Top line-up for Athens conference
The annual event of FEAD – the European federation of waste management and environmental services – will also see influential Dutch MEP Johannes Blokland as well as representatives from the current Portuguese EU Presidency, participating in a panel debate on the revision of the Waste Framework Directive.
The conference on October 19 at the King George II Palace Hotel, in the heart of the Greek capital, will also look at the competition between public and private sectors in European waste management. For more details, visit the the FEAD website.
BREW funding for West Sussex
Businesses in West Sussex are being encouraged to recycle their waste following a grant from Defra's Businesses Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme (BREW).
The West Sussex Waste Partnership, which consists of all the councils in the county, has been awarded £210,000 of government funding to help small and medium-sized businesses make more efficient use of the county's recycling services – especially in hard-to-reach rural areas.
Cllr George Blampied, county council deputy cabinet member for strategic planning, said: “Research has demonstrated that the private sector is less likely to provide these services in West Sussex as we are predominantly a rural county and collection costs are high. That means by utilising the district and borough collection vehicles already making the journey to rural areas, the West Sussex Partnership is creating a more sustainable way to help business recycle.”
“High bar” for recycling on the Underground
A company currently rebuilding a large section of the London Underground has reported that it has recycled and reused 99% of waste created during one of its restoration projects.
Mark Edwards, health, safety and environment manager for special projects at Tube Lines, said: “The project at Kingsbury has set a high bar for other Tube Lines projects looking to maximise reuse of material to reduce its overall impact on the environment. By reusing and recycling 99% of waste from this project, the team exceeded all expectations, demonstrating what can be achieved through careful and considerate planning of waste management practices.”
Advice on recycling corrugated card
A factsheet explaining how corrugated card can be best diverted from landfill has been published by the Confederation of Paper Industries.
Entitled “Corrugated Recycling and Landfill Prevention”, the release explores the role of corrugated card within the waste hierarchy and offers advice to would-be recyclers on the best use of the material. In 2005, 84% of corrugated card was recycled in the UK which the CPI claims makes it the most recycled packaging material in this country.
A list of 18 factsheets which also include “Corrugated: Key facts” are available on the CPI website.
MDRC Group “saved”
The Municipal and District Repair Company (MDRC Group), which has contracts with waste firms including Veolia Environmental Services, had been divided into a grafitti cleaning arm and bin refurbishment arm – by Southampton-based recovery firm Recovery HJS after experiencing financial problems (see letsrecycle.com story) . The bin refurbishment side has been purchased by business man Steve Lees.
Joint administrator Gordon Johnston and Recovery hjs managing director said: “We were able to divide the struggling company and offer it as two separate businesses to individual purchasers. In doing so, our recovery firm saved 35 jobs for the Bournemouth staff.”
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