News in Brief

Premier adopts probes to improve compost

Premier currently processes garden waste from businesses and local authorities across the North East, turning the garden clippings and grass cuttings in to a compost that can be resold to businesses across the region. The firm has introduced DiO Store-Temp robotic temperature probes, to measure and assess the natural biological activity of microbes as they break down the plant material in to compost. Positioned at eight metre intervals within the rows of compostable material, the probes remain in place throughout the process measuring the core temperature across four points in each windrow on a continuous basis, with the temperature results then being beamed to a computer in the compost office.

Darren Smith, general manager at Premier, said: “The use of the DiO Store-Temp robotic temperature monitoring system has brought us a new understanding of the composting process. The system does not sleep and records data continuously this means we are getting a much better picture of what is happening inside the compost pile and we can see how environmental factors are affecting the compost.”

Otto UK announces new managing director

German-owned bin manufacturer Otto UK has announced that Max Ryan is to leave the company at the end of the year after two years the company.

Mr Ryan, who joined in May 2007 after 22 years at Australian bin manufacturer Sulo, had been in charge of increasing sales volumes, profitability and rationalising the company's portfolio of waste management solutions. Upon leaving the Leicestershire-based firm in December, Mr Ryan said he intends to enjoy ‘some retirement and some consultancy work' and is set to be replaced by Derek Monk as managing director. Mr Monk has 27 years experience in the environmental services, distribution and facilities management.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Monk said: “The Otto group is a leading international player in the fields of waste management and public furnishings' equipment. With 70 years of knowledge and expertise, Otto has constantly introduced innovative, fit-for-purpose solutions.”

Sheffield to introduce HWRC vehicle permit scheme

The system is intended to cut down on trade waste abuse at the Beighton, Deepcar, High Green, Shirecliffe and Blackstock Road, which are operated by waste management company Veolia Environmental Services on behalf of the city council. The new rules will mean that any 4x4s with pickups, small vans, short wheel base transit vans, mini buses and cars with trailers will only be allowed on site with a permit. Introduction of the system comes one week after the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority introduced a similar system at its household waste and recycling centres on the Wirral (see letsrecycle.com story).

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, the council's cabinet member for climate change and local environment, said: “These centres are provided specifically for local householders. There are times when we all have some waste materials to dispose of that won't go in our bins at home and we still want to make the centres accessible for local people. I believe the fairest way of doing this is by using a vehicle permit scheme.”

Engineering firm hails Greater Manchester PFI  success

Engineering consultancy Wardell Armstrong LLP has hailed its role in securing the 23 individual planning permissions for Viridor Laing and the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority under Europe's largest ever waste PFI project.

Planning applications for all 36 facilities across 23 sites under the £4 billion long-term waste management were approved at the beginning of last month (see letsrecycle.com story). Wardell, which has head offices in Stoke-on-Trent, joined the project in 2004 and was involved pre-application meetings with the planning authority and other stakeholders, screening and scoping opinion requests, environmental impact assessments, briefings for stakeholders, community consultation groups, public exhibitions, and the preparation and submission of all the individual site planning applications.

Richard Kevan, senior environmental scientist for Wardell Armstrong, said: “Planning success on this scale is unheard of in the UK waste industry. It just goes to show that planning permission for even the most complex facilities can be achieved expediently through close liaison with the client, planning authorities, proper stakeholder consultation, rigorous impact assessment and attention to detail.”

Container handlers supplied to WLWA sites

Warwickshire-based Cooper Specialised Handling (Cooper SH) has supplied four new Konecranes container handlers to two waste disposal sites operated by the West London Waste Authority.

The team at the West London Waste Authority's (WLWA) Brentford and Ruislip sites usually has around four hours to unload 66 empty containers off the trains that service the sites and replace with 66 full containers, and the staff are having to accommodate an increased load of up to 30 tonnes as the composition of residual waste changes. The WLWA, which provides waste disposal for six London boroughs, chose Cooper after a competitive tendering process and the container handlers mean staff can use dedicated gantry trucks which are designed to eliminate the need the carriage and inverted forks usually used.

Chris Mayes, WLWA's South Ruislip station manager, said: “We had previously experienced stability issues with the preceding inverted fork trucks, which had become light on the back axle when fully laden. The gantry trucks have more counter weight on the back end and are far more stable, giving our drivers greater confidence in working at full efficiency.”