Northumberland acquires food waste vehicle from NRG Riverside
Northumberland county council has recently taken delivery of a new 7.5 tonne food waste vehicle from Lancashire-based fleet management company NRG Riverside.
The Isuzu 7.5t Terberg Orus, an RCV NRG Riverside says has a watertight body and “outstanding” manoeuvrability in narrow space, will serve a trial area of 4,800 properties receiving a weekly kerbside collection.
NRG Riverside says it has fitted the single unit vehicle with telemetry. The company says Northumberland will use the data it collects, combined with feedback from residents, to shape its food waste collection strategy.
Colin Curtis, Northumberland’s resources and waste contracts and commercial manager, said: “Northumberland council already encourages households to reduce the amount of food waste they generate and we are now looking to ensure that, when we are required to do so, any food waste that is produced can be collected and treated in the most sustainable way possible to reduce carbon emissions and help protect the environment.”
SEPA penalises Glasgow landfill for ‘offensive’ smell
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has fined a landfill site in Glasgow £6,200 for a breach of its environmental permit that resulted in an “offensive odour” and 138 complaints.
SEPA issued Paterson’s of Greenoakhill Ltd the variable monetary penalty, the first served by Scotland’s environmental regulator, for offensive odour issues at the site from 8-15 June 2021. The company was also required to pay £1,156.35 of SEPA’s cost.
SEPA says its officers identified concerns with a tipping area nearer to domestic properties than the rest, known as the Cell 10 Extension, in March 2021.
In April 2021, the operator started depositing waste in the new area, SEPA says, and the site breached its permit on five separate occasions in June that year. Neighbouring residents experienced disruption such as being unable to use gardens, cancelling social gatherings and sending children to stay with relatives, SEPA says.
Pamela Armstrong, SEPA Greater Glasgow and Clyde unit manager, said: “The eight-day period of odour the community had to deal with was significant and was due to a lack of reasonable care by the operator.”
Agency issues fines totalling £2,300 at Kent road stop
The Environment Agency and Kent Police Rural Task Force recently joined forces to set up a road stop to check vehicles carrying waste in the Swale area in Kent.
The partners stopped eight vehicles carrying waste and issued nine fixed penalty notices totalling £2,300, the Agency says.
Offences reportedly included insecure loads, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, driving without a seat belt and defective tyres.
The Agency was inspecting vehicles to check they had a valid waste carrier’s licence and that operators had a required waste transfer note.
Lyndsay Faulkner, the Agency’s environment manager, said: “This should serve as a warning to those who would flout the law that we and our partners will continue to search out waste crime and we won’t hesitate to take action when operators are acting illegally.”
Covanta starts work on IBA treatment plant
Covanta Europe last week (14 December) announced the start of construction on an aggregate processing plant in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, that will treat incinerator bottom ash (IBA).
To be developed and built in partnership with Day Aggregates, the plant will recover metals and create aggregate products for the construction industry from around 200,000 tonnes of IBA every year.
The IBA will come from Covanta’s energy from waste plants at Rookery South, Bedfordshire, and Newhurst, Leicestershire.
Andrew Howie, Covanta Europe’s commercial director, said: “By developing this innovative partnership, we will deliver a plant capable of processing the IBA generated by two of our facilities.”
Covanta says it has been granted planning permission for the plant and groundworks have begun. The plant is due to open in early 2024 and will be operated by Day Aggregates.
Caerphilly rewards schools for battery recycling
Caerphilly county borough council has rewarded four schools with Amazon vouchers for their efforts to recycle batteries.
The annual battery recycling initiative, run in partnership with compliance scheme European Recycling Platform, involves pupils across the borough bringing used household batteries into school for recycling.
This year’s competition proved “fiercely competitive”, Caerphilly says, and saw more than a tonne of batteries recycled.
Cwmaber Juniors, Ysgol Penalltau, Libanus Primary and Ty Isaf Infants Schools came out on top and were announced the winners.
Each winning school won £100 in Amazon vouchers at a special award ceremony at the end of the school year, with Cwmaber Juniors winning an additional £100 for collecting the most batteries by weight at 92kg.
Cllr Chris Morgan, Caerphilly’s cabinet member for waste, said: “It is great to see our local schools getting involved in this initiative.
“During my visit to the winning schools I was impressed by the children’s enthusiasm for recycling and we had a great discussion about food waste.”
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