Analysis measures enfinium’s impact
A report commissioned by enfinium has measured the economic impact of the company’s operations from its employees through to its supply chain, the business has said.
The company outlined that it currently turns 2.3 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste into energy at its four facilities across the UK, with two new facilities under construction in Leeds and West Bromwich.
According to enfinium, the analysis measuring the company’s impact in 2022 found that it contributed nearly £242 million in ‘gross value added’ to the UK economy and supported 1,047 jobs across its supply chain.
In addition, through capturing by-products from its processes, recycling materials and diverting waste from landfill, more than 565,000 tonnes of carbon emissions were saved, enfinium said.
Building on that, Mike Maudsley, chief executive at enfinium, noted: “The transition to a net zero economy represents one of the greatest economic opportunities in the UK’s history.
“By leveraging new technologies like carbon capture and storage, electrolytic hydrogen and heat networks, we have the opportunity to build on our success and transform our waste infrastructure into net zero hubs that will help create the green industries of the future.”
MYGroup to create bird homes from recycled plastic
Waste management company MYGroup said it has partnered with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to create urban homes for birds made from recycled plastic.
MYGroup explained that the initiative forms part of the Trust’s collaboration with the Environment Agency, Hull city council and community action charity Groundwork.
The project, titled Dynamic Drains, is aimed at cleaning up and improving wildlife habitats along the Barmston Drain, which has seen a “significant” amount of water pollution in recent years.
MYGroup is set to create a series of nesting structures to encourage bird species that would otherwise find the environment along the drain challenging to make homes.
According to MYGroup, these will be created from its MYBoard, which is made from recycled plastic processed at the company’s Hull facilities and similar to plywood in consistency.
Steve Carrie, Director, MYGroup, said: “I’m proud to be partnering with the Trust on this boost for wildlife right on our company’s doorstep. It goes without saying that the project to clean up the waters of the Barmston Drain and encourage animal habitats to flourish goes hand-in-hand with MYGroup’s mission to reduce waste and improve the environment for all to enjoy.”
Bywaters highlights emerging problematic waste streams
London-based waste management company Bywaters has warned of an “acute increase” in both waste from the vaping industry and nitrous oxide canisters found in recycling.
The findings come from research into Londoners’ waste-related habits. The company said that the report is set to help raise awareness of the challenges London is facing.
It noted the amount of waste generated by vaping, highlighting that in two days of operations during a major summer event in London, 129 kg of disposable vapes were found in its waste collection. The company pointed out the need for improved systems for processing these materials, especially if they contain lithium batteries.
Additionally, Bywaters said that the “unique handling process” for the nitrous oxide cannisters has cost it over £100,000 in the last year. It explained that the number of these has drastically increased over the past two years, with an “immense surge” in the summer of 2022, which saw the company collect a total of 16,499 canisters between March and November last year.
Summarising the findings, Bywaters’ managing director John Glover Jr said that “London and the entire country’s approach to recycling needs to evolve and improve”.
Re-Gen praises contribution of commingled collections
Joseph Doherty, managing director of Newry-based Re-Gen Waste claimed that commingled recycling made the “greatest” contribution to Northern Ireland’s performance in 2021/22.
Data on Northern Ireland’s recycling performance for April 2021 to March 2022 showed that six of the top seven councils were collecting their dry recycling mixed as commingled collections, Re-Gen said.
It noted that while only 57.4% of households had their recycling collected under this system, this accounted for 62% of the tonnage collected.
Re-Gen highlighted that this method is “simple” and “convenient” for householders. With the materials then sorted at a materials recycling facility (MRF), the company explained that investment in MRF technology is being made “to improve sorting accuracy and material quality”.
It also outlined that it is already investigating how to process film and flexible plastics in the future when these will be included in the material delivered to its facility.
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