News in Brief

Viridor Waste Management has acquired the Kent-based waste firm Skipaway Holdings Ltd for 14.7 million.

Viridor's parent company Pennon Group said the acquisition, which includes Skipaway Ltd as well as sister firms Allwaste Disposal Services Ltd and Wastenot Recycling Ltd, was in line with its strategy of expanding its waste management activities, particularly in the areas of landfill, power generation and waste treatment.

The acquired firm is based in Rochester, and includes three transfer stations with associated industrial and commercial waste collection and recycling activities operating in the Medway towns and the Faversham and Ashford areas. They handle approximately 240,000 tonnes of material per annum.

Colin Drummond, chief executive of Viridor Waste, said: “Skipaway has an excellent track record over the past two decades. This acquisition fits very well with Viridor Waste’s strategy of expanding its waste transfer and treatment businesses, particularly in regions such as the South East where there are synergies with existing assets.”

Nicola Bennett of Corus and Mike Medway of Hollacombe Community Resource Centre (centre) with participants in the community-based recycling scheme

Corus has stepped in to assist a community group to recycle more steel cans in the Paignton area of Devon.

The steel reprocessor has provided a large-scale can crusher to the scheme, run jointly by Links to Work and Hollacombe Community Resource Centre, services provided by Torbay Care Trust. The scheme collects both steel and aluminium cans as well as ink cartridges and plastics on a weekly basis. Steel cans are sent to Torbay council and then on to the Sims Newport CanRoute Centre.

Nicola Bennett, systems development and communications executive at Corus Steel Packaging Recycling, said: “As well as helping to increase the recycling rates of steel packaging in the local area, the scheme plays an important role in developing the skills of the individuals that it is designed to help. We are very pleased to have been involved in such a worthwhile project.”

Waste awareness, communications and research specialists Waste Watch are to appoint a chief executive to strengthen its management team.

The charity, which has suffered in recent years from a change in government grant funding policy, said last year proved to be one of its best in financial terms “in many years”. It said the decision to appoint a chief executive had been taken to build on the turnaround in performance.

Chairman Matthew Bennett said: “We are now looking forward to an even better 2007, as we seek to invest more into the organisation and expand our services. The new Chief Executive should help us build on our recent achievements and lead the organisation into new areas, where we can use our expertise to help meet the huge challenges posed by climate change.”

The new WEEE collection bins in Newport

Residents in Newport are being given new collection bins for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), under a new scheme from Sims Recycling Solutions.

Sims, which is to build an 8 million WEEE recycling facility at the city's docks (see letsrecycle.com story), has installed the new bins at the Newport city council civic amenity site. It means small electrical items that had been processed together with other mixed metals will be recycled separately, with a larger percentage of the materials being recycled including plastics and circuit boards.

The collection system could be expanded if successful to help with collection requirements under the new WEEE Regulations from July.

Graham Davy, managing director of Sims Recycling Solutions, said: “The bins will provide Newport’s civic amenity site with a complete system of separation for WEEE recycling and could potentially be adopted by WEEE compliance schemes, that are run on behalf of retailers or manufacturers of electrical goods.”

Community recycling groups in the Merseyside area can bid for cash funding under a new scheme launched by the area's waste disposal authority.

The Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority is offering grants of up to 500 to help encourage recycling and sustainability within local communities. The grants are on offer to both new and existing projects, as part of the Authority's Waste Awareness and Education Programme.

Carl Beer, Director of MWDA, said: “Reducing the amount of waste in Merseyside is a major part of improving the environment in local communities. To help achieve this we have set aside funding for projects that help raise awareness of reducing, reusing or recycling waste.”

Applications forms are available via the MWDA website at www.merseysidewda.gov.uk.