WRAP launches £5m West Midlands recycling fund
The WRAP AWM programme is set to offer fully-funded business development services and small-scale capital grants of up to £187,000 to companies investing in new or expanded waste processing capacity and businesses will also be able to apply for one of several large scale capital grants, worth up to 30% of a project's capital costs. The programme, which will be run by WRAP from its regional satellite office at Longbridge Technology Park, aims to overcome barriers faced by businesses wishing to recycle by helping to increase waste material collections, developing recycling infrastructure and working with organisations to increase use of recycled materials.
Steve Creed, director of business growth at WRAP, said: “At a time when there is a real need for businesses to put in place strategies to secure and consolidate their operations, these grants and accompanying business development support will give recycling firms an important resource.”
CRR welcomes new guidance from Environment Agency
The Campaign for Real Recycling – a group which advocates the use of source-separated recycling collections – has welcomed calls by the Environment Agency for waste disposal authorities to report the final destination of materials they collect for recycling.
Responding to the publication of guidance by the Agency that explained that waste disposal authorities need to reveal details in WasteDataFlow information regardless of commercial sensitivity (see letsrecycle.com story), the campaign group claimed that bad practice had been “undermining the efforts of many local authorities who have been recycling responsibly” and that the final destination was “crucial” to defining whether material had been recycled or not. The CRR said the Agency's stance would help local authorities and allow recycling councils with a good recycling record to avoid generalisations about bad practice.
Phil Hurst of the Campaign for Real Recycling said: “We hope that the term ‘final destination' does not include material that has been delivered to a reprocessor but at a later date rejected by them because of contamination problems. This reject material has, in our opinion, not been “recycled [or] recovered legitimately” and should not be included in the ‘final destination' tonnages.”
Paper firm celebrates half million tonne landmark
To mark the event, Aylesford Newsprint made a special Xtra Mile Award for the company, with May Gurney operatives invited to the Kent mill to collect individual bonuses and award certificates for their achievements. May Gurney is the first Aylesford recovered paper supplier to reach this important milestone. The companies have worked closely for many years, developing an acute understanding of each others' needs to facilitate effective recycling. As a result, it comes as no surprise that the half million tonne mark has been reached.
Chris White, commercial manager of Aylesford Newsprint, said: “The team at May Gurney really understand the importance of kerbside collections and the impact that quality can have on the recycling potential. They ensure that their teams fully understand the full recycling process and that is reflected in the material supplied.”
Landfill Tax cash boost for Midlothian football team
Midlothian Council has welcomed the award of a £250,000 landfill tax windfall to a football club in the authority.
Loanhead Miners Youth football club has been awarded the money from the Waste Recycling Group Challenge Fund, which allocates funds raised from landfill taxes at various sites across the UK including the Oatslie landfill site, at nearby Penicuik. The windfall will be used to completely refurbish the Bayne Memorial Hall, home to the football club, into a multi-functional sports facility for use by the club and other local community groups and sports clubs.
Councillor Russell Imrie, Midlothian council cabinet member for strategic services, said: “This is a massive boost for Loanhead Miners YFC and is a marvellous result for all the hard work, effort and commitment put in by everyone who has worked long and hard to help keep the club going.”
Bin firm lands “significant” supply contract
The company, which has its headquarters in Nelson, is set to supply the trade waste collection and recycling company with 1100 litre and 660 litre containers fitted with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip, which is programmed with details of each business on a collection route. The chip is scanned at the point of emptying and provides relevant data such as weight to facilitate the immediate calculation of cost and invoice production.
Ray Lockley, managing director of Contenur, said: “Contenur UK operates specifically with our UK customers in mind. As a result, they benefit from fast and efficient service from our dedicated UK team, which means that we can guarantee shorter delivery times thereby placing us ahead of the competition in securing new business such as the valuable Associated Waste Management contract.”
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