News in Brief

Buckinghamshire county council has decided that Energy-from-Waste is the best technology to deal with its 270,000 tonnes of waste a year.

The council's cabinet has voted to approve plans for a new facility to be developed under a long-term waste management contract, to be awarded in Spring 2009. It estimates that the plant will cost 96 million with running costs of 12.6 million a year.

Patricia Birchley, Buckinghamshire's lead spokesperson for waste, said: “Whilst we still must recycle and compost as much as we can, there is always going to be some left over. If we can use this to produce energy and cut down on the amount which goes to landfill then it really is the best way forward.”

Valient has ordered a 2R-450 machine similar to this one from 3r Environmental Technology

Valient Recycling Ltd – the recycling arm of compliance scheme Valpak – has ordered a new baling machine for its plastic bottle recycling plant in Preston.

The Marathon 2R-450 is made in the USA and supplied by UK agents 3r Environmental Technology Ltd, who are based in Leyland. The machine can process 20-50 tonnes of waste in an hour depending on the material. Lincolnshire firm Mid UK Recycling has also recently ordered one of the machines for its Caythorpe MRF.

3r managing director Doug Lord said: “It is a very significant development for 3r Environmental Technology to receive orders for two more of these large balers.”

West Wiltshire district council has awarded a waste collection contract to Focsa Services (UK) Ltd covering seven years from April 2007.

Focsa, which is owned by Spanish firm FCC and is now a sister company of Waste Recycling Group, will take over the council's collection services from Cleanaway, now part of Veolia Environmental Services. It won the contract in the face of five rival bids. Focsa will continue to operate the service from the council's Riverway depot in Trowbridge, with Cleanaway staff offered the chance to transfer.

Cllr Rosemary Brown, the Council’s environment portfolio holder, said: “We have a duty to provide the best value service that we can. The tender process generated six extremely good bids, which were considered and scored against our requirements. Based on this scoring system, Focsa offered the best return for our investment across all areas and they have considerable experience of working with local councils.”

RAY's Andrew Hartley saw climate change first hand in wind-swept Leeds

Staff at Recycling Action Yorkshire were evacuated from their building in Leeds because of the storms that hit last week.

Eight members of the Yorkshire and Humberside region's recycling development organisation were forced to flee their headquarters a bricks started flying off an adjacent building. It was the second time in a week that the weather had disrupted RAY activities.

“It was very dramatic, we could see some movement in the building and we were worried debris would crash through our offices large picture windows,” said RAY programme director Andrew Hartley. “Recent weather is an indication that our climate is clearly changing and underlines the need for programmes like RAY to encourage businesses to act in a more environmentally responsible fashion.”

Worcestershire county council is combating illegal dumping of commercial waste at its household waste recycling sites by introducing a permit scheme for larger commercial vehicles and trailers.

The move comes after a survey of nearly 1,000 waste site users said they wanted to see a reduction in non-legitimate use of the centres, and is hoped to save both council and taxpayers money.

Councillor Derek Prodger MBE, cabinet member for the environment, said: “The introduction of the permit scheme will greatly improve access to the service for the majority of site users by reducing the illegal use at these sites. We do however appreciate that residents do use commercial vehicles legitimately for their own household waste and this scheme ensures that they can continue to do so.”