Defra pushes back organic waste recycling guidance
However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) told letsrecycle.com that it will now not be publishing guidance until the summer. It said this was due to the ongoing work on the EU End of Waste criteria for biowaste which would supersede the PAS 100 and PAS 110 standards.
The Organics Recycling Conference and Awards 2013 is taking place in Oxfordshire on March 21 2013. To find out more click here.
Commenting on the move, a Defra spokeswoman said that there has been no official notification put out to local authorities. She said: The guidance hasnt been published yet. Just chatting to the policy team, they said the timing isnt right on it because of the EU end of waste proposals that are coming up so anything they did now is likely to be out of date until that comes around.
Businesses to gain from free small-scale AD units
Small scale Anaerobic Digestion (AD) systems manufacturer SEaB Energy has secured funding to enable up to 20 businesses to have a unit installed and operated on their premises free of charge.
Each AD unit is housed in a transportable container and has the capacity to process up to 2.5 tonnes of organic waste each day. The energy produced is fed in to the National Grid, while the resulting PAS110-compliant digestates can be sold as organic fertilisers or mulch.
According to SEaB, the self-optimising FlexiBuster and MuckBuster are especially suitable for use by food manufacturing plants, micro breweries and bakeries as well as larger catering establishments, shopping centres and leisure park.
Sandra Sassow, SEaB chief executive, said: This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses, who see the benefits of AD but have been put off by the lack of suitable facilities locally and the huge costs involved in waste transportation, to take advantage of a very generous business package that can only be offered on a limited, first come first served basis. It will also enable companies that are keen to promote their Corporate Social Responsibility to adopt AD on a no-risk basis.
Businesses interested in the offer should contact SEaB Energy.
Biffa helps Mole Valley increase recycling rate
Mole Valley district council in Surrey has seen a 62% increase in its recycling, reuse and composting rate for November 2012 with help from its waste contractor Biffa.
The council also announced annual cost savings of around 100,000 after expanded recycling services were implemented by Biffa. As a result, the firm has been awarded a three-year extension to its contract with the council, which is now due to end in 2019.
In September 2012, new collection services for small domestic waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and for waste textiles were rolled out by the council. Both these material groups previously had to be taken to local recycling centres or put into residents residual waste.
Since then, according to the council, Biffa has collected just over ten tonnes of small WEEE and more than 15 tonnes of waste textiles.
Residents are now also able to recycle a wider range of plastics and aluminium foils as part of their commingled recyclables collection.
Biffa municipal development director, Pete Dickson, said: It gives us a great lift when our council partner supports our ideas for service expansion, and its paid off for everyone.
Mole Valley district councillor James Friend, portfolio holder for environment, said: We are delighted to be working in partnership with Biffa to introduce new recycling services for our residents. Thanks to the breadth of our recycling service and the efforts of our residents, we are currently recycling over 60 per cent of Mole Valleys waste.
Biffa has provided recycling and refuse collections services to Mole Valleys 37,268 households since 2002.
Industrial cores are not packaging, the CEPI says
The Confederation of the European Paper Industries (CEPI) has concluded that industrial cores are not packaging, following an amendment to Annex I of the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive on packaging definitions.
The amendment, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, harmonises the list of products being defined as packaging, which now includes rolls, tubes and cylinders.
The Directive seeks to reduce the impact of packaging and packaging waste on the environment, but does not apply to industrial cores used in the paper industry, following the CEPI announcement. These are now listed among the exceptions and are not considered packaging or packaging waste.
The relevant paragraph for industrial cores in the Annex states: Rolls, tubes and cylinders around which flexible material (e.g. plastic film, aluminium, paper) is wound, except rolls, tubes and cylinders intended as parts of production machinery and not used to present a product as a sales unit.
As a result, the CEPI will inform its national associations and relevant industry sectors on its view and advocate any implementation of the Directive to adopt the same interpretation.
The amendment to Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste enters into force 1 March 2013. Member States have to comply with this Directive by 30 September 2013 at the latest.
Danish bucket manufacturer to open UK office
Danish loader bucket manufacturer Viby Attachment has opened a UK headquarters and parts depot today (March 4) after having announced the appointment of a new UK sales manager earlier this month.
Trevor Snowballs appointment and the launch of its UK headquarters are part of a concerted drive to capitalise on recent sales growth for Viby in the UK attachments market.
Mr Snowball has spent the past 30 years of his career working for mining and construction equipment manufacturer, Komatsu, in both sales and engineering roles. He held his most recent position as Komatsus northern area sales manager for seven years before joining Viby Attachment UK Ltd, where he will report to recently-promoted UK director at Viby, Andrew Little.
Mr Snowball said: Its hugely exciting to take on this role with Viby at a time when the company is moving forward so successfully. As a salesman, its also an undoubted bonus to visit customers with the knowledge that your products are genuinely the best on the market.
Mr Little said: Whilst the sectors we deal with have all experienced challenging times due to the economic climate, Viby has continued to grow its market share here. As a result, the time is right to expand our UK operation.
Cambridge council weighing equipment proves success
Cambridge city council has said that using equipment provided by weighing manufacturer Vehicle Weighing Solutions (VWS) under a fixed-price contract has saved money and kept the equipment in good working order.
The city council switched to using VWS onboard weighing in 2008 because VWS equipment does not require a separate monitor and integrates with its fleets in-cab display.
David Cox, fleet manager for Cambridge city council said: We need our weighing equipment to be in good working order to avoid any over-loading, which could threaten our operators license. Before we used VWS weighing equipment we used to have to pay every time a load cell failed.
He continued: We started using VWS for all our weighing equipment and opted for their maintenance contract for peace of mind. It works brilliantly and the cost of the contract offers us great value for money. As part of the agreement each year VWS re-sets and calibrates our equipment and does the LOLER inspections on our bin-lifts, which used to be done by a different company.
Old cars recycled for Comic Relief
Old vehicles donated through a charity car recycling scheme will count towards Comic Reliefs on-the-night total on Red Nose Day on March 15, it has been announced.
CarTakeBack works with a number of charities through the scheme including Oxfam, Cancer Research UK, Bullying UK, the RSPCA and Warchild to recycle old cars and donate the scrap value. If a donated car still works, the organisation can also auction it and give the money to one of its partner charities.
Those wanting to donate can arrange to deliver their car to one of TakeCarBack’s recycling centers, or have it collected free of charge from home or the workplace. Charity Car will then pay donations direct to Comic Relief, which works on various charitable projects in both the UK and Africa.
To donate an old or broken car visit the Charity Car website or call 0844 669 68 89.
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