Yorwaste wins hospital contract
The firm – which is owned by North Yorkshire county council and city of York council – has been appointed to manage the hospital's 600 tonnes of waste each year, as well as 120 tonnes of cardboard and 40 tonnes of newspapers and magazines. As well as recycling these materials, Yorwaste will now be offering a recycling service for items such as inkjet toners, cans, glass and plastic.
Andy Sanderson, portering and environment manager at York hospital, said: “The Trust is a responsible producer of waste and takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. We awarded the contract to Yorwaste because we needed a contractor who could work with us to maximise the proportion of waste that we recycle.”
FRN teams up with Housing Federation
A nationwide drive to encourage communities to redistribute unwanted furniture to low-income families has been launched by the Furniture Re-Use Network.
Working in partnership with the National Housing Federation, the umbrella group for the UK's community re-use groups has produced a new “Win-Win” booklet outlining how much social landlords and their tenants can benefit from teaming up with local furniture re-use organisations. The booklet will be distributed to the National Housing Federation's 1300 members, along with 2,000 flyers advertising promotional events.
The scheme hopes to significantly increase the 2.5 million items of reusable furniture and domestic appliances which are sold at low prices each year to people on low incomes. Existing FROs are already helping to furnish 750,000 homes, providing 90,000 tonnes of useable goods from landfill each year and it is expected this figures could more than double for furniture and quadruple for white goods over the next two years.
Paul Smith, chief executive of the FRN, said: “By working together, we can reduce people's debt, help sustain their tenancy and provide an environmentally sustainable service.”
Garages assisted with pre-treatment rules
The Newton-Aycliffe-based firm has updated its Total Waste Management Programme to include advice and free surveys to customers to identify potential areas of cost saving and establish routes for recycling card, paper, plastics and glass. The move follows the introduction of regulations last October requiring all waste to be treated in some way before being disposed.
Credential Automotive commercial director Graham Gibson said: “We are proud to offer a compliant programme that remains both cost effective and unique. The programme was designed to take the hassle out of waste management and let out customers focus on the needs of their own business by leaving its waste to CA. Many have now been with us since the launch and I am sure will agree we offer a seamless total waste programme.”
Top beer brands slim down
Five of the UK's top brewers have adopted lighter glass bottles in response to demand for more environmentally friendly packaging.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has announced that SABMiller, Scottish &Newcastle, Marston's, Wells & Young's and Frederic Robinson have cut the amount of glass used to bottle drinks including Strongbow cider, Cobra beer and Miller genuine draft. Working with WRAP and glass industry expert Glass Technology Services (GTS) through the GlassRite programme, which encourages lightweight design, the initiative has already saved 3,800 tonnes of glass.
Andy Dawe, WRAP's head of retail programmes, said: “GlassRite has led the way and shown what can be done to lightweight glass containers. It is very encouraging to see so many major lager, ale and cider brands redesigning their bottles in-line with changing consumer and industry expectations.”
Christmas tree composting takes off in Dorset
Dorset composting firm Eco Sustainable Solutions- formerly known as Eco Composting – has begun feeding 6,000 trees collected by Bournemouth borough council into a shredders, before mixing them with garden waste for maturation. After approximately three months, the compost is screened, bagged and sold back to members of the public, garden centres and other customers.
Visiting Eco's 14-acre Parley facility, Bournemouth's portfolio holder for transport and the environment, councillor Robert Lawton, said: “This is the second year we've recycled Christmas trees in the borough and we're delighted at the way it is going. It makes great sense.”
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