Green light for “world's largest” waste gasification plant
The 160,000 tonne-a-year capacity facility is the latest facility the company plans to develop as part of a collaboration with gasification specialists Energos. It has already secured planning permission for facilities in Irvine, Newport (see letsrecycle.com story), Barry and Doncaster. Building work on the project, which is expected to involve a capital investment of around £100 million, is scheduled to begin in late 2011 and be completed in late 2013.
BioGen has highlighted that it will also investigate the potential to utilise combined heat and power (CHP) technology in the development, and the company's chief executive, Christian Reeve, said: “The decision here at Bradford was another significant one for the company. The quality of the application together with the proven nature of our chosen Energos technology, enabled us to win over the hearts and minds of the planning committee who recognised that as a council they needed to be proactive and at the leading edge of future waste management planning.”
LGA issues warning over £110m landfill tax bill
The body, which lobbies on behalf of councils, claimed that, at current rates of landfill, local authorities will pay £994 million to the Treasury in landfill tax in 2013/14, and this bill will rise under the £80-a-tonne levy to £1.104 billion in 2014/15. Claiming that this could also add as much as £49 to every households' council tax bill, the repeated its call for government to return the tax to councils in a “clear and transparent” way, to help fund the development of the infrastructure needed to divert waste from landfill.
Outlining the LGA's position, the chairman of its environment board, councillor Gary Porter, said: “Local people deserve great credit for boosting this country's recycling rates so dramatically in recent years. Punishing councils and council taxpayers is not going to help increase recycling rates. This money should be used to help make recycling even easier for busy householders.”
Veolia begins £140 million Camden contract extension
Veolia Environmental Services last week (April 1) began a seven-year, £140 million extension to its waste and recycling collection contract with Camden council, in North London.
Under the deal, which also covers street cleansing, Veolia, which was awarded the contract extension in January 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), expects to save the council £2.5 million. It is also working with the local authority to consider further enhancements to the service, such as borough-wide weekly food and green waste collections and a separate weekly mixed paper and cardboard kerbside collection.
Jean-Dominique Mallet, Veolia's chief executive officer for the UK and Ireland, said: “We are overjoyed to have regained one of the most important contracts in our portfolio. Now the onus is on us to deliver on our promises and we look forward to continuing our excellent working partnership with Camden council in providing an even more improved service to the borough's residents.”
Dorset councils join forces to reduce battery collection costs
The bags, which are pink and feature the generic slogan, printed in black, 'Recycle. It's a way of life in Dorset', have been ordered from Leeds-based plastics recycling company Cromwell Polythene by East Dorset district council, West Dorset district council and Weymouth and Portland borough council, as well as, for the first time, Christchurch borough council. Under the scheme, householders leave the bags out with the rest of their kerbside recycling to be empted and then returned to them for reuse.
Commenting on behalf of the councils, Charlene Legg, waste and recycling officer for Christchurch borough council, said: “Between us, the four participating councils in the scheme collect from some 136,000 households, so it makes obvious sense to benefit from the economies of scale that this offers. For Christchurch council this is a totally new order, while for the other three councils this represents a top-up of existing stocks.”
Engineering firm buys consultancy Entec for £62.1m
Engineering consultancy and project management firm AMEC has purchased environmental consultancy Entec for £62.1 million.
AMEC, which has 350 offices around the world, completed the purchase of the firm from its owner-managers and investors Growth Capital Partners. It hopes the acquisition will strengthen its relationship with existing customers in the environmental field as well as help develop new ones under its 'Vision 2015' strategy. Northumberland-based Entec's involvement in the waste sector has included its appointment by WRAP in August 2009 as one of the consultancies charged with delivering waste minimisation and recycling campaigns to local authorities (see letsrecycle.com story).
Elaine Moore, executive vice president Europe and United Kingdom at AMEC Earth & Environmental, commented: “The addition of Entec's high quality people significantly enhances our position in the water sector around the world. The acquisition also supports AMEC's goal of strengthening the Earth & Environmental division's footprint in Europe.”
Aylesford gains recycled content accreditation
The Kent-based company said it was an important landmark for to because it would allow it to expand its product portfolio to produce new grades of newsprint that will be more appropriate to the heat set, magazine and improved news markets. The announcement came as the company also appointed Stephen Jones as its head of sales and marketing. Mr Jones has 20 years experience in the paper industry having worked at Holmen Paper UK as their sales director in the UK for the past years and prior to that with a national paper merchant.
Mr Jones said: “This is an exciting opportunity for me to work at Aylesford, which has a strong and enviable position in the market place and although it would be an understatement to say that the newsprint market at present is certainly a difficult one, I look forward to the challenges of working here and strengthening Aylesford Newsprint's role within the industry.”
Register for free to comment