News in brief

Denise Van Outen is putting the glamour into green by supporting Recycle Now Week

TV presenter Denise Van Outen is to support the UK's fourth Big Recycle campaign – under the new name of Recycle Now Week – which runs from June 2 to June 8. Hundreds of activities will be taking place around the country to promote recycling, from eco fashion shows to composting displays.

The campaign's new name is intended to capitalise on the success of the Recycle Now campaign, which has boosted recycling in the UK through year-round TV advertisements and promotions. Denise said: “I've been a committed recycler for years and it is great to see that it's no longer something just a few of us do. Recycle Now Week is a great opportunity to remind people to do their bit. Find out what is happening locally and get involved.”

Amanda Barry Hirst of the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which is co-ordinating the event, added: “The strength of Recycle Now Week is its ability to reach people at grass roots level, thanks to the close involvement of local authorities, voluntary groups, materials organisations and retailers. We hope the campaign will inspire a huge surge of interest in recycling this summer.”

Businesses in Portsmouth are being encouraged to recycle their waste through a new service from Hampshire-based organisation Dove Recycling.

The social enterprise is offering collections of paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, cans and confidential waste. This includes a four-week free trial in which Dove tailors its service to each business. The initiative is being supported by Hampshire county council, Portsmouth council and forms part of WRAP's SME Recycling Programme. (see letsrecycle.com story)

Liz Moorish, WRAP's SME recycling programme manager, said: “Recycling at work is easy to do and this new service will make it even easier for businesses. It is also a cost-effective way for SMEs to deal with their waste, often being cheaper than general waste disposal.”

Staff at Somerset household waste recycling centres say they have received abuse from residents

Viridor waste management has asked residents in Somerset to show more goodwill to the staff of its Household Waste Recycling Centres.

The firm, which runs 18 centres on behalf of Somerset County Council, claims that its employees occasionally receive “quite a bit of abuse” from residents who don't understand that recycling is something the UK has to do, to achieve European targets for diverting waste from landfill. Other residents are taking “vast quantities” of general rubbish that is not sorted for recycling to the centres, which have been praised for their “exceptional” recycling rates
(see letsrecycle.com)

Dan Cooke, external affairs manager for Viridor, said: “We all know that globally we have to reduce the amount of waste we create and recycle more stuff – but at the sharp end that message isn't always getting through and it's our staff who sometimes pay the price for that. At the end of the day it's about environmental improvement – and we all have to play our part.”

Oil recycling and hazardous waste firm OSS has launched a new online system which allows customers to order waste collections and retrieve compliance documentation via the internet.

Believed to be the first service of its kind in the hazardous waste sector, the OSS On-line Paperless Information System (OSSIS) includes records of waste collections and access to information such as Environment Agency consignee returns. OSS sales and marketing manager Mark Bridgens said: “OSSIS has been designed with our customers in mind. It improves collection efficiency, streamlines the whole system and is revolutionising the collection process.”

The launch of OSS's new online system comes as OSS continued its ongoing legal battle with the Environment Agency this week over whether recycled fuel oil should be classified as a waste. (see letsrecycle.com)

Milk bottles collected at the kerbside can be recycled into new milk bottles

Technology to turn old milk bottles into new milk bottles has scooped two awards at a prestigious ceremony this week.

WRAP was awarded a gold and bronze medal at the Starpack Packaging Awards in Birmingham on Tuesday, for its innovation in reducing waste and its use of material for its recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) milk bottles. The process, delivered by Nextek, Nampak Plastics and Dairy Crest, incorporates 30% recycled content into plastic bottles. It has already encouraged Marks and Spencer supermarket to sell organic milk in bottles which have a 10% recycled content. (see letsrecycle.com story)

James Crick, commercial director at Nampak Plastics, which helped to deliver the project, said: “This proven technology will significantly enhance the future of plastic recycling in the UK. We believe that milk bottles containing recycled plastic will become the widely practiced and innovative method used, to improve the environmental footprint of plastic milk bottles.”