News in Brief

Poole replacing wheeled bin stock

The borough council is carrying out the work with the help of over 1 million in funding from DCLG’s weekly waste collection fund.

As part of the project, all residents in the district are to be provided with a 240 litre blue bin for commingled recyclables and a 180 litre black bin for residual waste.

Since the launch of its commingled recycling service a decade ago many householders have requested larger recycling bins in a bid to recycle more.

While a third of properties have been provided with the larger containers, the council has decided that the 240 litre container should be made standard, and has opted to replace all residual waste bins as many have been in use for over 20 years.

Around 600 bins are currently being replaced per day in the borough, and it is expected that the roll out of new containers will be completed by October.

The councils contractor Craemer UK has appointed Lincolnshire firm CK Services to provide the new wheeled bins for use in the borough, as well as recycling the old containers at its facility in Market Rasen.

Mark Parsons, Pooles street scene team manager, said: The project is slightly more complex than usual as we are also distributing black bins, however the teams are confident they will overcome any challenges. This is a great example of partnership working and a credit to all involved.

Suffolk wins transfer station planning battle

A high court judge has ruled that Suffolk county councils decision to grant planning permission to build a waste transfer station in Rougham Hill, Bury was lawfully made.

The ruling, made in the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday (July 22) confirms that the decision made by councillors in October 2013 was properly taken.

The claimant Suffolk resident John Corrie had claimed that the council had failed to take into account the developments proximity to a new housing estate which is set to be located nearby.

It means that Suffolk County Council could, should it wish to, can now proceed with building a transfer station at the site.

Responding to the news, councillor Jenny Antill, the councils cabinet member for resource management and waste, said: We fully recognise the right of those opposed to this waste transfer station to challenge it. But today, a High Court judge has independently validated our long held position that our decision-making process was robust and appropriate.

Preston Plastics completes 2 million investment

Plastic reprocessing business Preston Plastics has unveiled a new machine that will allow it to more than double production at its reprocessing facility in Lancashire.

The business has installed a new Intarema plastic sorting and extrusion machine at a cost of around 1.3 million, part of a total 2 million investment in plant and machinery at its premises at Out Rawcliffe.

The technology allows Preston Plastics to sort materials such as heavily printed packaging waste, and the company says that this will lead to an improvement in quality, efficiency and overall consistency of output from the site.

The investment also includes a new industrial shredder, two fountain blenders and special IsoCool chillers that recirculate and cool the water used in the recycling process.

Edgar Wallace, managing director of Preston Plastics, said: This new machine gives us nearly three times the capacity we had previously. It means we can continue to meet the increased demand we are seeing from the plastics industry, both in terms of volume and the types of plastic being recycled, diverting thousands of tonnes of waste from landfill and incineration.

Biogen reaches half million tonne food waste milestone

Food waste recycling specialist Biogen has revealed that it has recycled more than half a million tonnes of food waste since operations began in 2006.

The firm currently has three operational food waste AD plants in the UK and another five under construction. The companys Waen AD plant in Denbighshire is due for completion by the end of July.

The sites process food waste from retailers, food manufacturers, the hospitality sector and local authorities from across the country.

Commenting on the half-million tonne landmark, Simon Musther, Biogens head of commercial operations, said: This is a fantastic milestone. Biogen is proud to be providing a first-class service that is saving our customers money as well as making a positive contribution to the environment.

ReFood rolls out new collection fleet

Yorkshire-based commercial food waste recycling firm ReFood, has invested almost 700,000 in expanding its collection fleet.

The company, which opened it first AD plant on Ings Road in Doncaster in 2011 is currently doubling capacity at the plant as part of a 6m project, which will see the plant capable of handling up to 160,000 tonnes of food waste.

ReFood has taken delivery of 10 new Volvo trucks with specialist bodies to increase service capacity on its collection rounds, which stretch in a 50 miles radius of Doncaster, covering areas such as Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley, Hull and Scunthorpe.

A further 12 drivers have also been employed to operate the vehicles.

Richard Poskitt, Commercial Manager, at ReFood comments: This investment at ReFood Doncaster is just one element of our ongoing fleet expansion programme. We are looking to invest in a further 50 vehicles across our nationwide business to service our expanded and new sites in Widnes, Nuneaton and Dagenham as well as replacing some of our older models.