News in Brief

Metal recycling giant Sims Group has rebranded its operations across Europe within the single Sims Recycling Solutions company – and has acquired two American electronics recycling firms, United Recycling Industries and Noranda Recycling Inc.

The latest acquisitions mean Sims Recycling Solutions is capable of processing up to 450,000 tonnes of waste electronics, the company said. The acquisitions also add the capability for smelting and refining of recovered metals, allowing a complete internal closed loop solution for a large percentage of incoming client materials.

“Our infrastructure in Europe has facilitated our global expansion strategy,” explained Graham Davy, managing director for Sims Recycling Solutions. “Sims entered the US e-scrap market in 2003 to develop its understanding of the key dynamics and players and we have chosen the URI and Noranda end of life recycling assets to complement our core competencies in the full range of electronic recycling services.”

South Shropshire schools will send their kitchen waste to the Greenfinch anaerobic digestion plant in Ludlow

All schools in South Shropshire are to send their waste for anaerobic digestion following a successful trial in six institutions in Ludlow.

Under the pilot, school kitchens collected food waste in biodegradable bags and greens bins during the 2006 Autumn term before it was collected by waste firm BIFFA and taken to the Greenfinch anaerobic degstion plant in Ludlow, which opened last year and is part of the government's New Technologies Demonstrator Programme (see letsrecycle.com story).

Janet Norton, general manager with Shropshire county council's school meals service, said: “I'm delighted that the scheme will now be rolled out to all the schools in the South Shropshire area, ant that their food waste will be turned into fertiliser and energy rather than ending up in the bin.”

The Sheffield charity Reclaim has said it is ultimately aiming to become the largest plastics recycler in the UK, after opening a new sorting facility at the city's Worthing Road.

The new plant, which has two conveyors and magnetic separators, will divert 500 tonnes of domestic and industrial plastic from landfill each year.

The cost of the project is 58,000 which has been provided by the market development programme Recycling Action Yorkshire (RAY).

Segregating WEEE streams such as vacuum cleaners could help maximise recycling rates, according to Axion

Greater efforts must be made to segregate waste electronic and electrical equipment into similar product types, according to a major plastics recycler.

Axion Polymers technical director Keith Freegard, says that streaming is “crucial for maximising material recovery rates, as well as meeting the fundamental aims of the WEEE Directive”.

Mr Freegard, who attended the Polymers in Electronics Conference in Munich in January, added: “Shredding mixed WEEE items in bulk – the minimum-cost route pursued in much of Europe – misses opportunities to maximise recycling rates and thus promote closed-loop recycling”.

Two recycling companies in Northern Ireland have secured 1 million of investment in new recycling equipment with help from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Irish Recycling Services, which operates a materials recovery facility for construction and demolition waste in Belfast and ISL Waste Management Ltd, which sorts paper, card and plastic in Mallusk have been helped to buy new screeners, separators and conveyors.

Both deals were arranged by Bank of Scotland Corporate with help from WRAP's eQuip Residual Value Guarantee scheme which has underwritten the investment. The deals are expected to increase the two companies' recycling capacity by 118,000 tonnes.

Steve Creed, director of business growth for, said: “The eQuip scheme has secured 16 million investment for UK companies to date but this is the first time the scheme has completed investments in Northern Ireland. We are delighted that we have been able to make such a significant contribution in the province.”