Horticultural industry urged to recycle PVC
The horticultural scheme follows a similar initiative in the Netherlands where Recovinyl said “large volumes” of post-use PVC from growers, such as irrigation pipes, have been recycled.
Campaign leader Peter McCutcheon said: “In the light of the Dutch success and given the size of the UK horticultural industry, we see great potential for recycling end-of-life PVC materials, such as pipes and crates. As well as diverting a highly-recyclable material from landfill and saving on disposal costs, companies who recycle their waste PVC can differentiate their business activities by demonstrating their green credentials to end users.”
Scottish council considers fortnightly scheme
North Lanarkshire council in Scotland is to consider introducing alternate weekly household waste collections in a bid to boost recycling.
The proposals also include providing separate collections for garden waste and glass, as well as trialling food waste collections with the garden waste. The council also hopes to apply to the Scottish Executive for funding to roll-out its garden waste service to another 5,000 properties.
Council Leader, Councillor Jim McCabe, said: “Alternate weekly collection schemes may not be a popular idea, but the facts are that they deliver increased recycling with very little alteration to overall service and that, if created and managed effectively, they offer only positives to the communities in which they are applied. This was a difficult decision to make, however failure to act on waste management could result in fines of up to £2million over the next three years.”
Chinese seek WEEE insight at MDJ Light Bros
The group visiting the company's site in Lewes, East Sussex, included representatives of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association and the Haier Group, China's biggest appliance manufacturer. They inspected the company's processing and recycling of TVs and PC monitors, fridges and other electrical equipment, as well as the separation and processing of metals and plastics.
Light Brothers' national recycling manager Phil Burgon, said: “The Chinese delegation seemed impressed by our use of technology, as well as good old-fashioned muscle power, to collect, sort, process, segregate and market recyclable materials. Reducing waste is a worldwide challenge, and Chinese manufacturers have a big role to play in adapting product design to make recycling easier and more efficient.”
Hambleton to launch kerbside recycling scheme
Hambleton district council in North Yorkshire is launching a new kerbside box recycling service from November 19, for glass, paper, cans, and plastic bottles.
The fortnightly service will cover 96% of the district initially – around 38,000 homes – alongside the existing twin-bin alternate weekly refuse and green waste scheme, which uses black and green wheeled bins. Provision for collections from homes in the remoter areas needs further exploration. The new service uses a blue box for cans, plastic bottles and glass, with a separate blue bag for paper.
Cabinet member for waste management, Cllr Bob Baker, said: “Last year we recycled almost 44% of all household waste – a figure we must drive up to 50% by 2010. Residents have already embraced the concept of recycling through our alternate weekly collections and recycling centres – now we want to make it even easier for them to do still more.”
Highlands in “major achievement” recycling glass
The company, which is part of Viridor Waste Management, has said the glass it collects from 200 collection points as well as kerbside collection schemes of segregated recyclables, helped contribute to Highland council's 26% recycling/composting rate in 2006/07. The glass is taken to Viridor's processing plant at Bonnyrigg, just south of Edinburgh, where it is recycled into cullet. Two thirds of this goes to Scotland's fibre glass producers and is mainly used in insulation.
Jamie McBride, operations manager of Viridor Glass Recycling, said it was a “great achievement” and Highland council's waste management officer Andy Hume added that it was helpful that glass collection rates at individual bring sites could be tracked through Viridor's weighing equipment.
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