Material Focus launches public battery fires campaign
Material Focus has launched a public campaign aiming to raise awareness of the actions householders can take to tackle the “increasing” issue of battery fires.
Material Focus is a not-for-profit organisation funded by the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) compliance fee.
The ‘Stop Battery Fires’ campaign, with which more than 70 local authorities are participating, instructs householders to remove batteries from electricals and recycle each separately.
If the batteries cannot be removed, then electricals should be recycled separately from other waste, Material Focus says.
Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, told letsrecycle.com the national campaign would target people via “online and offline media channels”, including radio, posters, YouTube, emails, social media across paid advertising and the local authority’s own channels.
Asked whether it was possible to tackle battery fires without kerbside WEEE collections, Mr Butler said: “It needs to be more convenient for more people to access reuse and recycling drop-off points for batteries and electricals.
“More retailer collections and more household collections are key parts of making it easier and Material Focus are working with retailers and local authorities on this.
“We expect government and industry stakeholders to consider the possibility of mandatory household collections in upcoming consultations on waste electricals and portable battery regulations.”
Recoup calls for ‘consistent approach’ to recycling data
Plastics recycling charity Recoup has called for a “consistent approach” to the collection of recycling data and “accuracy” in communications.
Recoup claims that without “such synergy” the government’s plans for consistency in household and business recycling in England “cannot produce recycling targets”.
Since July 2021, Recoup has worked with the 13 councils in Kent on a ‘live lab’ project in a bid to understand plastics recycling communications and behaviours.
Part funded by innovation agency Innovate UK and industry partners, the project demonstrated “the need” for on-pack labelling, brands and retailers, local authority websites and the media to use the same terminology and deliver the same message, Recoup says.
Anne Hitch, Recoup’s head of citizen and stakeholder engagement, said: “The good news is people want to do the right thing and if we can provide consistent and accurate messaging across all platforms, we believe we can really start to see sustained behaviour change.
“However, communications messaging must be based on sound data. Therefore, it is critical that across the whole of the UK we are measuring and classifying target and non-target materials in a unified way.”
The plastics recycling charity has produced a best practice guide for UK plastics recycling communications which will be launched at a free webinar on 27 July.
M&S removes best before dates across fruit and veg
Supermarket chain M&S is removing best before dates from a range of fresh produce in a bid to help reduce in-store and household food waste.
Best before dates will be removed from the labelling of more than 300 fruit and vegetable products, representing 85% of M&S’s produce offering. These products include “commonly wasted items” such as apples, potatoes and broccoli.
M&S will replace the dates with a new code which employees will use to ensure freshness and quality is maintained.
The change, which is being rolled out across all M&S UK stores from this week, is designed to encourage customers to throw away less edible food at home by using their judgement.
Andrew Clappen, M&S’s director of food technology, said: “We’re determined to tackle food waste. Our teams and suppliers work hard to deliver fresh, delicious, responsibly sourced produce at great value and we need to do all we can to make sure none of it gets thrown away.
“To do that, we need to be innovative and ambitious. Removing best before dates where safe to do so, trialling new ways to sell our products and galvanising our customers to get creative with leftovers and embrace change.”
Tredegar man fined £3,000 for waste offences
A man from Tredegar, south east Wales, has been ordered to pay £3,404 after pleading guilty to waste charges at Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court on 23 June, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) says.
Mervyn Lewis was operating an automotive business in Tredegar without the relevant environmental permits or waste exemptions, the environmental regulator says.
NRW officers first visited the site in June 2021. Upon arrival, they say, they found the site contained several vehicles in states of disrepair, including a number which were considered scrap metal and required removal from the site.
There were also a number of oil canisters, oily wastes and rags were scattered across the ground, NRW says, while officers found no pollution control measures in place.
Mr Lewis was found guilty of depositing and treating waste without the necessary environmental permits and fined £800, NRW says.
The environmental regulator says he was also ordered to pay investigation costs of £2,524 and a victim surcharge of £80.
Susana Fernandez, senior enforcement officer for NRW, said: “If we find evidence that a business is operating without the necessary permits which protects the local environment and surrounding communities, we will not hesitate to investigate and take the appropriate enforcement action.”
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