May Gurney lands HWRC deal with North Yorks
May Gurney took over the contract on April 1 from Environmental Waste Controls, which had held the contract for the past five years. As part of the new contract, the county council and May Gurney hope to increase the materials reused, recycled or composted on sites and also intend to improve the signs and layout of the sites. Award of the contract to May Gurney represents one part of three contracts surrounding household waste and recycling centres tendered by the council, which have a combined total of £23 million. The other two contracts were awarded to the council's own waste management company Yorwaste, which will manage the Pickering and Skipton sites.
Councillor Clare Wood, executive member for waste disposal, said: “By working with May Gurney to increase recycling opportunities on site, we aim to recycle, reuse, or compost almost three quarters of the waste that is received. Over the coming months, visitors to the sites will find improved signs to make recycling even easier, along with more opportunities to donate items such as furniture, books, CDs and other materials for reuse by charities and voluntary organisations.”
Merton adds 40,000 households to food waste collections
The council – which has received funding from WRAP to help deliver the service – had trialed collections from 10,000 households since September 2009, during which food waste caddies, caddy liners and lockable food waste containers were put out for collection (see letsrecycle.com story). Following the six-month trial, the council has taken the decision to add 30,000 households between June and September 2010 and a further 10,000 households under a second phase of rolling out the service. Once all 50,000 households receive the food waste collection service, Merton council expects to see its recycling rate rise by another 5% to 38% over the next two years.
Merton council's director for environment and regeneration, Chris Lee, said: “I am delighted that we are able to roll out this food waste collection service to 50,000 households in total. Making it easier for our residents to do their bit for the environment demonstrates our continued commitment to cutting waste in the first place, and minimising the amount we send to landfill.”
Plaid Cymru opposes incinerators in 2010 manifesto
Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru has highlighted its opposition to waste incinerators and outlined support for binding targets for waste prevention in its 2010 Westminster manifesto.
The manifesto entitled ‘Think Different, Think Plaid', which can be found here, considers a hung parliament a “real possibility” and identifies environmental issues among seven priority areas. In addition to a focus on opposing waste incinerators and promoting waste prevention, the manifesto claims that the party would seek a higher level of Landfill Tax and also campaign for changes to enable local authorities to procure products with higher levels of recyclable content.
Outlining its main waste priorities, the document states: “We will continue to oppose the use of waste incinerators and support binding targets for waste prevention. We support recycling targets of 80% of domestic waste by 2020 and the introduction of a higher landfill tax.”
Veolia helps vegetable growers in Southwark
Staff from Veolia, which provides waste and recycling services for the London borough of Southwark, worked alongside residents from the Cossall Estate to help build the raised bed and donated seven tonnes of soil improver to the project. The participation follows a request from community organisation Growing Southwark to help improve green areas in the London borough and enable residents to produce sustainable food sources.
Simon Bussell, managing director for Veolia Environmental Services: “I'm really pleased that we have been able to work with such a beneficial local project. It fits in with a lot of the awareness raising work we do around food waste issues. I hope the bed we've helped build will provide a sustainable food source for residents in the area for many years to come.”
Hackney trials on-the-go recycling roll-out
The London borough of Hackney has unveiled plans to roll-out 60 on-the-go recycling bins as part of trial to see if more bins could be used.
The bins, which are set to be trialled in Stoke Newington, Hackney Central and Shoreditch, are set to have a separate compartment for recyclable material and residual waste and would be used for: newspaper and magazines; plastic bottles; drinks cans; mixed glass bottles; and, drinks cartons. Trials of the street bins will add to the existing collection points through the London borough, with over 70 recycling banks available.
In May 2009, the London Assembly environment committee called on London Mayor Boris Johnson to offer support to initiatives such as this being trialed in Hackney to increase the amount of material Londoners recycle away from the home (see letsrecycle.com story).
Surrey Heath hails impact of expanded recycling service
In the five months since expanding its kerbside collection service, Surrey Heath borough council almost tripled its recycling rate compared to the same period for 2008/09, the local authority has revealed.
In September 2009, the council expanded its existing dry recyclable collections of newspapers and cans to include a 240-litre green bins for cardboard and junk mail, catalogues, juice cartons and TetraPak, plastic bottles, plastic food containers and plastic bags, cans, foil, aerosols as well as glass bottles and jars. This was matched with the introduction of a 180-litre grey bin for residual waste. Assessing its impact over the first five months (September 2009 to January 2010) compared to the same period the year before (September 2008 to January 2009), the council found a rise in recycling rates from 24% to 64% and the amount of waste to landfill falling 4,539 tonnes over the same period.
Commenting on the improvement, Surrey Heath's portfolio holder for community, councillor Vivienne Chapman, said: “We are extremely pleased with the borough's latest recycling achievements. Since the start of our new collection service, not only has the amount of recycled waste gone up, there are now fewer carbon emissions which is all good news for the environment.”
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