Cumbrian fraud case sent to Crown Court
At a hearing at Furness magistrates court on Tuesday, district judge Mr Morgan ruled that a charge of “conspiracy to obtain sums of money from Cumbria county council by deception” brought against Dave Armer, Donald Andrew Kershaw, Anne Kirkwood and Peter Newton needed to be referred to a higher court, as it was an indictable offence.
The case will now be heard before Preston Crown Court at 10am on March 11. A spokeswoman for the magistrates court explained: “Conspiracy offences automatically go to a higher court.”
Towcester named Northamptonshire's top recycling centre
The award was introduced in 2006 by the county council and its contractor HW Martin Waste Ltd to recognise the efforts of staff and encourage them to maximise recycling rates and customer satisfaction at the county's 10 recycling centres.
This year saw Dave Rideout, the manager of the Towcester centre, awarded a plaque and a cheque for £250 from county council waste operations and capital manager Wade Siddiqui and Phil Darwin, national operations manager for H W Martin Waste Ltd.
Northamptonshire's cabinet member for the environment, Councillor Ben Smith said: “This award is a fantastic way to highlight all the excellent work Northamptonshire County Council's waste recycling centres are doing in not only raising the standards but encouraging recycling throughout the county. For this, all involved should be praised for their overall continuned hard work and support.”
Twin accolades for Hadfield's
Manchester-based Hadfield Wood Recyclers is celebrating after two awards wins in two weeks.
The firm's sister company UK Wood Recycling (UKWR) won the recycling category at the North East Environment and Energy Awards on January 31 for being the best recycler in the Teesside area. And, its equine bedding product “Easibed” won the export award at a BETA Awards Ceremony over the weekend (17th February).
Managing director Geoff Hadfield was delighted with the result. He said: “We work very hard across both the companies and all our animal bedding products to ensure we are top of our game, and I am are delighted that UK Wood Recycling and easibed have been recognised as exactly that.”
Former mines test out PAS 100 compost
Damside near Shotts in North Lanarkshire, Dalquhandy in South Lanarkshire and St Ninians in Fife are all working to improve soil quality with green waste compost produced by Berwick firm Forth Resource Management. WRAP is working with consultants Envar as well as the site owners the Scottish Resources Group – the company behind Scottish Coal – which wants to grow biomass crops on the land.
Paul Mathers, programme manager for landscape and regeneration, at WRAP, explained: “For these particular trailblazer projects the objective is to improve the condition of the soil by increasing its water infiltration, organic matter content and nutrient exchange properties, so that it can support the establishment of sustainable plant growth.”
Sims buys Salisbury IT recycling firm
Sims Recycling Solutions has expanded its WEEE recycling network with the acquisition of Wiltshire company RecommIT for an undisclosed sum.
Based in Salisbury, RecommIT was founded in 1997 to specialise in the disposal of information technology, secure data removal and recycling of IT equipment. Sims Group, the second largest metals recycling company operating in the UK, said its acquisition fitted with the Group's aim to grow its “lifecycle solutions” in IT asset recovery, re-use and recycling for the business-to-business and government sectors.
Senior managers at RecommIT – Geoff and Jane Corani – are to retire, but will be retained as consultants to the business, reporting to Sims Recycling Solutions general manager Andrew Morgan.
Commenting on the acquisition, Graham Davy, global chief executive for Sims Recycling Solutions, said: “We are extremely pleased to welcome RecommIT into our business. Their infrastructure in the UK offers Sims an excellent platform for further growth in an important market. Growing awareness of the intrinsic value present in returned business electronic assets as well as an increasing focus on social responsibility makes this a key sector for anyone serious about providing a complete solution to WEEE.”
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