The organisers of the waste and recycling sector's most prestigious football tournament drew 30 teams in six groups for the first stage of the tournament on September 9.
 Defra (in blue and white) have been drawn against LARAC in this year's Waste World Cup tournament |
The latter stages of the competition – held at University College Northampton – will see a knock-out competition for the top teams in each of the six groups.
Commenting on the Official Draw, organiser Dr Margaret Bates said: “Teams were selected into six groups of five in a draw that was overseen by independent witness Clare Coghill of the Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group.
“Once again, the Draw has produced some interesting groups and has set up some potentially titanic games of football,” Dr Bates added.
The Official Draw has set up a number of interesting clashes, with a strong representation of major waste management companies aiming to take the title from defending Champions Biffa.
|
GROUP A Biffa Plastic Omnium Waste Link ESA WARMNET |
Group A
Drawn alongside Cup-holders Biffa in Group A are industry trade association ESA, waste container manufacturer Plastic Omnium, waste services company Waste Link and the partnership of universities, WARMNET.
Biffa will be favourites to go through to the knockout stages, with Plastic Omnium and Waste Link also expected to field strong sides.
|
GROUP B letsrecycle.com Viridor Waste Watch ACM Waste Lincolnshire |
Group B
Last year's beaten finalists letsrecycle.com will face some tough opposition as Viridor Waste Management takes part in its first Waste World Cup.
Commercial waste and equipment specialists ACM are also expected to put up a good side, but Waste Watch and Lincolnshire are likely to find survival a tough prospect.
|
GROUP C Severnside Recycling Barclays Bank MRW Onyx Grundon |
Group C
Contenders for Group C include Severnside Recycling, which narrowly missed out on a place in last year's final.
Waste management companies Onyx and Grundon are likely to provide some challenging opposition, leaving Barclays Bank and MRW a real struggle to survive the group stage.
|
GROUP D Leicestershire Valpak Cleanaway Green-Works Hippo Waste |
Group D
Leicestershire county council has high expectations of reaching the knock-out stages of this year's Waste World Cup, but in waste firm Cleanaway and compliance scheme Valpak they have their work cut out.
Furniture re-use specialists Green-Works and industry newcomers Hippowaste will have an uphill struggle to get through to the next round.
|
GROUP E CIWM Cory Environmental WRAP SITA UK Tarmac |
Group E
The fifth group includes the heavyweights SITA UK and Tarmac along with Cory Environmental, CIWM and WRAP.
Group E should see some difficult games between highly ambitious organisations.
|
GROUP F SWAP LARAC Defra Hyder Consulting Enviros |
Group F
Another keenly-contested group will be Group F, which seems to have gathered together the consultants taking part in the Waste World Cup – SWAP, Hyder Consulting and Enviros.
Group F also includes representation from central and local government in the form of Defra and LARAC. The team from LARAC will be desperate to escape the group stages, but pundits suggest Hyder Consulting may be the team to beat in this group.
For more information on each of the teams taking part in the Waste World Cup 2005, click here for the official draw web page.
Subscribe for free