News in Brief

John Killen of Seaforde Scrap Metals (left) with Corus recycling representative Garvin Freeman celebrating their new partnership

Steel can reprocessor Corus has established a new “CanRoute” collection centre for steel packaging in County Down, Northern Ireland.

Family-run company Seaforde Scrap Metals has expanded its business to include the processing of more than 1,000 tonnes of household steel packaging collected north and south of the border each year.

Owner John Killen said: “We have seen the uptake in kerbside collection schemes in Northern Ireland steadily increase and we believe that steel packaging recycling will be a growth market for us over the coming years.”

Steel cans sorted by the company will be sent to the Corus steel plant in Port Talbot, South Wales, to be turned into useable steels. Corus now has 14 CanRoute centres across the UK.

The British Cement Association has said all four of its members now comply with Europe's Waste Incineration Directive.

Buxton Lime Industries, Castle Cement, Cemex UK and Lafarge UK have collectively spent 12 million in meeting the legislation, which brings in new environmental standards for emissions from plants that recover energy from waste.

“The economic and societal benefits of using wastes as fuels are well established and WID compliance allows the industry to develop this further,” said Mike Gilbert, the Association's chief executive.

Swapxchange.org and readitswapit.co.uk are urging people to swap, rather than bin, unwanted gifts

People given unwanted gifts are being encouraged to avoid throwing them away by the organisers of two free-to-use websites.

Swapxchange.org offers the chance to exchange anything from old cars to plant pots, while Readitswapit specialises in the swapping of books, with many categories of reading matter available.

Ellie Dale, who developed the Swapxchange site, said: “We have had furniture swapped for help with DIY, videos for a bottle of wine and ideas and skills swapped as well. The possibilities are endless and are only limited by people’s imagination.”

WRAP is providing 10,000 for one of the contractors working for Thames Water to donate to charity, in an award schemes promoting recycling.

Six contractors are in the running for the award, recognising their abilities at reducing waste generated by the water company's major engineering projects. The nominees are VHE Construction, Laing O'Rourke, Cappagh Recycled Aggregates, Black and Veatch and Barhale Construction.

Alan Young, Thames Water's engineering waste manager, said: “We are keen to do all we can to minimise the impact of our business on the environment, and to lessen the amount of material we send to landfill sites. All six contractors have made impressive progress in this area, and there will be tough competition for the final award.”

Judges from Thames Water and the Waste & Resources Action Programme will announce the winner at a ceremony in Reading on February 23.