News in Brief

According to DCLG, the easiest way for householders to help the environment is to start composting fallen Autumn leaves

Lack of instruction from councils on how householders can recycle has stalled Britain's environmental efforts, according to a new government survey.

The Department of Communities and Local Government revealed that in a poll of over 1,000 adults in October, 78% said they would make more effort to recycle if their local authority made it easier and provided more information.

Angela Smith, parliamentary under-secretary of State, said: “The internet is fast becoming people's first port of call for information and services, so it makes perfect sense to make them available online. That's why we've invested heavily in Local Authority online services – so people can find what they need quickly and easily.”

Kirklees council could switch to alternate weekly collections of recycling and residual waste following a successful pilot scheme in 5,000 households.

Since July, residents in the Almonbury, Dalton, Lepton and Moldgreen areas of Huddersfield have decreased their residual waste arisings by 10% and collected 10% more paper, card, cans, plastic and glass.

Cllr Martyn Bolt, cabinet member for the environment, said: “The pilot scheme has gone well and has potential to be extended across the district. We will be considering options over the next few weeks as to how to build on the success of the pilot project.”

Sakis Andrianopoulos, chief executive of Helesi plc, hopes to expand his bin manufacturing operations

Bin firm to float on AIM

A bin manufacturer which claims to hold 6% of the waste container market in Europe is preparing to float on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Helesi plc, which is based in both Greece and the UK, has already raised 11.6 million through the placing of shares. The company, which has seen sales more than double over the last three years, hopes to use the money to expand its production capacity and distribution network.

Sakis Adrianopoulos, chief executive and founder, said: ” With market drivers in both developed and emerging countries increasing demand for our products and services, admission to AIM will provide us with a platform from which we can strengthen our existing market position.”

Salisbury district council has invested in environmental software to streamline its roll out of alternate weekly collections of recycling and residual waste.

Using Power Suite products from Woking-based firm Whitespace Waste Solutions, the council hopes to manage its collection rounds and routing. The software can also handle invoicing for trade customers, duty of care documentation and reporting, which could reduce overheads.

Bob Chequer, waste management officer for the council, said: “With our aim of introducing alternate weekly wheeled bin collections, we realized our current system just wasn't up to the job, which is what has lead to our decision to invest in a new waste management system.”

ITI Energy expects to build at least 20 modular units of its gasification technology over the next 12 months

A new technology company with “highly efficient” gasification technology is expecting to build three or four plants to treat municipal residual waste in the UK next year.

Sheffield-based ITI Energy Ltd, which uses technology developed by Newcastle University, is currently seeking and securing partners in the waste management industry to build and jointly operate gasification plants.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com on Friday, ITI Energy founder director Miles Lewis, said: “We expect to build at least 20 modular units of our technology over the next year, between three or four plants capable of processing 170,000 tonnes of waste a year. We've spent the last 6-8 months negotiating with four business partners with at least 20 behind that – all quite big projects and some potentially huge.”