News in Brief

LGA encourages launches efficiency fund

It is hoped that by focussing on the highest spending areas, like waste and roads, the biggest savings will be found, allowing councils to maintain spending on high quality services which local people expect.

Councillor Peter Fleming, chairman of the LGAs improvement board, said: We are keen for councils to apply for this new funding to improve the services we know matter to the public the most, such as roads and rubbish collections. Just recently the LGA found that shared services between councils have already saved over 150 million. These new pilots will help councils to improve the way they buy goods and services, and will add to those savings. The LGA would like councils from right across the country to apply to take part in this new pilot to bring further savings to the taxpayer.

Applicants can bid for funding by emailing a short proposal to neil.rimmer@local.gov.uk by January 12.

4R moves first Biffa Poplars AD loads

The first loads of digestate have been collected from Biffas newly operational Poplars anaerobic digestion facility near Cannock, Staffordshire as part of 4R Recyclings three-year contract with the waste company (see letsrecycle.com story).

4R Recycling has already delivered over 450 tonnes of the organic material to farms in the local area, where it is used as a fertiliser replacement to improve ground quality for essential crops.

Colin Rudd, technical director for 4R Group, said: It is great to get started on this important contract which puts a newly created organic by-product into productive use. At 4R, we continually strive to develop new recycling outlets for organic materials and it is satisfying to see our efforts come to fruition in this way.

Reconomy and Balfour agree 6 million waste deal

Waste management company Reconomy has agreed a deal to supply skip services across all of the companies under the Balfour Beatty group.

Reconomy will look to monitor the amounts of waste received across all Balfour Beatty businesses, as well as the overall cost to the business, through its innovative Reconomy Portal website.

Jonathan Garratt, Balfour Beatty group head of sustainability, said: We see this as a great opportunity for Balfour Beatty on the road to formal and consistent waste management across the Group. The new Reconomy relationship will enable us to work towards a cradle-to-grave process for management of waste. Working closely with the dedicated Reconomy support team will ensure we meet our landfill diversion targets and demonstrate our commitment to best practise in the management of construction waste.

Textile recycler raises 3 million for charity

West Yorkshire based textile recycling company Bag It Up has announced that since being established 6 years ago it has received thousands of tonnes of donated clothing, coats, hats, bags, shoes, trainers, boots and household textiles, generating over 3 million for its partner charities.

Bag It Up works with charities throughout the UK that do not have charity shops and do not have textile recycling provisions in place. The company places recycling banks in a wide variety of locations including supermarket car parks, household waste recycling sites, shopping centres, community and sports clubs, and other areas with a high footfall, in order to generate donations and raise money for its regional partner charities. Partners include Yorkshire Air Ambulance in the Yorkshire region and Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance in the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire areas.

Katie Collinson, at Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: Our successful ongoing relationship with Bag It Up over the years has helped us raise a fantastic 1million, and this income helps us save lives across the region. We are encouraging people to keep donating their unwanted textiles, clothing and shoes to help us save even more money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Landfill communities funds raise over 18 million

Cory Environmental and Veolia ES are both celebrating spending a total of 18 million on community projects through the Landfill Communities Funds scheme.

Cory Environmental Trust in Britain (CETB) has announced funding for its 200th project since its creation in 2003, during which time it has donated over 8 million. 20,000 has been donated to the Huyton Neighbourhood Network towards the Woolfall Heath Meadow Restoration Project, in North Huyton, Merseyside.

Established in 1997, the Veolia Environmental Trust (VET) has meanwhile awarded over 10 million to over 300 community and environmental projects in its Southern region alone. Projects VET has contributed to include replacing parish hall at St Johns Church, Marchwood and creating a wheelchair-accessible footpath along the South coast.

The Landfill Communities Fund is a tax credit scheme introduced in 1996 as a means of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, and to promote a shift to more environmentally sustainable methods of waste management. LCFs fund projects that bring benefit to local communities within ten miles of an active landfill site.