in the market will play an important role in the continued rapid expansion and growth of our business.”
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