News in Brief

Environment minister Elliot Morley has said growth in local authority recycling needs to be mirrored by growth in private sector capacity.

Speaking at a Defra conference on the Private Finance Initiative in the municipal waste sector on Friday, Mr Morley said that growth in local authority the waste management industry poses a 10 billion investment opportunity for the private sector.

The PFI system can be a key measure to “open the door” to this, he said, and is increasingly popular with local authorities. So far, PFI projects have seen over 1 billion of capital investment put into the management of municipal waste for contracts worth as much as 9.5 billion.

The minister said: “There is clear evidence of a growing demand for PFI from local authorities, with nine waste projects having already been signed, and a further seven are in procurement.”

Mr Morley said a mix of alternatives from landfill was needed, including recycling and new treatment technologies. He said Defra was aware of difficulties with planning delays on new infrastructure, but said he had confidence in current policies for local authorities to be able to “press ahead urgently with the planning applications for new waste management facilities”.

Southwark borough council is to extend its recycling scheme today, with the addition of cardboard to its glass, paper and can collections.

The council will also be increasing the collection of green waste in the borough. Previously Southwark provided a collection of garden waste between April and November, the scheme will now operate all year round.

The council has brought on board 20 new vehicle lifts from Otto Lift Ltd to aid them in the collection of waste.

Eight Otto Continentals have been purchased for domestic collection alongside eleven Otto Classics for handling both trade and domestic waste. These have been fitted to narrow track vehicles which are able to negotiate some of Southwark's old and narrow street layouts. Otto also supplies Southwark with wheeled bins.

Southwark is one of the fastest growing boroughs in London, with the number of dwellings increasing by 20% in the last decade to 116,000.

Southwark currently recycles 10.7% of its waste with a target of 18% by 2005/06.

Gloucestershire-based company Engelhard has offered itself as a collection point for recycling electronic equipment in the region when the WEEE Directive legislation comes into effect next August.

At Engelhard's Cinderford facility in Forest Vale Road the company has developed the capability to collect, dismantle and securely dispose of old computers, television screens and other telecoms and office electronic equipment.

Commenting on the site, managing director, Dr John Setchfield said: “Correct disposal is guaranteed and because all the equipment will be totally dismantled for processing and recycling there is also a guarantee of secure data destruction.”

A new community recycling centre in Seamer Carr, near Scarborough, has more than doubled recycling rates in the area.

The site, which opened in July this year includes containers for the recycling of garden waste, wood, cardboard, paper, metals, batteries, aluminium foil, glass, soils and rubble.

Recycling rates at Seamer Carr have increased from 22% to 54% since the July opening. Most of the site is recycled through Yorwaste's new materials recycling facility.

John Miller, Yorwaste recycling manager, said: “The new community recycling centre was designed to make it easier to recycle and evidence of its success is now there for everyone to see. We are absolutely delighted that recycling rates have increased so rapidly and we are confident they will continue to rise as more people use the site.”