Tesco launches three recycling centres in Scotland
The three facilities, which recycle aluminium and steel cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles and jars, have been introduced at Rutherglen and St Rollox near Glasgow in Lanarkshire and Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. The Scottish environment secretary, Richard Lochhead, launched the first automated recycling facility at Tesco Extra in Shettleston in March 2009 as part of a Waste Awareness Scotland-backed scheme to encourage residents to recycle even when away from the home (see letsrecycle.com story). And to encourage people to recycle more aluminium cans, Tesco is offering Clubcard holders one Clubcard point for every two aluminium cans recycled.
Sion Stanfield, head of recycling and waste at Tesco, said: “[Customers] have asked us to make recycling easier, more fun and more convenient and this is what the new automated machines are designed to do. Glass is smashed, cans are crushed and plastic bottles granulated to reduce them to a fraction of their original size. This is recycling made easy.”
G&P gears up for increased battery collections
The vehicles, which are the Iveco Daily 35C 12 model, can hold 3.5 tonnes of batteries and were selected by G&P due to the need to undertake multiple small collections of portable batteries, which are taken to G&P's Darlaston facility for sorting and sending on for recycling. The company currently has a 21 vehicle fleet, ranging from 3.5 tonne vans to 44 tonne articulated HGVs, in order to suit the different size of sites across the UK.
G&P said it had also undertaken the move in response to the Battery Regulations, which came into force in May 2009, and require 10% of portable batteries to be recycled this year before the “even more challenging” targets in coming years, which rise to 45% by 2016.
KFC completes roll-out of waste oil management system
Fast food chain KFC has completed the roll out of a waste oil management system to all its branded UK restaurants under a scheme with waste oil recycling specialist PDM Oilsense.
The move is believed to be the first of its kind in the fast food sector and the use of the Oilsense system is intended to help KFC recycle over seven million litres of used cooking oil into biodiesel each year. PDM Oilsense, a subsidiary of food waste processors PDM Group, also provides external and internal oil storage tanks to clear areas of numerous oil cans and barrels and the firm also provides analyses of the used cooking oil to help understand levels of free fatty acids.
Herbert Sebukima, equipment manager at KFC, said: “As a global company, watching our environmental impact is a fundamental part of our strategy, including finding a sustainable solution for used oil. Oilsense provides the environmental answer to this problem, as well as giving us practical solutions and health and safety benefits.”
Three Rivers council responds to waste queries
The South Hertfordshire local authority explained on its website that it would be replacing the bins but urged residents to consider the amount of garden waste and cardboard being put into the receptacles. In addition, the council also asked residents to help identify which bin were theirs by putting their house number on the side of the container. This was seen as a means of helping the council to locate missing bins and also, when necessary send letters about missed collections to the correct address.
Furthermore, Three Rivers explained that a resident survey had found that 157 residents in the local authority area had said that the collection box was too small, especially for plastics and cans. In its response, the council said that there is no limit on the number of bins available to householders through its website or council phone line.
SEPA issues operators warning over ELVs recycling
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is reminding operators dealing with end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) to ensure they follow licence conditions after a scrap metal merchant pleaded guilty to waste offences in Fife.
At Kirkcaldy Sheriffs Court earlier this month (April 1), Kirkcaldy-based Henry Gray & Sons pleaded guilty to contravening a condition of a waste management licence and to treating, keeping or disposing of controlled waste, namely waste motor vehicles and parts including waste motor vehicle engines and axles, in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health. The company had received visits from SEPA officers who had observed waste motor vehicles being stored on site at Randolph Industrial Estate, Kirkcaldy, without having had polluting liquids removed.
Judith Moore, SEPA's Fife team manager, said: “The End-of-Life Vehicles Directive aims to promote the collection, reuse and recycling of components to protect the environment. In particular it requires that waste motor vehicles can only be stored and treated in accordance with tightened environmental treatment standards.”
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