Senior waste figures join WRAP Board
Peter Stone, chairman of WRAP, welcomed the appointments and said the additions would bring “invaluable experience and insight” at a critical period in WRAP's development. Mr Palmer-Jones and Cllr Whelan will replace long-standing WRAP Board members Mike Averill and councillor Kay Twitchen, both of whom joined the Board when it was formed in 2000 and have now decided to step down.
Mr Stone said: “David is an incisive strategic thinker and leader with vast international experience in the waste and resource management sector, while Clare has deep first hand understanding of the environmental and resource efficiency issues facing local government.”
Joint venture to launch UK food waste network
The collaboration, known as ReFood, is intended to combine SARIA's technological expertise in operating AD facilities and the food waste recycling network developed by PDM in the UK. The UK operation is to be based on the collection and recycling model already operated by SARIA across Germany, where there are currently four ReFood plants fed by a network of 14 logistics centres, which collect waste from 60,000 points across the country. The UK system is set to work in a similar way and be supported by a network of AD plants and PDM already has planning permission for a 45,000 tonnes-a-year capacity in Doncaster.
Philip Simpson, commercial services director at PDM, said: “The ReFood technology is very advanced compared to what's already operating in the UK. Whereas the existing systems already operational in the UK have either been designed to handle sewage waste or agricultural wastes, ReFood's plants have been purposely designed and built to handle food wastes.”
Belfast votes in favour of land for arc21 project
Belfast city council has approved a motion for the provision of land to develop major waste infrastructure in the city as part of a long-term, waste partnership deal between 11 Northern Irish councils.
Following a special meeting of the city council special strategic policy and resources committee on June 9, councillors voted 17 to 16 to allow the provision of land at North Foreshore, Belfast, for the development of a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility after Councillor Michael Browne set out an amendment to remove the potential for an energy-from-waste plant to be built on the site. Development of the MBT plant comes as part of the arc21 project, which intends to develop £200 million to £500 million worth of waste treatment facilities for the 11 local authorities.
However, it was noted in the minutes of the meeting, that “given that the High Sheriff was not in attendance at the meeting, it is therefore clear that the vote attributed to him was invalid. This raises certain implications in relation to the legal standing of the decision of the council at the meeting and the Director of Legal Services will provide advice to the Members in relation to that matter.”
Straight caddies used in Scottish food waste rollout
The 12-month food pilot is intended to help Argyll and Bute achieve its recycling target of 40% by 2010 and 50% by 2013. The council currently has a recycling rate of 36%. Argyll and Bute chose to use Straight's 7-litre ‘Vented Kitchen Caddy' and 23-litre ‘Kerbside Caddy' for the new collection, following a tendering exercise. The Helensburgh and Lomond area, which is the most populated part of Argyll and Bute, was selected for the pilot scheme as it is within reach of suitable waste facilities to cater for the food waste collection.
Alan Millar said: “The 7 litre ‘Vented Kitchen Caddy' and 23 litre ‘Kerbside Caddy' provide the ideal food waste collection system. So far, the 7 litre ‘Kitchen Caddy' in particular tends to be the preferred size for the kitchen food waste container here in Scotland. We opted for the vented version to use with liners to ensure collections are hygienic and odours are minimised.”
Worcester-based Lawrence purchases Clearaway
Kidderminster-based skip hire specialist Lawrence Recycling and Waste Management has purchased Worcester-based waste disposal company Clearaway for an undisclosed sum.
Commercial and industrial waste from Clearaway's 2,500 wheeled bins throughout Worcestershire and Gloucestershire will now go directly to Lawrence's Forge Recycling facility at Kidderminster, where commingled dry waste can be separated, recycled, and diverted from landfill. The acquisition is intended to reduce the amount of the region's waste going to landfill and improve recycling and recovery rates.
David Lawrence, managing director at Lawrence, said: “Clearaway provides us with the opportunity to develop our trade waste collection services and provide customers with a higher level of service and compliance, while managing pre-treatment legislation and corporate social responsibility concerns.”
Planning permission granted for Avonmouth Resource Park
The Monmouth-based firm, which has announced four proposals for ‘resource parks' across the UK so far, intends to regenerate the 15 acres of Brownfield land to develop a plant to recover recyclable material from commercial and industrial waste produced in Bristol. Once built the development is intended to produce 12.5 MW of electricity through a gasification plant and divert over 120,000 tonnes from landfill every year. The planning application, which also includes a MRF on the site, was first submitted to the council in March 2009 and received no objections with the consent being achieved in only 13 weeks.
Rick Twomey, technical director for Cyclemax, said: “The next steps are for us to achieve the Environmental Permit needed for operation. Bearing this in mind we would expect to begin on-site works in the second quarter of 2010 with operations in the second quarter 2012.”
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