News in Brief

Cardiff invites bids for organic waste plant

The council is open to bids from contractors offering a range of different technologies, including anaerobic digestion, in-vessel compost or open windrow. The tender follows the successful move to introduce weekly recycling and food waste collections in September 2011, which, the council says, has seen recycling rates go up considerably.

Executive member for environment councillor Margaret Jones said: Cardiff council has a dynamic approach to building a sustainable future for Cardiff. We have shown with the change to a weekly recycling and food waste collection service that diverting waste away from landfill and using green solutions wherever possible is a top priority.

The organic waste scheme forms a key part of our agenda for a cleaner greener Cardiff and will look to use the latest green technologies to achieve the key objectives in our waste strategy.

EnvironCom spreads festive WEEE message

WEEE recycling company EnvironCom is hoping the festive season will see more electrical goods recycled and has set a one week WEEE challenge in an attempt to boost the reuse of certain electrical items.

The company has pledged to test, repair and return any electrical items received from any one of its charity partners, within one week of receipt in a move it hopes will boost WEEE reuse.

Sean Feeney, chief executive of EnvironCom, said: We are expecting this to be a bumper re-use Christmas. We are expecting reuse to increase from 15% to more than 18% over this period and have set ourselves a one week challenge in order for charity shop customers to benefit from the predicted increase of hi-tech items.

Our business model is a win-win for all concerned including retailers, consumers and local authorities. Despite the current downturn, consumer spending in electrical items remains buoyant which benefits us and our charity retail partners.

Heroic waste collection crew praised

A refuse collection crew which came to the aid of an injured motorcyclist has been given a letter of commendation forits quick thinking response to a road traffic accident that occurred on one of their routes.

The Veolia crew were on their rounds in Blofield Heath, Norfolk at on the morning of December 6 when 19-year-old rugby player Luke Moorhouse skidded on the road while riding his motorcycle, and trapped his leg under the bike.

The crew immediately called for the emergency services and directed traffic around the scene of the accident until an ambulance crew arrived. The crew will be presented with a letter of commendation for their heroics by Broadland district council. In a statement, Veolia also praised the crew for going above and beyond the call of duty.

The victims mother, Mrs Moorhouse, said: The refuse guys were fantastic, they took care of Luke, covering him with coats to keep him warm and kept him talking while waiting for medical assistance. I am so pleased they were there and able to help and I cannot thank them enough.

IT award for waste technology developers

An automated number plate recognition system in use at a waste facility in London has been awarded an IT industry award for innovation.

LondonWaste Ltd received the Small Business Project of the Year Award at the 2011 BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards for the Gatehouse system, in operation at its Eco Park site in North London.

The system automates much of the weighing and security issues at the LondonWaste site, reading the number plates of vehicles that enter the site, and allowing registered vehicles admission to the weighbridge platform saving time and resources.

The system was developed by waste technology specialists Isys, which announced that it was delighted to be recognised by the judging panel. Isys managing director, Richard Bowers said: This is a tremendous award for our team of developers. Winning any award is a boost to morale in a highly competitive industry, but these are the top national awards for the whole of the IT industry, not just waste.

Edinburgh kicks off waste infrastructure project

Edinburgh city and Midlothian councils have announced that they are beginning the search for a contractor to process up to 110,000 tonnes of residual waste per year.

The councils would like to minimise the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, and use a mix of technologies to recover recyclables from the unsorted waste stream.

The news comes after Midlothian council planning committee agreed earlier in the month to grant planning consent for a major food waste treatment facility, at the site of an old rail marshalling yard in Millerhill, to the southeast of Edinburgh. Further details of the site will be released once a contractor has been found to develop the site.

Councillor Russell Imrie, cabinet member for strategic services at Midlothian council, said: We are very pleased to mark the second key phase of a process that will change the way we deal with waste forever. We are becoming more environmentally conscious, more resource efficient, more sustainable and less wasteful.

Packaging waste costing Londoners a packet

Londons local authorities have said they are increasingly concerned by how much packaging ends up in household bins, and want more business-funded schemes to help cut waste and boost recycling.

London Councils, the body representing the capitals 33 local authorities, is critical of the government for focusing on voluntary deals with producers and retailers to cut packaging waste rather than regulation. It also describes the governments decision in its Review of Waste Policy to make no fundamental change to the current producer responsibility regime ahead of revised EU packaging directive expected from 2014 as a missed opportunity. It is calling on the government to rethink its waste policies. There is also concern about the significant rise in the number of single-use plastic carrier bags handed out to shoppers, despite government pledges to tackle the issue.

London Councils held a breakfast workshop in May 2011, bringing together stakeholders from the local authority, packaging and retail sectors. The meeting discussed what could be rolled out on a pan-London basis to move London towards significant reductions in packaging waste generation and increase recycling. The event threw up a range of ideas, outlined in a reportfrom using corn starch bags as an alternative to plastic bags to the introduction of deposit schemes.

Councillor Catherine West, chair of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, said: The vast majority of consumer packaging waste is collected by councils but they get no financial assistance from producers and retailers. This waste is bad for business and bad for the environment. We must ensure that packaging can be recycled better with producers and retailers paying to support that.