News in Brief

Carmarthenshire county council has introduced “huge vats” to its civic amenity sites to collect waste vegetable fat and oil to recycle into fuel.

In a pioneering move, the council is providing 1,400-litre containers for CA sites in Trostre, Llanelli, Wernddu and Nantycaws.

The council is working with not-for-profit group Sundance Renewables, who will collect the oil and convert it into biodiesel at their Capel Hendre base, near Ammanford. This biodiesel can then be used in vehicles.

Carmarthenshire's environmental policy officer, Diane Thomas, said: “These new facilities are aimed at making it easier for people to recycle their waste.”

Defra's Waste Implementation Programme has developed a new website to assist local authorities in overcoming the barriers to improved recycling and composting performance.

The site, lasupport.defra.gov.uk, includes good practice guidance and toolkits on household waste recycling centres, bulky waste management, estates based recycling, collection and bring bank systems and waste composition analysis.

Other resources will be added in the next few months including assistance on procurement, public sector contracting and recyclables capture.

The WIP team will be presenting more information on the new website at the Defra Sessions at the CIWM Conference and Exhibition in Torbay next week (June 15-18).

A new plant in Lincolnshire that will process waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is to be opened next week.

Grantham-based EnvironCom has invested 2 million into the plant, which uses Danish technology and includes Lindermann shredders that break down WEEE into plastics, metals and foam.

The company will sell metals and plastics to be recycled into new products, it said. The plant will be opened on Monday by local MP Quentin Davies.

Qualifications in wastes management from University College Northampton (UCN) have been accredited by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).

Anyone who now graduates from UCN's SITA Centre for Sustainable Wastes Management will now be recognised by members of the institution.
The Centre was set up three years ago with funding from the SITA Environmental Trust via the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme. It has developed a number of programmes including Higher National Diplomas, foundation degrees and BSc qualifications.

Four of its MSc programmes have been accredited by other institutions, education and training manager Paul Clapham said. Recently the SITA Environmental Trust donated 1.5 million, enabling UCN to offer distance learning course in wastes management, and now has 100 students on the course.