Firms fined for breaching Packaging Regulations
Blackacre Farm Limited of Templecombe, Somerset, was ordered to pay a total of £3481.97 as a result of not either registering with the Agency or joining an approved packaging producer compliance scheme, while The Fine Food Company of Wincanton was found liable for £4770.95 in fines, costs and compensation for failing to register in both 2006 and 2007.
All businesses with an annual turnover of more than £2 million and handling 50 tonnes or more of packaging must either register with the Agency or join a compliance scheme, and Tessa Bowering of the Environment Agency said: “It is important businesses are aware of their responsibilities under the packaging waste regulations and take the necessary steps to ensure they are compliant.”
Hertfordshire awards food waste contract
The contract is for 15 years and it means that residents of Hertfordshire will be able to dispose of their kitchen, green and cardboard waste in the same bin they currently use for green waste. Agrivert is now waiting for planning permission for the IVC but is hoping the facility will be operational by summer next year.
Harry Waters, sales and marketing director at Agrivert said: “We are delighted to be working with Hertfordshire's on this project. Hertfordshire selected Agrivert because of its proven technology, the use of the resulting compost on local agricultural land and because of the bid's exceptional value.”
Berkshire businesses to benefit from waste reduction support
Efforts to reduce the amount of waste produced by businesses in Wokingham, Reading and Bracknell Forest have been boosted by a £40,000 grant from the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Centre for Local Authorities.
The money will be used by the area's joint waste partnership (Re3) to produce a research project into the “waste and support needs” of more than 10,000 businesses across the area, with a particular focus on SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).
Welcoming the funding award, Re3 waste board chair, councillor Rob Stanton, said: “The funding from the BREW Centre will enable us to establish a comprehensive picture of business waste and advice support needs across the Re3 boroughs and develop feasible and innovative solutions which enable greater levels of business waste avoidance and recycling across the area. Potentially this could have benefits beyond the boundaries of the three local authorities involved.”
Hampshire WEEE recycler achieves processing success
The processor undertakes every stage of the equipment reprocessing process, from providing 3M with cages to move the used equipment around its offices, to transporting the equipment to its reprocessing plant, where it is put through the firm's secure destruction programme.
This involves an assigned operator taking the material through a debulking procedure before plastics are removed to be used by a specialist recycler. After passing through a shredder, the remaining materials are separated into ferrous and non-ferrous metals for reprocessing and reuse.
Northern Irish council to inspect bins in bid to boost recycling rates
Officers from Stabane district council in Northern Ireland will be carrying out inspections of black bins later this year in a bid to find out just how much material that could be recycled is, instead, being sent to landfill.
The officials will be looking at bins in areas with low levels of recycling participation, and if recyclable items are found in black bins, they will place a sticker on the bin to let householders know their bin has been inspected, and what recyclables were found in there. If a later inspection identifies a similar problem, collection will be refused until the materials are sorted.
Explaining the reasons for the initiative, council chairman Jaraith McNulty, said: “It may cause inconvenience to residents but council need to get the message across that it is important to recycle as it will save us money in the long run.”
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