News in Brief

Pupils of Stirling High’s Eco-Club join Rebecca Mingay of the Oran Group, head teacher Greig Ingram, Cllr John Paterson, Eco-Club co-ordinator Trudi Wood and waste education officer Avril Robertson

Stirling council has hired waste management firm the Oran Group to provide recycling services in local schools.

Under the agreement, Oran will take materials collected in plastic bags in schools to its recycling facility in Grangemouth. Now the schools, whose “Eco-club” recycled 15 tonnes of paper last year, can accept cans and plastics.

Ben Ballantyne, general manager UK of the Oran Group, said: “Together with Stirling council we can successfully encourage and facilitate the recycling of an increased variety of materials within local schools. We hope this initiative will make a difference both now and in the future for the pupils involved.”

Her Majesty's Prison Service is seeking “innovative ideas” to help it reuse or recycle all its non-hazardous mattresses and pillows by 2012.

The Service, which buys 60,000 pillow and mattresses for inmates a year, hopes to reduce the 3 million it spends annually in supplying and disposing of the items.
The current mattress design has a short life span and needs to be disposed of in an unsustainable manner.

The prison needs mattresses which are safe, long-lasting, flame retardant and resilient to vandalism. A spokesperson said: “The aim is to determine how to reduce waste and secure cost efficiencies, while delivering demanding operational requirements.”

Leaflet promoting recycling to students in Sheffield

Sheffield students get recycling

Sheffield council has launched a campaign to encourage students in Sheffield to recycle their paper and card.

Working in collaboration with Veolia Environmental Services, the local authority has sent leaflets to 20,000 households in Broomhill, Crookes and Ecclesall explaining the city's black bin residual waste collections and the blue bin service for card and paper recycling. A sticker with the blue bin collection dates has also been provided.

Cllr Bryan Lodge, the council's cabinet member for Streetscene and Green Spaces, said: “We know that managing waste can be the last thing on students' minds when they arrive in Sheffield, so we are hoping to trigger people into recycling action!”

Durham county council has been encouraging residents to compost their pumpkin flesh after Halloween.

The county's Waste Awareness Team has been running free pumpkin carving workshops to persuade residents to either recycle or cook their pumpkin scraps. Of the one million pumpkins sold in the UK each year, 99% are used for carving at Halloween.

Councillor Alan Cox, cabinet member for waste management, said: “Some families do the American tradition of making pumpkin pie, but cooking pumpkins is not as popular here. If the idea of eating your Jack-o-lantern doesn't get your tummy growling, then your compost heap is the next best destination.”

Materials destined for recycling in Plymouth's Chelson Meadow depot (photo: Plymouth CC)

Plymouth council is delivering 3,000 new wheeled bins to residents in a bid to stop seagulls from ripping over plastic rubbish bags.

The local authority, which has been “deluged” with complaints about birds causing mess and noise, is providing the 240 litre brown bins in back service lanes for waste that cannot be recycled. Plastic bin bags that are left out will not be collected.

Councillor Chris Pattison, deputy leader and Cabinet member responsible for waste management in Plymouth, said: “This is part of our push to keep waste and recycling at the top of everyone's agenda and is the start of a major roll out campaign to the rest of the city.”