News in Brief

Public consultation launched for Peterborough EfW

The programme, which runs until October 24, aims to inform residents about the proposals for the plant, through a newsletter, website, a freephone information line and a public exhibition day.

Viridor is currently awaiting approval from Peterborough council to amend its plans, originally approved in May 2010, to increase the capacity of the facility from 65,000 to 85,000 tonnes a year.

Victor Perez-Mares, communications manager for Viridor said: Were looking to build upon the public engagement work already conducted by the council when planning permission was achieved for the 65,000tpa facility. Our public engagement work will provide an opportunity for residents to find out more about our proposed solution, the modern technology to be used as well as giving them the chance to ask questions to the project team and let us know their views on our proposals.

Welsh schools take part in WEEE reuse drive

Forty schools across Wales have joined together to promote WEEE reuse, as part of a scheme organised by ten councils to reduce waste.

WEEE Reuse Recycle 2012, which is being run in conjunction with compliance scheme ERP, the Distributor Take-back Scheme and SE Wales Regional Waste Group will see each school collecting unwanted or broken electrical items from pupils, where it will then be sent to a re-processor, and treated for reuse or recycling.

The schools will be competing against each other to collect the most WEEE on average per pupil, with the winning school receiving up to 1,000 worth of electrical items.

Scott Butler, ERP UKs managing director, said: Were very excited about WEEE Reuse Recycle 2012. This is a fantastic opportunity to spread the recycling message and to give new life to broken or unwanted electronic items. We hope there will be a great contest between the schools to collect the most WEEE.

Food waste road-show finishes Wales tour

Celebrity chef Richard Fox was joined by Welsh Environment Minister John Griffiths on the Love Food Hate Waste road show which toured the 22 local authorities in Wales this summer.

The tour which was run by Waste Awareness Wales, ended on October 6, included live cookery demonstrations and tips for reducing waste and took place at venues across the country.

Georgina Taubman from Waste Awareness Wales said: The two main reasons we end up wasting food is that we cook or prepare too much, or we let it go past its use-by date. Small and simple changes in the kitchen can make a massive difference, such as knowing more about portion sizes and understanding the different date labels used on food packaging.

Knowing a bit more about how we shop for, store and prepare food all helps us to waste less food at home. This is why we orgainsed the Love Food Hate Waste tour to show people how easy it is to make the most of the food they buy and save money along the way.

Hampshire firm sees big jump in food waste recycling

Hampshire based food waste recycler Eco Food Recycling claims to have seen a huge jump in the amount of food waste collected in the last 12 months.

According to the company a total of one million kilogrammes of food waste has been collected since it began operating in 2010, including more than 7,000 tonnes in its second year of offering the service.

Director Simon Heaps said: The continued growth that we have seen in the past two years especially in a recession period without economic growth has been remarkable. We pride ourselves on our service and communication skills and each customer regardless of the size is treated in the same manner.

Not only are we diverting food waste away from landfill but we are also assisting businesses that have a strong corporate social responsibility to fulfil their obligations. The waste hierarchy is another factor that our customers have considered as they now have their commercial food waste recycled and are fully compliant.

British Heart Foundation reaches reuse store landmark

The British Heart Foundation celebrated the opening of its 150th reuse store for furniture and electrical items with the opening of its Huntingdon branch last month (September 18).

The stores first opened in 2003, and last year made a profit of 14.1million, selling items including sofas, TVs, beds, dining sets and fridges that have been collected from householders in working order.

Jacqui Whitehall, BHF area manager for Huntingdon said: We are delighted to celebrate the 150th milestone and that the Huntingdon store has made its mark in the local community.

“When you consider that selling two sofas can provide a heart patient with a hand held ECG machine so that they can monitor their heart at home, it really puts things into perspective on how much this store is helping those in need.