Shanks launches corporate targets
Waste firm Shanks has launched a set of five-year Corporate Responsibility targets, including aims to boost health and safety and sustainability.
Shanks claims the new targets are ‘more demanding’ than its previous aims as a result of an assessment of the most important issues for each of the company’s stakeholder groups.
The ‘principal objectives’ are lowering risk by maintaining health and safety, striving to maintain sustainability, contributing to local communities in which sites are located, and staff development.
Each of these objectives will be accompanies by targets, and replace CR objectives set in 2010 to the areas of recycling and recovery, carbon avidance and health and safety, which were met by 2015.
Shanks chief executive Peter Dilnot said: “We are delighted that we have achieved our last set of CR objectives but we are determined to improve our performance further through these new demanding targets. We are already well underway with focused programmes to ensure that we meet these ambitious new goals and I look forward to seeing the benefits they will bring, not only for our business, but for all of our stakeholders.”
Details of the targets can be found in Shanks’ Annual Report.
Recycling firm fined over worker injury
Southern Plastic Recycling Ltd has been ordered to pay almost £2,500 following an incident in which a worker fell from an industrial-sized waste bin.
Worthing Magistrates’ Court heard how a man employed by the Chichester-based company was standing inside the waste bin when the incident happened in June 2014.
The employee fell around 2.5 metres from the top of a large roll on/off waste bin while manually tipping waste plastic into the container from a bulk bag. He suffered a broken collar bone and wrist as well as a blow to the head.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found there had been nothing to prevent the man from falling out of the container.
Following the sentencing, HSE inspector Suzanne Matthews said: “Had the company carried out a proper risk assessment of the work, they would have identified both the foreseeable work at height risk involved and how that risk could have been avoided by choosing a system of work which eliminated the need for employees to work at height altogether.”
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, Southern Plastic Recycling declined to comment.
Multifuel Energy signs £75m power deal
Multifuel Energy Limited (MEL) has signed a two-year power purchase agreement with SmartestEnergy for the output from its £300 million energy from waste plant in West Yorkshire.
Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 near Knottingley will produce around 600 GW of electricity a year from around 570,000 tonnes of municipal and commercial refuse derived fuel.
The PPA signed with SmartestEnergy, one of the largest power purchase deals seen in the sector, is expected to be worth around £75 million over the contract which also covers generation during the commissioning phase which is now in its final stages.
Tom Maillet, Director of Engineering and Operations for MEL said: “Signing this Power Purchase Agreement is another step forward for the Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 facility and this will allow a new supply of low carbon electricity on the national grid at the earliest opportunity. The tender process was highly competitive and SmartestEnergy offered the best overall commercial package.
ZWS makes climate case for circular economy
A report published by Zero Waste Scotland has modelled the impact of circular economy strategies at a national level on greenhouse gas emissions.
‘The Carbon Impacts of the Circular Economy’ report quantifies the potential carbon impacts of a more circular economy in Scotland, comparing a 2012 baseline with four different scenarios for 2050.
The results presented show that material consumption is responsible for two thirds of Scotland’s carbon emissions, while nearly one in every five tonnes of material flowing through the Scottish economy is waste.
It concludes that a more circular Scottish economy could reduce territorial emissions by 11 million tonnes CO2e per year by 2050 compared to ‘business as usual’ scenario.
Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “This report shows that a circular economy – where we move away from a ‘take, make and dispose’ society – could have a huge impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland.
Simply Cups expands material range
Simply Cups, the UK’s sole cup recycling and recovery scheme, has announced it will be recovering five additional materials from this month.
The new range of materials includes beverage cartons, washroom towels, food service PET packaging and cup lids.
The scheme was launched by Closed Loop Environmental Solutions and Simply Waste Solutions in August 2014 in response to the 2.5 billion paper cups used in the UK each year (see letsrecycle.com story).
In addition, Bunzl Catering Supplies, Benders Paper Cups and the British Association for Sustainable Sport are the latest organisations to join the scheme, whose existing members include Costa Coffee and John Lewis Partnership.
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