News in Brief

Yorwaste launches businesses food waste service

Recycling company Yorwaste has started offering a food waste collection service to businesses across Yorkshire.

With the help of funding from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Yorwaste plans to recycle food waste from around 500 companies across York, Leeds and Bradford with the aim of diverting 2,500 tonnes of waste from landfill over the next two years. The food waste will be taken to several anaerobic digestion facilities in Yorkshire, to be converted into renewable energy. Food production giant Nestle and The University of York are amongst the businesses who have already signed up to the service.

WRAP received over 40 applications for funding and Yorwaste was one of seven successful companies selected. Steve Grieve, managing director of Yorwaste, commented: We are delighted to have received funding from WRAP – with Landfill Tax escalating, there is big demand for a service of this nature at this time. We expect the service to be very successful and it is our intention to increase the number of food collection vehicles as demand increases.

Recycling minister backs We Need Your Bottles campaign

Recycling minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach has voiced his support for a new campaign from Closed Loop Recycling during a recent visit to the companys plastic bottle recycling facility in Dagenham.

The We Need Your Bottles campaign, which was launched in June to coincide with National Recycle Week, has been designed to raise greater awareness about the benefits of recycling plastic bottles in an effort to reach the 42% plastic packaging recycling target set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Lord Taylor expressed his delight with the campaign, commenting that Closed Loops efforts were not just great for the environment but also for green job creation and the wider UK economy.

During the visit, Closed Loop Recycling chief executive Chris Dow called for cross party support for his campaign, asserting that MPs from all parties should be in favour of this. The call has already been answered by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith and Labour MP Alan Whitehead. The Mayor commented that the programme is not only good for the environment, but great for our wallets too. Recycling saves Londoners money, with the added bonus of creating jobs in London.

Fernbrook Bio achieves PAS110 accreditation

Fernbrook Bios Rothwell Lodge plant in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has been awarded PAS110 accreditation for its biofertiliser, becoming only the sixth UK site to have achieved such an endorsement.

In recent times, Fernbrook Bio has expanded its laboratory at Rothwell Lodge by adding equipment which now enables the facility to carry out digester health analysis for other plants. A significant number of other improvements over the last 12 months have focussed on efficiency and the quality of the working environment.

The aim of the PAS 110 is to assure those using digestate as a biofertiliser or soil improver that the product is of a consistent quality and fit for purpose, giving confidence that it is a valuable source of nutrients.

Shaun Cherry,managing directorof Fernbrook Bio, said: The typical average reduction on the organics fed into the digester is between 65% – 70%.We are 15% more efficient than this, currently obtaining an 80% reduction in the volatile solid. We have achieved zero to land fill in the processing of our packaging, and our wooden pallets are now sent for biomass. It is immensely satisfying to have our Digestate officially recognised as a quality product which can be sold instead of a waste product.

Manchester residents unite for electricals recycling drive

Residents of Greater Manchester recycled an extra 840 kilograms of small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) as part of this years Recycle Week.

21 temporary WEEE Can Do It recycling points were set up near schools, libraries and shopping centres across the region to encourage residents to dispose of their unwanted small electrical devices. The call for waste appliances was met with a positive response from the local community, with hundreds of items being donated for recycling. Once collected, the appliances were handed over to waste management company Viridor which aided in the deconstruction and treatment of component parts at its plant in St Helens for use in future electrical products.

Councillor Neil Swannick, chair of the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, said: On average, every Manchester household has three broken or unwanted small electrical items. We are currently only recycling around 10% of these. If all of these items were recycled there would be 3.3 million items of electrical equipment that could be transformed into something new, saving the planets resources.

LWARB launches funds to cut waste service costs

The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) has announced the details of two funds to help local authorities in the capital cut waste costs.

The Efficiency Review fund will offer reviews at no up-front cost to local authorities in an effort to help them save money relating to waste and recycling services. The reviewswill take the form of a three phase consultation supported by Bristol-based Eunomia Research and Consultingcovering identification, subsequent investigation and finally the implementation of change.

Wayne Hubbard, chief operating officer of LWARB, said: The programme provides waste authorities in London with a great opportunity to investigate efficiency savings within their waste services.

Meanwhile LWARB have also announced a new Re-use and Recycling Centre fund in association with the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the aim of which is to allow small businesses to use recycling centres for the first time, as part of the Mayor’s Municipal Waste Management Strategy.

Linda Crichton, WRAPs collections and quality head of programme, said Authorities will receive a scoping study allowing them to make informed decisions on improvements. Support is available to help implement change and divert more business waste into recycling.