Latest news and information from MT Waste Management.
The latest batch of On-Pack Recycling Label (OPRL) guidelines for the UK have been published, and the big news for keen recyclers of both the domestic and commercial persuasions are that metal paint cans now have a new allocation.
A new recycling rate of 44% has been recorded by Defra ahead of the Waste Framework Directive’s ‘50% by 2020’ recycling goal.
A number of green groups have renewed calls for a change to the way local authorities up and down the country handle plastic waste management this week.
New developments from LG could help tackle the growing waste water issue.
The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) is set to deliver £19 million worth of investment to the city’s waste infrastructure, as it prepares tailored investments to help funding new waste management projects across the city.
A new report from an environmental services company has predicted that small and medium sized businesses would be set to throw away a cumulative £463 million in landfill tax over the next year.
Recycling in the UK was given a pat on the back from Brussels this week, as the European Environment Agency revealed the UK’s recycling rate is the fastest growing in Europe.
Anaerboic digestion comes to Edinburgh and Midlothian as a 20-year lease is agreed for a new facility.
A new recycling and household waste management site in North Yorkshire could see a hefty fine imposed on the North Yorkshire County Council if the authority decides to pull out of plans to build a new incinerator.
Home improvement super-retailer B&Q is set to harness the power of commercial waste with a fleet of waste-powered lorries.
A judicial review set for early next week could change the way almost 20 million households deal with their day-to-day waste management
New quarterly figures from DEFRA suggest recycling figures in the UK could be plateauing.
New quarterly figures from DEFRA suggest recycling figures in the UK could be plateauing.
A leading European trade body has announced findings today that the amount of waste packaging being sent for final disposal is falling rapidly.
Pressure is mounting on the restaurant industry this week as the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) has renewed calls to develop more effective waste management systems and for restaurant to take more responsibility in what they throw away.
The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has published a new guide today, designed to help local authorities improve their waste management infrastructure at ‘bring recycling sites’.
The head of an anaerobic digestion firm has blamed poor waste collection services for anaerobic digestion’s lack of growth this year.
The south west has seen a large increase in recycling over the last two years, and a new waste management facility in Avonmouth has just been opened to cope with demand.
Glasgow looks set to flow Edinburgh’s example, by rolling out a kerbside food recycling scheme following a meeting last month.
Separate waste collections in Wales have set the country on target to reach it’s first statutory target in a new waste management policy - recycling 53% of all waste collected.
Figures released by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have revealed that, for the first time since records on waste have been kept, authorities in the UK recycled more than was sent to landfilled.
The London 2012 Olympic Games achieves it’s Zero Waste to Landfill goal according to independent report
Two years after achieving zero waste to landfill status, we look at some of the continued achievements of the World’s first zero waste car plant.
Commercial recycling advice body WRAP give their advice to businesses in England on the latest big recycling challenge.
Legendary denim brand Levi’s launch an incredible range of waste-friendly denim.
EU Environment Commissionner Janez Potočnik has called for a waste management ‘revolution’ at the Retail Forum for Sustainability 2012 in Berlin.
Coca-Cola Enterprises have today announced two new initiatives aimed at improving sustainability within the corporation.
New report says that Apple’s must-have iPhone 5 has a huge increase in environmental impact over it’s predecessor
UK Airports face a recycling infrastructure challenge to help offset their huge carbon footprints - we look at how it can be done.
Apple’s latest gadget could be bad for WEEE Compliance from hotels to manufacturers and beyond, find out why - here…
November 2012 will see the first flight of a plane powered entirely by recycled plastics.
We look into the European Commission’s changes to WEEE compliance, and see what it means for producers, distributors and consumers.
Molson Coors, brewers behind Carling and Coors Light, have today announced they are on target to reach their zero waste to UK landfill targets by the end of the calendar year.
Berkshire council’s pay-as-you-go recycling scheme sees tangible drop in waste disposal.
Are well-meaning eco labels making it harder for us to manage our waste waste?
Private, commercial and industrial waste management show 11% decrease in waste to landfill.
How the metals sector is tackling ‘on-the-go’ recycling with an innovative waste management campaign.
Initiative to reduce waste water in the commercial food industry proves to be a hit as companies take the plunge.
A new bill backed by the Home Office looks to reign in dodgy scrap metal dealers, in the hopes that it will lower crime and see that waste management companies can properly recycle it.
Local waste management initiatives across the UK striving for weekly bin collections have been met with resistance from green-minded councils.
Welsh Government reach a near-50% rate for recycling and composting, and hint at future commercial waste management solutions to be launched over summer.
Internet auction giants eBay announce that they are set to use organic waste to fuel their new biogas-powered servers.
Feedback is currently being gathered from around 16,000 Glasgow residents regarding its proposed £154 million Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC).
Marks & Spencer have called up on the UK Government to make it easier for businesses access waste management at the announcement of their annual How We Do Business report.
Here’s a list of tips to help you and your street have a waste-free jubilee lunch this long weekend.
Changes to landfill tax have rocked the waste industry, with prices for depositing certain materials rocketing overnight.
A joint venture between Coca-Cola & Eco Plastics could change the way plastics are handled forever.
Defra Minister Lord Taylor labels UK plastic waste levels as ‘Shameful’, but highlights their importance to reaching government recycling targets.
“The UK currently has a unique opportunity to revitalise its economy by changing the way it manages waste. Investing in new waste treatment facilities will not only create employment and economic growth but consolidate a more secure energy supply. The more effective use of recyclables will help reinvigorate UK manufacturing where waste provides the base materials for new products previously destined for landfill. The sector’s performance and on-going innovation makes a strong case for businesses to unlock vital funding and play a central role in bridging “the green gap” so the UK can meet its carbon budget targets to 2020 but also realise the potential of a circular economy.”
Despite all the controversy surrounding Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plants a new research predicts that the global market for WTE systems will reach at least $6.2 billion in 2012 and grow to $29.2 billion by 2022.
The first underground waste collection system was implemented in Sweden in 1961. Since then underground waste vacuum systems have proved to be a credible, cost effective and sustainable alternative to conventional waste collection. So why isn’t this technology in full development here in the UK?
“Packaging waste: Where do we go from here?” that was the title of the seminar chaired by Barry Sheerman MP held at the Palace of Westminster this past Wednesday (March 7). Organised by the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group the seminar examined the current situation of packaging and packaging waste regulations with special emphasis on the Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) and Packaging Export Recovery Note (PERNs), as well as the targets and technologies that will drive the UK’s packaging recycling industry forward.
What started as a trial programme to incite recycling outside the home has proven to be successful and effective. Every Can Counts, “the away from home drinks can recycling programme”, revealed that in 2011 the scheme recycled a total of 51 million aluminium cans from workplaces and ‘on the go’ locations across the UK.
Despite the economic downturn the EU is determined to divert 100% of the waste produced within its member countries from landfills by 2020. Increasing resource efficiency and treating waste as a resource will be major players in this quest.
Defra announced new packaging recycling targets for steel, aluminium and plastics and a split target for glass. The announcement has already caused a stir on the packaging sector as manufacturers are concerned about the amount they will have to pay to meet higher packaging recycling targets proposed for 2013-17.
The landfill tax was created to incite councils to improve their waste management and recycling services and divert as much waste from landfills as possible. The principle behind it is plausible and logical but yearly raises and challenging targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill are costing councils millions of pounds each year.
During the London 2012 Olympic Games the capital will be flooded with millions of visitors and all these people will produce huge amounts of waste. Earlier this month the LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) revealed its plans to manage and recycle at least 70% of all the waste produced at Olympic venues.
A joint venture between Swiss industrial wireless network specialist Paradox Engineering and Rete di Imprese STEP - a group which comprises Italian firms Tecnotel, Sortron and PZ - have developed a system to monitor the input of waste into rubbish bins. Such control will allow an optimisation of collection routes and solve other urban waste collection issues.
Six months after the Waste Review 2011 was published the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF, reviewed it and concluded that the government should have been more ambitious with regards to the management of waste claiming that the UK’s waste legislation is outdated with regards to sustainable waste management and resource efficiency.
According to a new study from WRAP precious metals found on incorrectly disposed eWaste could top £7bn over next decade. The study analysed the potential reuse value of unwanted WEEE disposed of at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and via local authority bulky waste collections.
Europe and that includes de UK, is on the verge of another serious economic recession. Amongst many issues, reducing environmental burdens, creating new jobs and enhancing the resource base for the economy, are the ones that need special attention. That is when waste management and recycling comes into play offering a “win-win-win” opportunity to address these three issues.
After the second warmest November since records began in 1910 temperatures finally plummet across the country while the north and the midlands woke up carpeted in snow and frost. With the big freezer comes a series of issues that make our day to day a little more difficult specially for councils who have to make sure roads and streets are frost-free for commuters and waste management and collection can continue despite sever weather.
A well thought waste management & recycling plan must commence with the separation of individual waste streams also known as waste segregation. Inciting waste segregation saves time and money and that is exactly what Milton Keynes’s waste management and recycling plan wants to achieve with its pink sacks, green bins, blue boxes, yellow bags and black sacks.
According to the long waited WRAP survey about Britain’s organics waste and recycling sector the amount of food waste diverted from landfills has more than tripled in just nine months. Entitled ‘A study of the UK organics recycling industry 2009’, found that separate food waste collection by local authorities rose from 36,000 tonnes in 2008/09 to over 110,000 in April-December 2009.
The Coca Cola Enterprises has one of the most efficient waste management and recycling programs in the world. In the UK it has achieved a 99% recycling rate and now wants to help the London Organising Committee ensure London 2012 is a zero waste Olympic Games, with 70% all waste being recycled, reused or composted.
The expression “killing two rabbits with one shot” is probably one of the most popular sayings in the English language. Whilst “Anaerobic Digestion” is not an expression we use it on a daily basis, it could solve two of Britain’s biggest issues, waste to landfills diversion and energy security, killing two rabbits with one shot.
Despite a small growth of only 1.5 percent, one of the lowest of the past 10 years, England breaks through the 40% household waste recycling, reuse and composting barrier and it is now diverting 41,2% of household waste from landfills.
The UK’s waste management industry is likely to have a surplus of residual waste treatment facilities by 2020. But right now the annual capacity gap is of 22 million tonnes of untreated waste being sent to landfills, indicating there is “significant opportunity” for investment for many years to come.
For over a decade metal recyclers have been fighting to declassify metal as waste and now they are closer than ever to achieve their goal. In April and agreement was reached with the European Commission and yesterday (October 27) the Environment Agency published the regulatory guidance for scrap metal to cease to be waste.
On Monday (October 24) the trial of the largest WEEE export case has begun. In total seven defendants - four individuals and three companies - are being accused of illegally exporting 158 tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment from UK to Nigeria.
Last week (October 19th) the government launched a new voluntary commitment for local authorities to sign up and receive best practices information to improve waste management and recycling services of small and medium-sized business (SMEs). Entitled the “Local Authority Business Recycling and Waste Collection Commitment” it outlines 12 commitments that local authorities can use to tailor services to local businesses.
Despite having one of the most consumed products on the planet, if not the most, the Coca Cola Enterprises Ltd is an organisation that is looked up to by most companies for its unparalleled excellence in many areas of its production processes including its waste management programme. Today we take a closer at these programmes for its UK manufacturing sites.
Last week (October 12) Sainsbury’s unveiled an ambitious sustainability plan to send zero waste to landfill, reduce its packaging by half and its carbon emissions by 30 per cent in absolute of 2005 levels by 2020.
On Monday the European Parliament environment committee met in Brussels to discuss a recast of the EU WEEE Directive and voted for a new WEEE recycling target. It was voted almost unanimously that the new WEEE recycling target should be at 85%.
A recent research by non-governmental organisation Computer-Aid revealed that one in five companies are not 100% sure that their EEE disposal won’t end up in landfills and only 14% follow EEE disposal best practices.
In bid to ensure waste is managed as a resource in all EU countries by 2020 the Commission launched yesterday (September 20) a “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe”. Despite a list of measures to increase recycling and economic incentives to stimulate demand for recyclables many green groups already labelled the roadmap as too vague.
The UK’s waste management industry is urging the government to provide more incentives in order to improve investor confidence, otherwise the country will fail to meet EU Landfill Diversion targets and waste disposal costs will rise to stratrospherical levels.
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a report where it estimated the value of the UK waste management sector. In other words, the contribution to the UK economy in 2010/11 according to the report shows the segment is worth £7.5 billion.
Waste management and recycling in Milton Keynes is taken very seriously by the Council, be it household waste or commercial and industrial waste. The council has three main Community Recycling Centres; their main focus is to facilitate the lives of those citizens who also take waste management and recycling very seriously.
The recycling point at the Kingston Shopping Centre is one of the busiest in Milton Keynes. Everyday residents bring their recyclable waste to the site but unfortunately there is a minority who abuse the recycling point by dumping rubbish on the premises. This has forced the Council and Kingston Shopping Centre Management to close the site overnight.
Every year letsrecycle.com conducts a survey to determine the councils with the highest levels of recycling and composting. With 70% of waste diverted from landfills South Oxfordshire is at the top of the table this year followed by Rochford (65.46%) and Surrey Heath Borough came in third with 64.73% of recycled and composted waste.
Zero Waste is the new trend amongst governments and companies throughout the world. Politics, CEOs and environmental experts are on the quest o find viable solutions towards a zero waste society and the concept of Waste-to-Energy (WtE) is emerging as one of the most promising solutions to this issue. But is it really best solution.
Electrical and electronics equipments are everywhere we look and we simply couldn’t live without them in this day and age. But what do we do once they break or stop working? We recycle them.
Students from the St Petersburg College in Florida, U.S, in association with a local TV broadcaster and the Pinellas County, produced a documentary aimed to educate viewers about what happens to the waste we generate each day. Entitled Away: A Story of Trash also takes us through a journey in time through the history of waste management.
The concept of generating energy from waste is not new but up until recently wasn’t a viable option because landfill tax wasn’t high enough to allow non-landfill technologies to compete with landfill. It is with that mind that UK Coal and Peel Environment are planning to build 11 EfW (energy from waste) plants in the North and in the Midlands.
Devon County Council and a local operating waste management company have come to an agreement to build Exeter’s first Energy from Waste (EfW) plant. The plant will have a capacity to divert and treat 60,000 tonnes of Devon’s residual municipal waste.
Hot on the heels of the Waste Review 2011 and CIWN and WRAP plan to reduce waste going to landfills, Defra and the ESA (Environmental Services Association) announced a new “responsibility deal” between Government and waste management companies to further improve the quality of waste management and recycling services.
Recycle Week 2011 is already under way as councils across the land are gearing up their initiatives to increase the levels of recycling of their communities. This year’s theme is “Home and Away” increasing the levels of recycling at home and on-the-go. Recycle Week 2011 started Monday 20th and will go till Friday 26th.
On Tuesday 14th of June 2011 the Government finally published the Waste Review like we announced here at the beginning of May. The main focus of this review is to increase the Government and councils commitment to increase the “frequency and quality” of waste management and collection across the UK.
Incinerating rubbish to produce energy is no breaking news but it could be a viable solution to reduce the amount of waste sent to our landfills every day. That is what Canadian-based company Enerkem is hoping to achieve, whose technology turns old utility poles and household garbage into ethanol.
The latest revision of the Waste Framework Directive, Europe’s primary legislation for waste management placed great emphasis on the waste hierarchy to ensure that waste is dealt with in order of priority and updated some aspects of waste control.
Since 2006, the year when the new Companies Act became law UK companies must report their environmental disclosure in their annual business’ reviews. Reports must be done in accordance with government guidance.
Segregation is probably the most important step of waste management and recycling services, be it for households or industrial sites. An effective waste management service commences with the encouragement of segregation of individual waste streams through the supply of suitable containers.
Back in June last year the Government announced it was to carry a full review of England’s Waste Policy, the main focus of this review was to find cost effective ways to reduce waste, maximise profits from waste management and recycling services and the effects of waste policies in local communities and individual households.
Detailed breakdown of waste streams showing Landfill V Recycling figures by client
The Government is proposing to allow local authorities to charge businesses for disposal of their waste, as well as collections.
The Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 list different types of household waste which local authorities can charge to collect but not to dispose of. This is a barrier to achieving the government’s plan for a zero waste economy.
The main proposals include:
> Giving local authorities the power to charge for the disposal as well as collection of waste from non-domestic properties
> Reclassifying waste from certain properties as commercial and not household waste
> Retaining local authorities’ discretion to decide when to charge depending on local circumstances
> Providing free disposal to charity shops and reuse organisations
> Retaining local authorities’ duty to collect waste from certain organisations for public health protection
> Restructuring the controlled waste regulations to make them easier to use.
The proposed regulations will be of interest to local authorities, managers of premises who currently pay a waste collection charge (such as prisons, hospitals and universities) and private waste contractors.
The regulations will not make any changes to charges for waste collection from domestic properties.
The regulation will be coming into force on 6 April 2011
The first recycling targets to reflect the relative carbon savings of how a material is reprocessed look set to be introduced in the UK as soon as 2011.
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