News in Brief

Waste firm Verdant Group has won a three-year contract to collect recycled paper on behalf of Wycombe district council in Buckinghamshire.

The contract, which begins on March 1, will add to Verdant’s street cleansing and grounds maintenance services contracts which it already holds with the council.

Verdant will deploy a specialist front-end loader vehicle on a variable schedule to collect mixed paper from the 31 public waste paper banks located at 25 urban and rural sites throughout the district.

Verdant has said that around 1,000 tonnes of paper will be diverted from landfill each year through the new scheme.

Roger Edwards, Verdant development director, said: “This latest win endorses our strong professional relationship with Wycombe and further extends the range of services we deliver for over 160,000 local residents. Their whole-hearted commitment to reducing waste means that every extra tonne of recycled mixed paper helps reduce waste going to landfill and contributes to Wycombe District Council’s overall recycling rate.”

North Tyneside council is embarking on a major doorstepping campaign to raise awareness of recycling among residents.

Environmental consultants Enventure have been contracted to develop and manage the campaign, which will run for eight weeks until April 2005. With funding provided through WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, the campaign hopes to call on about 42,000 households to increase awareness about three recycling schemes currently operating in the area.

North Tyneside currently recycles 10.8 % of its household waste, and hopes to reach a government-set target of 18% in 2005/06 through a “don’t bin it, box it” kerbside collection scheme, a new garden waste collection service and communal flat recycling services.

Julie Evans, waste strategy manager at North Tyneside council said: “The canvassing team will be talking directly to North Tyneside residents. By doing this we can ensure householders have all the details they need to use local recycling services and are encouraged to do so. In particular the canvassing teams will be promoting the kerbside collection schemes that now service about 95% of North Tyneside.”

Local firm Premier Waste has secured a waste management deal worth over 200,000 to take waste from what is to be Birmingham's tallest residential block.

The Perry Barr-based waste management company will be working with construction company Laing O'Rourke, which is building the giant Beetham Tower.

The contract will run for 47 weeks and will encompass over 1,000 tonnes of waste materials generated during the construction of the 38-storey building at the city's Holloway Circus.

Premier Waste will be using a waste segregation unit which the company claims will allow it to reduce the waste that it sends to landfill by 88%. The 5 million unit can recycle 600-800 tonnes of waste per day.

Surrey county council has re-opened its civic amenity site at Slyfield, Guildford, with the aim of recycling more than half the waste it deals with.

Run by SITA UK subsidiary Surrey Waste Management, the site has been redesigned to increase the amount of recycling carried out. Surrey county council has said that it is now aiming to achieve a recycling rate of at least 50% for material brought into the site.

Ben Slater, general manager for Surrey Waste management said: “Slyfield is very important to Surrey as its covers a large area and takes in trade and domestic waste, offering recycling for over 22 types of materials.

“Now we have controlled traffic flow, designated parking, large and highly visible signage and drop down facilities so householders no longer need to climb steps to recycle,” he added.