News in Brief

Bath & NE Somerset waste campaigns officer Sarah Raban is leading waste reduction efforts

Residents in Bath and North East Somerset attempted to go the whole of last week without throwing anything away.

Zero Waste Week drew to a close on Sunday in the unitary borough, with the local authority encouraging householders to use only things that can be reused, recycled or composted.

Bath and North East Somerset council, one of the first authorities to adopt a “zero waste” charter in 2001, aims to eliminate rather than manage waste in the long term.

Sarah Raban, the authority's waste campaigns officer, said: “If you make enough changes it is possible to produce absolutely no waste – but the aim of this challenge is to see how far you get.”

A skip operator has been fined 10,000 for shredding tyres without a waste management license.

Austin Clements, of Pitchkettle Farm in Reading, was found guilty of breaking the Environmental Protection Act at Reading Magistrate's Court last week.

Mr Clements, a partner in Clembins Skip Hire, was fined for shredding tyres brought from a waste transfer station on Smallmead road in Pingewood. He was also ordered to pay costs of 2,000.

Steve Clare, investigation officer for the Environment Agency, said: “Mr Clements has shown a blatant disregard for the correct procedure. He has acted irresponsibly in burning waste near a large pile of tyres which could have gone up in smoke with a serious impact on the environment.”

A poster featured in the Recycle Western Riverside campaign

Residents recycle more in West London

Almost a quarter of residents in four West London boroughs are recycling more as a result of an advertising campaign run by Recycle Western Riverside.

According to a MORI poll, which interviewed 1,225 residents in Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth and Lambeth, 24% of residents who saw adverts featuring London landmarks buried in rubbish said they “recycled more.”

Sam Jarvis, RWR campaign manager, said: “We're thrilled that more people are recycling as a direct result of the advertising campaign. There's still a long way to go, but working with the councils the RWR campaign hopes to encourage more residents to recycle.”

Recycling Action Yorkshire, part of development agency Yorkshire Forward, has commissioned a study on how prepared the Yorkshire and Humber region is for the forthcoming WEEE Directive.

The study will look at the impact of new producer responsibility regulations coming into force under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive next year. It will assess compliance options for producers and retailers and the potential opportunities for local recycling firms. It will also look at the potential for a WEEE Centre of Excellence.

RAY project manager Ben Stone said: “The research is expected to give RAY and Yorkshire Forward clear guidance on how best to support local businesses and industry in relation to forthcoming electronics legislation and the opportunities which can be exploited by the Yorkshire and Humber economy.”

Spot the man: “Land Phil” (museum presenter Stephen Howe), becomes a walking rubbish heap in the exhibition

A 325,000 permanent exhibition on the problem of waste entitled Wasted? The Trouble with Rubbish has been opened at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

Funded by the SITA Trust as part of a national series of exhibitions to demystify waste management, the exhibition aims to encourage people to consider how they can reduce their waste.

John Leaver, chairman of the SITA Trust, said: “We want people to take home the message that every single one of us produces waste – and all this waste has to be managed. We can't go on thinking it's someone else's problem.”