News in Brief

Demonstration:(left to right) Chelmsford FC chairman Paul Hopkins with groundsman Eddie Neath, ReMade Essex chairman Cllr Roger Walters and programme manager Neil Thomson

Chelmsford City Football Club has become the first professional football club in the country to use recycled green waste as a compost to improve its playing surface.

The club has brought in market development organisation ReMade Essex to demonstrate the benefits of using compost made from green waste recycled from Essex gardens.

The compost is being used in a sports turf improvement programme at the club's new Melbourne Stadium. Groundsman Eddie Neath said: “Having seen the results on some of the amateur football pitches and golf courses in the Essex area, I can't wait to see the benefit here at the Melbourne Stadium.”

WRAP has produced a new guide for local authorities, community groups and waste management companies to monitor and evaluate waste diversion schemes.

The document sets out objectives and key performance indicators for carrying out surveys, monitoring participation, working out capture rates, assessing contamination and the impact of waste reduction schemes.

WRAP evaluation manager Barbara Leach said: “This new guide will make it much easier for waste management professionals to judge whether their waste diversion schemes have been successful and decide what improvements are needed.

“Monitoring and evaluation also provides the evidence that senior management needs to get resources for making further scheme improvements,” she added.

Former Spice Girl Melanie C is one of thousands of Monmouthshire householders now benefiting from MCR's recycling scheme

Monmouthshire Community Recycling is celebrating its best ever year, having recycled 3,000 tonnes of material on the third year of its black box collection scheme.

The group now offers the scheme to 75% of properties in the county – with celebrity support in the form of former Spice Girl Melanie C, who lives in Monmouthshire. The recycling has expanded from 900 tonnes collected three years ago on the scheme, which picks up paper, glass, cans, foil and textiles.

General manager David Roman said: “This is easily our best year yet. It’s not just a huge quantity of so-called waste that we’ve kept out of landfill, we’ve also provided a very popular service to more Monmouthshire residents than ever. We’ve got an experienced and hardworking team here, and we’re ready to build on our success with an even better performance in the year ahead.”

Oxfordshire-based composting company Agrivert has won a health and safety award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

The Silver Award is to be presented to Agrivert's health and safety director, Susan Relf, at a ceremony in Birmingham on May 11. RoSPA awards manager David Rawlins said the company had demonstrated “how seriously it takes health and safety management”, adding that Agrivert provided a “fine example to many other companies”.

Commenting on the award, Ms Relf said: “Winning this award is all down to a team effort. Without every member of staff on board, working within stringent health and safety guidelines, it would be impossible to reach and maintain these high standards.”

The new Forbury Environmental team: (left to right) senior consultant Tim Fill, technical director Clair Donnelly and principal consultant Brian Mayne

Law firm Clarkslegal has launched a new environmental consultancy, called Forbury Environmental Ltd, to support the waste management sector.

The new consultancy will operate independently from Clarkslegal, in conjunction with the law firm which has offices in Reading, London and Cardiff. The new company is already advising Caerphilly county borough council on the procurement of a waste management and disposal contract, and is hoping to win contracts with other local authorities.

Simon Thorne, a director and head of the environmental group at Clarkslegal, said: “Clients need, in this sector more than ever, good practical advice. The team at Forbury Environmental has a wealth of experience matched with enthusiasm and, importantly, an appetite to get the job done.”