Conservatives vow to engage with the third sector
Speaking at a REalliance conference held in London earlier this month (December 1), Mr Herbert, who is the Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs, highlighted the potential impact that proposed changes to the system of exemptions from environmental permitting could have on the sector, and said he was “open and motivated” to engaging with the third sector. He was speaking as REalliance and the Waste and Resources Action Programme jointly launched 'Investment for Growth', a new report analysing the third sector's contribution to sustainability, which can be found here – http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/BTS008_TSO_Investment_for_Growth_Final_Report_2_.6deb86c0.8148.pdf.
Explaining how the third sector could help to realise the UK's efforts to become more sustainable, Mr Herbert added: “I am well aware of the role the third sector play and I think we should do everything possible to increase that engagement so that we're making full use of the third sector and commercial sector to realise those goals.”
Work nears completion on Greater Manchester MRF
The £12 million materials recycling facility (MRF) at Longley Lane in south Manchester is set to be used to sort glass, cans and plastic bottles collected for reprocessing when it becomes fully operational in April 2010. The fabrication of the building was completed at the end of October 2009 and installation of the internal equipment has now begun. This involves equipment testing for three to four months before the site reaches its full sorting capacity of 16 tonnes an hour. The MRF is one of a raft of facilities being developed under the £3.8 billion waste deal signed between the GMWDA and Viridor-Laing in April this year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Councillor Neil Swannick, chair of the GMWDA, added: “The facility will become central to all of the future recycling in Greater Manchester. As well as creating jobs for local people during construction and maintenance, the facility will help the region to become one of the best recyclers in the country.”
AfOR appoints new board members
The Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR) has announced the appointment of two new members to its board of directors following this month's Annual General Meeting, held in Wellingborough.
AfOR chairman Charlie Trousdell confirmed the appointment of new board members John Jardine, managing director of Greenview Environmental and Bill Griffiths, national recycling manager at Viridor as well as the re-election of Trelawney Dampney, managing director, Eco Sustainable Solutions. Grant Keenan of Keenan Recycling and Arnie Rainbow of Vital Earth have both retired from the board.
Mr Trousdell thanked the exiting directors and commented: “These three individuals, through their experience in the sector, will support AfOR in achieving its core aims of assisting members to carry out their activities effectively.”
Students take part in SITA UK's ‘No More Waste' challenge
The ‘No More Waste' challenge, which saw 90 students between the ages of 13 and 14 take part in the event, was organised by SITA and the Enfield Education Business Partnership and was aimed at delivering the message of reducing waste. The day-long event involved 15 teams of students learning more about the importance of recycling through educational activities including quizzes and a re-use challenge. The main challenge involved the teams, representing three different Enfield schools, working out the most sustainable way of dealing with 50,000 tonnes of recyclables for an imaginary town, with students from Chace Community School ultimately triumphing.
Marek Gordon, director at SITA UK, said: “We were genuinely impressed by how quickly they grasped some of the challenges involved in providing recycling facilities for local communities, and the quality of the final pitches was outstanding. We at SITA UK look forward to working with other local schools throughout 2010 and encouraging them to think about a future with ‘no more waste'.”
Leeds council claims £50,000 savings over strike period
Leeds city council claims that it saved £50,000 during the 11-week industrial action taken by its in-house waste and recycling collection crews.
The council claims that the action, which was resolved at the end of November (see letsrecycle.com story), cost the city council £2.69 million in hiring private refuse collectors, sending letters to residents, loss of expected income, extending operating hours at household waste and recycling centres and bringing in extra security. However, the council managed to save £2.74 million by not paying workers over this period, delaying the recruitment of temporary staff, not running collection fleets and suspending garden and food waste collections over the strike period.
Councillor James Monaghan, executive board member with responsibility for refuse and street cleaning, said: “We're publishing these figures because I feel it is important that we are open and honest about what we've had to spend so far. Clearly, we had no choice but to make alternative arrangements – we have a statutory duty to empty bins and that's what we tried really hard to do.”
Veolia wins contract extension with Wycombe
Waste management company Veolia Environmental Services has won an 18 month extension to its waste and recycling collection contract with Wycombe district council as part of a new £8 million deal which also involves the firm taking over street sweeping.
The company has operated in High Wycombe since 1996 and the contract will see it continue operating its kerbside collection service when the current deal expires in April 2010. Under the new agreement, Veolia will introduce split bodied collection vehicles with separate compartments for cans and plastics and a separate unit for paper, which will reduce vehicle movements and fuel consumption. In addition, Veolia intends to collect waste and recycling from 90% of households on the same day in a bid to improve the efficiency of the service.
Tom Spaul, chief operating officer of Veolia, said: “We are delighted to have won this contract and are looking forward to working more closely with Wycombe district council to ensure that residents are able to recycle their waste more easily. Also by introducing split bodied collection vehicles we are able to make positive strides towards reducing our carbon footprint which builds on our commitment to continually enhance our environmental credentials.”
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