Norfolk councils to collect batteries from kerbside
Breckland council has announced the launch of a free weekly kerbside battery collection across a string of the area’s councils in partnership with Serco.
As well as Breckland, the service will also extend to Kings Lynn, West Norfolk and North Norfolk council, the local authority said.
Starting today, 30 January, residents will be able to recycle used household batteries. The council advised that they should place their used household batteries in a freezer bag or similar sized clear bag on top of either their black or green bin on their usual collection day for them to be recycled.
The council emphasised the importance of placing these on top of the bin as they can cause fires in the vehicle and at the processing facility if not separated.
Cllr Helen Crane, executive member for waste, environmental health, licensing & sustainability at Breckland Council, commented: “Residents across Norfolk have contributed greatly to recycling every year, and we want to encourage that trend. This new recycling scheme will be incredibly beneficial for both the environment and the economy.
“This new service will help recover ever decreasing natural raw materials for reuse in new products, whilst ensuring hazardous items are safely and responsibly disposed of.”
South Tyneside hires electric bin lorry
South Tyneside council has hired an electric refuse vehicle from vehicle hire company CTS hire on a short-term arrangement.
The vehicle is a Renault Trucks E-Tech D Wide electric rear-steer chassis with the Dennis Eagle OL21 body and Terberg Xtra bin lift, to be supplied to CTS Hire by RH Commercial Vehicles. According to CTS Hire, the trucks are powered by 4x 66kW lithium batteries located in the wheelbase.
The council is thought to be the first in the country to hire this type of vehicle. The local authority is set to assess how the vehicle performs compared to a conventional diesel vehicle over the coming weeks.
This will include monitoring the running and maintenance costs, the impact of frequent start and stops and bin lifts on vehicle battery life and the impact of charging requirements on staff working patterns as well as its suitability on the varied collection rounds.
The council has a fleet of around 325 vehicles, 18 of which are electric. Introducing more electric vehicles to our fleet is one of the ways we are working to meet the council’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
Telford repair cafe receives funding
Telford & Wrekin cooperative council has said that its repair cafe is extending its reach with £5,000 funding from waste management company Veolia.
The funding comes as part of ‘added value’ from its contract with the local authority.
The council explained that thanks to the funding, the repair café can visit more venues, promote the initiative, and recruit more volunteers as part of its reuse roadshow. It added that this will include an extension into schools to fix uniforms for reuse and run BigFix events.
These are set to give young people the opportunity “to take items apart to understand how they work and see first-hand the value in goods and repairing them”.
Steve Mitchell, regional director for Veolia, said: “We are incredibly proud to be supporting Telford Repair Cafe. Our ‘added value’ plan is a fantastic part of our contract with Telford & Wrekin Council, which directs funds straight into the local community. Since commencement of the council waste contract Veolia has given more than £200,000 to benefit local community projects and initiatives.”
Government ‘continues to consider’ chemical recycling
The government “continues to consider” the role of chemical recycling in ensuring more plastic waste is recycled domestically, the environment minister said last week.
The environment minister Rebecca Pow made the claim in a written answer to a written question posed by Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central last week (27 January).
Ms Onwurah asked what assessment has been made of the importance of investment in chemical recycling for delivering a circular economy in the plastics sector.
Mrs Pow explained that chemical recycling offers “a potential complementary route for plastic recycling where mechanical recycling is impractical or uneconomic”.
“We continue to consider how it could play a role in ensuring more of our plastic waste is recycled domestically to meet our ambition of a 65% recycling rate by 2035,” she added.
Mrs Pow then referenced WRAP’s recently published updated plastic waste hierarchy, which touched upon the potential in chemical recycling for certain plastics. She also noted that the government has funded innovative demonstrator projects, including on chemical recycling, through UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging programme.
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