News in brief

Wheelabrator sold for more than 1 billion

Waste Management Inc. agreed to sell Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. to an affiliate of Energy Capital Partners yesterday (July 29), subject to Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval.

Wheelabrator operates a total of 17 energy-from-waste facilities in the US that process over 7.5 million tons of waste between them with a combined power output of 853MW. In 2013, it generated an estimated $845 million in revenue.

In the UK, the company was recently named preferred bidder for a 25-year contract to treat waste from five councils in the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project. The deal includes development of a 200,000 tonnes-per-year incinerator at Deeside Industrial Park (see letsrecycle.com story).

In conjunction with the sale, Waste Management will enter into a long-term agreement to supply waste to certain WTI facilities upon closing the transaction.

David P. Steiner, president and chief executive officer of Waste Management, said: This transaction aligns with our goal of driving shareholder value by maximizing our focus on our core business and reducing earnings volatility related to electricity sales. We look forward to a long-term partnership with ECP through our waste supply agreement.

First Mile named SME Awards finalist

Business waste recycling company First Mile has been announced as a finalist at the 2014 National Business Awards for its early adoption of cloud-based technology.

First Mile has been entered is in the Santander Small to Medium-Sized Business of the Year Award category which recognises businesses that have revolutionised their industry.

By being early adopters of cloud-based technology, First Mile claims it was able to simplify a complex market and apply B2C customer service philosophy to their 13,000 central London customers.

Bruce Bratley, chief executive officer at First Mile said: Were thrilled to be announced as a finalist. Weve spent the last ten years evolving and developing our commercial waste services in London, so to have our success celebrated and recognised by the biggest business awards in the country is fantastic.

The winner will be revealed at the National Business Awards gala dinner on November 11 at Park Lanes Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Biffa deploys new Anglesey fleet

Waste firm Biffa has deployed a new fleet of specialist collection vehicles worth an estimated 2 million to help boost recycling in Anglesey.

The fleet, all based on the DAF LF45 chassis, has been reduced from 15 to vehicles to 10, which can collect food waste and dry recyclables at the same time, reducing road miles and diesel consumption.

Pete Dickson, development director of Biffas municipal division, said that the new vehicles will enable crews to work faster.

He said: Anglesey is already one of the best recycling authorities in Wales, and Biffa wants to do all it can to help residents and council get to the 60% mark.

Isle of Anglesey county council, which has a recycling and composting rate of 56%, collects food waste and dry recyclables through a one-pass collection system, and offers alternate week collections of refuse and green waste in separate wheeled bins.

Oval school wins WEEE recycling competition

A Lambeth schools competition to encourage pupils to recycle more waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been won by Ashmole Primary School in Oval.

The aim of the contest which was promoted by waste contractor Veolia in conjunction with SWEEEP Kuusakoski, was to raise awareness amongst schoolchildren that their unwanted electrical appliances and gadgets can be recycled instead of just being thrown away.

Each participating school was provided with a large pink skip for one week to fill it as much as possible, with the winning school determined by the highest average number of kilograms of WEEE collected per child. Ashmole scooped the top prize of 500 with 4.82kgs per head (1.1 tonne).

Cllr Jenny Brathwaite, Lambeth Councils cabinet member for environment and sustainability, said: I congratulate the pupils at Ashmole Primary School for their super effort, and praise all the children who took part. Recycling is the responsibility of all and educational events like this play an important role in raising awareness of the need to cut waste.