News in Brief

Sainsburys cuts down on packaging

Sainsbury’s has replaced the glass used in its peanut butter jars with plastic, cutting packaging by 83%, or 882,000 kilos in total. According to Sainsburys, the change is the first of its kind by a UK retailer and puts it well on its way to meeting its target to cut total packaging by a third by 2015.

The reduced weight means that the jars also require less fuel to transport and could reduce Sainsbury’s carbon emissions by over 150 tonnes. Sainsbury’s has cut packaging levels by 12 million kilos over the past year, meaning around 7% of packaging has been removed from its own-brand products through new packaging design. This equates to an 11% reduction over the past two years.

Stuart Lendrum, Sainsbury’s head of packaging, said: “We have the most ambitious packaging reduction target in the industry and meeting it will require hundreds of initiatives such as this. Our work on peanut butter is a great example of how you can reduce packaging without sacrificing its effectiveness. In fact, the new jars will be less prone to breaking making them even better than the previous ones. Excess packaging is one of the top concerns among customers, so it is a real priority for us. It is vital that we strike the correct balance between ensuring packaging is functional and reducing the volume we use.”

SITA receives permit for Suffolk EfW

SITA UK has received an environmental permit from the Environment Agency for its Suffolk energy-from-waste facility.

The award of the permit means that the Environment Agency is satisfied with SITA UKs proposals for managing the facility. The permit sets limits and improvement targets to ensure the facility is operated safely for local people and the environment. Issues that are covered include emissions to air limits, noise and odour management, and an energy-saving plan. The Suffolk energy-from-waste facility received planning permission in July 2011. The new facility will manage all of Suffolks non-recycled household waste under a 25 year PFI-funded contract signed in October 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story), producing electricity from waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

Cliff Matthews, EfW regional manager at SITA UK, said: The award of the permit from our regulator is an important step forward. We hope to begin construction work early in the New Year and once the energy-from-waste facility is up and running we will make sure that we match the high standards required by the Environment Agency.

Lisa Chambers, portfolio holder for waste with Suffolk county council, added: Now the permit has been issued, we can press ahead with building the facility, which should be open by December 2014.

Welsh environment minister visits community furniture shop

Welsh environment minister John Griffiths and The Mayor of Newport, Councillor Margaret Cornelious, were in Newport last week (October 7) to officially re-launch the Community Furniture Shop in Pill. The opening began with the cutting of a gold ribbon and was then celebrated by all.

As part of the Pillgwenlly Regeneration Framework, the shop has had a brand new shop front and refurbished interior with new home pods created to show how the items would fit well into any home. Run by Wastesavers Charitable Trust, the project collects unwanted items donated from residents in Newport and then sells them in the shop, helping to provide much needed access to affordable goods for the home. As well as selling low cost pre-loved furniture and other household items, the project offers services such as ethical house clearance and free collection of donated goods.

Mr Griffiths said: “I believe that adopting a more sustainable approach to the way we deal with waste can have a positive impact on our communities. This shop is an excellent example of how treating unwanted items as resources not rubbish can have valuable social and economic as well as environmental benefits. I want to commend all the Wastesavers staff and volunteers for their hard work and commitment, and wish the ‘recycled’ Community Furniture Shop every success for the future.”

Edinburgh launches recycling competition

Residents across Edinburgh are in with a chance of winning 50 under the second phase of an incentive scheme being run by the council to reward recycling.

Residents who put their red and blue boxes out before Friday (October 14) will receive a postcard to fill in and post back to waste services. They will then be entered into a free prize draw for each of the two weeks and shopping vouchers worth 50 and 25 will be issued to one winner and two runners up respectively. This is the first time that Edinburgh council has trialled an incentive scheme covering all materials across the whole city, and it is hoped this will contribute in part to meeting the councils aim of recycling 50% of domestic waste by 2015. Postcards will be placed inside red and blue kerbside recycling boxes after they have been emptied. Residents will be invited to fill in their details on the card and post it back to waste services at a freepost address. Postcards will be drawn at random on Friday October 21 and Tuesday November 1 and entries must be received by these closing dates to be included in the corresponding prize draw. Winners will be notified by telephone on November 2.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, environment leader at the council, said: We’ve had great success in increasing local recycling over recent years but maintaining that gets harder all the time and so its important we consider innovative ways to encourage all residents to dispose of their waste responsibly.

MP visits Sims Metal Management in Newport

Llanelli MP and shadow business minister, Nia Griffith, highlighted the importance of metal recycling in South Wales on a fact-finding mission to Sims Metal Management in Newport last month (September 20).

Ms Griffith, who chairs the all-party parliamentary steel and metal group, visited Sims Metal Management and sister company Sims Recycling Solutions in Newport, to learn more about the metals and electronics recycling industry. The visit was hosted by Ken Mackenzie of the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), of which Sims is a member.

Ms Griffith said: Metals recycling is very important to South Wales and the UK economy and I found it extremely valuable to get an insight into the business. Metals and electronics recycling in the UK is a globally competitive and environmentally important industry and one we should be proud of. Companies like Sims are contributing to our key environmental objectives reducing waste and cutting carbon emissions by preventing waste metal and other valuable commodities being disposed of in landfill sites and transforming it into a useful resource.

Mr Mackenzie said: We are very pleased Ms Griffith came to visit Sims in Newport on Tuesday. It was a very productive visit which allowed us to discuss some of the key issues facing UK metals recyclers today. The BMRA is committed to working with government to improve understanding of how metals recycling operates, the economic and environmental benefits it can deliver, and the nature of the industrys needs.