Proposed closure of British Polythene plant
The Stockton facility, which produces heavy duty sacks, as well as industrial and agricultural films, had supplied 40% of its volumes to the construction sector, one of the worst hit during the economic downturn. After reporting losses of around £2.5 million in 2008 at the plant, the company is now beginning discussions with staff about the proposed closure and the transfer of work to facilities at Ardeer and Greenock within the BPI Industrial division. The move is likely to see around 165 job losses.
A statement released by BPI said: “Given the losses, the reduced demand in the market place, the requirement to reduce operating costs and the spare capacity available within BPI.Indsutrial, we believe that continued manufacturing at Stockton is no longer viable.”
Packaging compliance scheme gets go ahead
Launched through its subsidiary PackCare, which specialises in recycling industrial containers and drums, the PackCare Compliance scheme aims to increase packaging recycling rates and reduce the cost of compliance for producers. The formation of the packaging recovery system follows other schemes launched WasteCare, such as WeeeCare and a pre-compliance scheme for batteries called BatteryBack (see letsrecycle.com story).
Bob Taylor, managing director for PackCare, said: “All too often in the past, registered packaging producers have complained at the lack of transparency and horrendous costs associated with compliance. Our costs are transparent, easy to understand and the lowest available in the UK”
Tetra Pak expands carton recycling scheme in North East
Food processing and packaging company Tetra Pak has urged schools and businesses in the North East to join its local paper-based recycling service.
Working with Hartlepool-based recycling firm J&B Recycling, Tetra Pak has offered the recycling service to all 23 councils in the North East. The service involves drinks cartons being collected by J&B to be baled, before being sent to Tetra Pak's Orebro plant in Sweden, where they can be recycled into products such as plasterboard liner. Tetra Pak has developed a web portal which enables schools and businesses to contact their local carton recycling contract to arrange to become part of the system.
Fay Dashper, recycling operations manager at Tetra Pak, said: “This new scheme means that people can now do even more for the environment by recycling their cartons outside their homes. Office workers, pupils and teachers across the North East are already excited about this new, easy way that they can do a bit more for the environment.”
Detailed designs for planned £50m ‘EcoParc' site unveiled
The design company's three-dimensional renderings of Graphite Resources' £50 million autoclave facility on the Derwenthaugh EcoParc will now be used by the main contractor on the project, construction company Clugston. The technology to generate the plans has previously been used in designing aeroplanes and allows a virtual walk through sites. The Gateshead facility will treat 320,000 tonnes of municipal solid and commercial wastes, with a capacity closer to 500,000 tonnes, and is planned to be completed on January 1 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).
William Thompson, director of Graphite Resources, said: “The computer-generated images illustrate where the steam autoclaves will be placed to handle all the waste. The fact that the design of the EcoParc is 3D leads to significant potential use of the data outside the design and engineering process, proving to be cost and time effective.”
Roadworks spoil recycling and reuse scheme launched in Sheffield
Sheffield city council has teamed up with gas pipeline company National Grid to develop a scheme to recycle waste generated by roadworks.
Developed by the local authority and the utilities company, the project intends to recover material excavated during road reconstruction in Yorkshire so it can be recycled at specialist facilities. The project plans to stop waste from this source going to landfill, as well as ending the use of virgin material in the restoration of road surfaces following roadworks. The scheme has received support from the Yorkshire Highways Authority and Utilities Committee (YHAUC), with all members of the committee having signed up to a framework agreement which covers training on using recycled material and both process and quality control.
Vernon Silcock, Sheffield city council's YHAUC member, said: “This will allow commercial organisations to process materials excavated from Yorkshire roads and make a product that can be put back in the same excavation at tarmac level. This will benefit both the Highways Authority and the utilities.”
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