News in Brief

Suffolk HWRCachieves 90% recycling rate

The equivalent of over 13,000 wheeled bins of rubbish was taken to Hadleigh Household Waste Recycling Centre in September,with the majority re-used, recycled or composted. The Hadleigh site is one of 11 centres run by Waste Recycling Group (WRG), on behalf of Suffolk county council. Visitors are encouraged to separate their waste and recycle as much as possible.

Recycling rates at Suffolks other HWRCsin September 2011 were: Haverhill 75%; Leiston 77%; Lowestoft 78%; Mildenhall 79%; Sudbury and Ipswich 81%; Felixstowe 82%; Stowmarket, Foxhall and Bury St Edmunds 85%.

Lisa Chambers, portfolio holder for waste with Suffolk county council, said: This is an amazing achievement and the first time a Suffolk centre has reached such a high recycling rate. I would like to thank those visiting the site for taking the trouble to sort their waste, and the staff for making sure everything went in the right bins. It just shows what can be achieved.

More countries back section of Basel ban agreement

Restrictions on exporting hazardous waste from developed to developing counties could enter into force within the next two or three years, after the 178 parties to the Basel Convention agreed to an early entry of the Basel Ban Amendment.

Under the amendment, all exports of hazardous waste such as electronic wastes and old obsolete ships – from developed to developing countries would be banned. The amendment was originally proposed in 1995, but has been stalled. However, at a meeting of the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention, the 178 groups and countries which are party to the convention including the UK agreed that the amendment would come into force when 68 of 90 counties which are party to the convention ratify the agreement. The UK is one of 51 countries which have already ratified the ban it did so in 1997 and it has been implemented Europe-wide under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulation 2006.

This latest agreement, which saw Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and India remove their opposition to the ban being introduced early, was welcomed Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network. He said: Finally, the blockade has been lifted and the Basel Ban that has been held hostage now for many years is liberated. The Ban Amendment ensures that developing countries are not convenient dumping grounds for toxic factory waste, obsolete ships containing asbestos, or old computers coming from affluent countries. It enforces the Basel Convention obligation that all countries manage their own hazardous waste.

Waste education centre opens in Warrington

A new centre dedicated to educating residents of all ages about waste and recycling officially opened in Warrington on 12 October.

Based at Gatewarth Community Recycling Centre, the new initiative is unique to the area and boasts interactive displays showing how waste of all kinds is recycled and reused.

Visitors to the centre will learn about the wide variety of materials that can be recycled and how to make a real difference by reducing waste and recycling more at home. The centre caters in particular for local school and community groups. The centre has been developed with support from two contractors – Environmental Waste Controls (EWC) who have provided a converted reused shipping container to house the centre and DHL Enviro Solutions have provided funding and support in fitting out the centre.

Cllr David Keane, executive board member for environment and public protection, said: This new facility will help educate even more residents on the importance of reducing and recycling waste as we continue to strive to move away from sending waste to landfill. The Gatewarth Community Recycling Centre is a fantastic facility and it recycles over 75 per cent of the waste that is dumped at the site. The more we in Warrington recycle through these sites or through the blue and green bins at home, the more we can help the environment and save valuable resources.

OSS Group acquires Nottingham oil collection business

Oil recycling specialist, the OSS Group, has acquired the Nottingham based company Hall and Campey for an undisclosed sum.

OSS specialises in hazardous garage and workshop waste, particularly the collection of waste mineral oils which it recycles into a Processed Fuel Oil product called Gen3.

Hall and Campey is a well established waste oil collection business primarily operating in the Midlands and East Anglia, also specialising in garage waste, secure materials destruction and plastic recycling with two depots in Nottingham.

OSSs acting group managing director Iain Lees said: Adding the regional strength of Hall and Campey to our existing national service creates a much stronger organisation in terms of total UK coverage. It operates similar services to OSS and will continue very much as now but with the benefit of the OSS infrastructure and additional customer services.

B&M branches into data shredding

Waste management company B&M Waste Services (B&M) has launched a confidential information destruction division called B&M Secure Shredding.

Operating throughout the North West, B&M Secure Shredding will take the shredder directly to the customers door. The company can service all confidential material destruction needs. Bespoke services for the new division include; providing secure lockable containers for confidential waste, as well as on-site destruction. Having attained ISO 9001 and BS 15713, B&M said that the service would ensure that customers were compliant with the Data Protection Act (1998).

Neil Curtis, managing director at B&M Secure Shredding, said: We have a heritage in waste management that spans over a decade. Our customers look to us to provide a total waste management solution and the new B&M Secure Shredding division has been created to ensure that we can answer our customers needs. Its an exciting time for B&M Waste Services as we look to grow the business and diversify into other areas. B&M Secure Shredding will be pivotal to this growth.

Welsh Government unveils 3 million recycling fund

Local authorities across Wales could find it easier to reach recycling targets and avoid landfill costs thanks to 3,282,000 of capital funding being made available by the Welsh Government.

All Welsh councils will be able to bid for a share of 1,913,500 of the funding, which will pay for recycling infrastructure developed this financial year. The remainder will be split between three councils which have already bid for funding to support innovative recycling-boosting schemes.

These schemes include a mattress recycling centre for Rhondda Cynon Taff which will be able to keep 1,000 mattresses a week out of landfill, a cooking oil recycling scheme for Gwynedd which could provide bio-diesel for council vehicles, and the introduction of 40,000 new sturdy recycling boxes in Torfaen.

Welsh environment minister John Griffiths said: Everyone in Wales can be proud of the way in which we have transformed ourselves from a low-recycling country to leading the UK. However if we are to reach our ambition of recycling at least 70 per cent of all waste by 2025 and being zero waste by 2050 we must keep up the momentum. Investing in waste prevention and recycling infrastructure makes good economic sense.