No ‘pay as you throw’ charge, say councils
June 11, 2010 at 3:55 pm
A ‘pay as you throw’ (PAYT) recycling scheme, first pioneered by the Labour Party, has been thrown out by the communities secretary, Eric Pickles. The proposal, which would have seen householders charged or rewarded according to the volume of waste they throw away each week, was given the cold shoulder by councils.
PAYT plans are a prosaic part of politics, appearing every few years in slightly different packaging. The scheme is supposed to help the UK achieve waste management targets outlined by the EU, but critics are worried that PAYT plans could alienate householders, encouraging them to burn excess waste to avoid a ‘bin tax’.
In effect, PAYT could actually make England’s carbon footprint larger, upsetting the lawmakers in Brussels. Mr Pickles claims that the coalition government will now focus on rewarding diligent recyclers, instead of employing ‘bin police’ to monitor household waste. Incentive programs have been operating in Berkshire for a number of years.
PAYT schemes have never been popular amongst householders – in March, councils were accused of ‘waste surveillance’ by the Big Brother Watch Group, a privacy watchdog, after microchips were installed in 2.6m wheelie bins. Councillors claimed that the chips were used to identify a lost bin, however, and were unrelated to PAYT or ‘chip and bin’ schemes.
Whilst only an incentive scheme is likely to gain widespread support in the UK, continental PAYT programs are successful and largely unopposed by the public, according to a Labour advisor. Gordon Brown’s government used figures from ‘other countries’ to create a PAYT blueprint for Britain, which could indicate that the EU has become a poster child for recycling schemes.
If the new PM’s penchant for ‘borrowing’ ideas from other countries (Mr. Cameron has looked to Sweden and Canada for budget-slashing techniques in recent months) is as deeply engrained as it appears, European waste schemes could make a return to Britain’s shores in the very near future.
Coca-Cola joins forces with RecycleBank
June 3, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Drinks giant, Coca-Cola, has announced that it has become a top-tier sponsor for RecycleBank in the UK. This partnership has been forged in an effort to increase Coca-Cola’s environmental credentials, and to provide RecycleBank members with more options for rewards.
The RecycleBank scheme is an American idea which has proved popular across the Atlantic. Coca-Cola is also a main sponsor of the scheme in the US. The idea is that people are rewarded for the amount of products that they send for recycling.
A trial was recently launched in the UK in Windsor and Maidenhead, where 60,000 households are currently taking part. They have all been provided with wheelie bins that have been ID tagged. The amount of recycling that they produce is then weighed, and they are rewarded with points corresponding to how much they have managed to recycle.
The points can then be exchanged for rewards in various places. Now added to the list of rewards are money-off vouchers for Coca-Cola products, including £1 off a number of Coca-Cola drinks.
The citizenship manager at Coca-Cola, Liz Lowe, said that the company was “delighted” to partner up with RecycleBank in the UK. She added that “one of the most important ways in which we can get more recycled material to put back into our packaging is to encourage consumers to recycle.”
It is unknown yet just how successful RecycleBank will be in the UK, although its success in the United States looks promising. If it works out it could spread to other areas and will hopefully encourage more people to recycle across the country.
New Recycle.co.uk site finds homes for old items
May 28, 2010 at 12:56 pm
With recycling becoming increasingly important for the country as a whole, it is good news to hear that Recycle.co.uk has just re-launched its website.
Recycle.co.uk has the simple but noble mission of trying to prevent as much junk as possible from being sent to landfill sites. With its new website, it has made this easier than ever to achieve with a whole set of new features.
The main theme of the website is that rather than throwing out your old items, it is far better to find new homes for them. It achieves this effectively by providing an easier way to find new homes for old items, as well as helping people to search for old unwanted items.
Pretty much anything can be posted on the site, including common items for the home, the kitchen, the garden and many more. There is also the option of free advertising to assist in the search for a new home.
In addition, the website offers a service for exchanging old mobile phones for money, meaning people can actually make some good money from doing the right thing.
The process is quick and easy, and there are new ways to use the site that make it more intuitive. People getting rid of their old items can add their contact numbers to adverts, and people searching for items can set up email alerts to inform them when items they are interested in appear.
People can also take advantage of better search features that allow them to search by postcodes so that they can find items that are located in their vicinity.
Scotland struggles towards 40% recycling target
May 21, 2010 at 10:51 am
The government’s environmental watchdog has warned that Scotland still has a long way to go to reach its target of recycling 40% of rubbish by the end of 2010.
The latest figures released suggest that Scotland currently recycles 34% of all rubbish and will face a serious challenge to increase that by 6% or more over the coming year.
The rate of 34% is a success story given that it is nearly twice the amount recycled five years ago, but the rate of increase has slowed in recent years and 40% now looks unlikely.
In its recently published annual report, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) called the 40% figure ‘challenging’ and suggested that more needed to be done if Scotland was to meet its expectations.
Martin Marsden, head of environmental quality at SEPA, was keen to highlight the task that would be faced in the future. He stated that "even greater challenges lie ahead" and that everyone would have to accept lifestyle changes in order to "further prevent, reuse and recycle our waste in Scotland".
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government was keen to point out that many Scottish councils were now breaking the 40% target and that Scotland as a whole was taking huge strides towards reducing its dependency on landfills. She was quick to warn, however, that "we cannot take our foot off the pedal".
The zero-waste goals, which include a 50% nationwide recycling rate by 2013 and a 60% rate by 2020, were given further support in February when an extra £7 million was provided to local councils in Scotland in an attempt to help them reach their recycling goals.
Whether Scotland’s target of a 40% recycling rate can be achieved by the end of the current year remains to be seen, but it seems that in light of the most recent figures, Scotland has a long way to go to realise the goals of its zero waste policy.
Please replace the handset
May 7, 2010 at 2:37 pm
A report entitled ‘Please replace the handset: mobile phone recycling in the UK’ has just been published and provides answers to many of the questions that may cross your mind when you upgrade your phone.
Telecoms analysts, Ovum, who produced the report, say that the UK market is now far more “cut-throat”. The consumer, it seems, cares far more about the financial benefits of diverting their unwanted handsets from landfill than the environmental or charitable ones.
According to Ovum’s figures, some eight million mobile phones were recycled last year (almost double the previous year’s figure) and only 10% were melted for scrap. Many old mobiles now end up in developing countries such as India, China and much of Africa, but Hong Kong is another important destination with auction houses there buying and selling by the crate load.
Charities such as Shelter and Children in Need are feeling the pinch, both because in times of recession people hang on to their phones for longer and because the public is becoming increasingly aware of how much their old handset is worth to them. It is now possible to get cash for almost any phone, although obviously the better condition it is in, the more it is worth.
A quick look on the internet shows that sites such as Mazuma Mobile and Fonebank offer up to £280 for your unwanted mobile. According to Charlo Carabott of Mazuma this means that people are far less likely now to hang on to an old mobile to the point where it cannot be reused and so ends up in landfill.
Real Nappy Week 2010 starts
April 28, 2010 at 9:38 am
With over 600,000 tonnes of disposable nappies being sent to landfill each year, the organisers of this year’s Real Nappy Week, launched on April 26th, are hoping that the message will get through that the reusable nappy is the way forward.
The last available figures from research carried out by Mintel in 2008 showed that only 9% of families used or had ever used reusable nappies. But the organisers say that there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of the green alternative becoming more popular. With an increasing number of High Street names, such as Boots, Waitrose and Mothercare, stocking alternatives to the disposable nappy it is easier than ever before for parents to switch, saving themselves money as well as being good for the environment.
The 14th Real Nappy Week aims to bring together those who already use reusable nappies and those who would like to, at real events and online. For the second year running the event has received no funding from the Waste and Resource Action Programme, being funded instead by its two hundred members who include councils, retailers and manufacturers.
Amongst the events being held around the country are Devon’s competition for the “fastest real nappy changer in the West”, Warwickshire’s Nappucino coffee mornings where advice on reusable nappies is available in addition to a discount on nappies, Southwark’s "give and take" event where parents can swap unwanted toys and children’s clothes, and Hackney’s Real Nappy party.
For more information on the campaign see the Go Real website.
Packaging recycling figure of over 70% targeted
March 26, 2010 at 1:56 pm
In support of its mission to increase packaging recycling rates across the country, the government has just released a new publication which contains plans to revise the Producer Responsibility Obligations Regulations 2007. In the new document it calls for the recycling of packaging to be increased to over 70% by 2020, a target that has attracted strong criticism from many quarters for being unreasonable.
One of the strongest sources of opposition has come from the plastics industry. The government wants to achieve a recycling rate of 56.9% for plastic packaging by 2020, compared to 22.8% at the moment. The British Plastics Federation has said that this is simply not achievable, and that, although it is in favour of increasing recycling targets, this is just too much, too soon.
Even with the funding, the British Plastics Federation claims that the target cannot be met by 2020. It has also warned that trying to increase targets too quickly could even have a negative effect by forcing the industry to increase its use of energy and water. It also claims that improved infrastructure and better recovery of materials are required in order to reach the new targets.
But it is not just the plastics industry that has complained: the aluminium industry also derided the figures as unachievable. The executive director of Alupro (Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation), Rick Hindley, said that “the proposed 70% target is not achievable” and that a “65% target would be a fairer target”.
DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), which released the targets, said in response to the criticisms that the targets were “stretching but attainable”.
Viridor opens WEEE recycling plant in UK
March 19, 2010 at 4:14 pm
The problem of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is one that has been growing in recent years. As this waste cannot simply be thrown out with normal rubbish and sent to landfill, often a lot of it ends up in third-world countries for sorting.
Now a new WEEE recycling facility has been opened in St Helens by Viridor. The plant will recycle electrical products from all over the UK, taking in WEEE from homes and businesses as well as hospitals and schools.
Viridor claims that the plant will be capable of processing 40,000 tonnes of WEEE every year – that’s over six tonnes every hour. The products will be separated out into reusable materials such as glass and metal, which can then be used in new products.
This is the second recycling plant for the company, with the other one situated in Perth. The St Helens facility cost £9 million to construct, and is divided into two sections, one for fridges and one for smaller WEEE. Recycling small WEEE is a completely new area for the company.
The managing director of Viridor, Mike Hellings, is quoted on letsrecycle.com as saying that the company “can recover 90%” of the materials from the products that go for recycling.
In separate news, another new WEEE processor has been opened by EnvironCom in Grantham. This is the biggest facility in the UK, consisting of four plants, allowing it to process and recycle over 100,000 tonnes of WEEE a year.
Such advancements in the recycling of WEEE products will hopefully lead to the UK recycling its electrical waste much more efficiently in the future, so less of it ends up getting dumped in other parts of the world.
New scheme offers live webcams to help customers beat the queue
March 12, 2010 at 2:18 pm
As the days gradually become longer and also are ultimately warmer, our thoughts tend to turn towards our neglected gardens. Trimming hedges, removing weeds and D.I.Y tree surgery all result in a lot of recyclable garden waste. What follows is an inevitable trip to the local recycling depot where unsurprisingly we discover everyone else has had the same idea.
Now a new scheme proposed by Buckinghamshire council intends to put an end to queues at recycling depots by beaming live pictures of recycling sites over the web thus helping customers to beat the queues. The aim is that when customers see the length of queues they will either wait for a quieter time or head for a different depot thus making the whole process more efficient.
The scheme which proposes to have webcams installed at all major recycling sites in Buckinghamshire has been met by a mixed reaction by the general public. Some people believe it is an excellent idea which they will take full advantage of, whilst others are bemoaning the council for wasting money, when cuts in other areas are both necessary and imminent.
Councillor for Waste, Martin Tate, believed the move showed that the council were beginning to really utilise the potential of their website and that it showed “real customer focus and commitment to improving things.” This was supported by Council leader, David Shakespeare, who said the scheme meant, "the public gets a real tangible benefit".
Whether customers choose to use the new webcams or whether they actually reduce queues is something which can only been seen over time, when the cameras are actually installed. However, should the scheme prove a success it will be interesting to see whether in the future we will all be logging on to our computers before heading out to our local recycling depot.
Extra funding to help Scotland reach recycling targets
March 5, 2010 at 2:34 pm
The Scottish government has pledged an additional £7 million to help local authorities in Scotland meet their recycling targets. The money will be put into the Zero Waste Fund and will go to the 14 of Scotland’s 32 councils that have not yet met the recycling target of 40% of municipal waste.
This target has been set for the whole country by the end of 2010, with the target figure rising to 50% by the end of 2013 and 70% by the end of 2025. In the year to September 2009, only 35.9% of municipal waste in Scotland was recycled.
Recycling figures for Scotland’s local authorities vary dramatically. Glasgow recycles only 20.3% and is missing its target by 67,000 tonnes a year. Aberdeen’s recycling rate is 25%, with Edinburgh at 30.7% and Dundee at 38.4%.
The Scottish Environment Secretary, Richard Lochhead, announced the funding boost and also announced plans for a national campaign to get everyone in the recycling habit. Despite only 18 out of the 32 local authorities reaching their recycling targets, Mr Lochhead hailed it as a ‘fantastic achievement for some local authorities to be now recycling nearly half of their waste’.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s national waste policy unit manager, Kenny Boag, said that while the increase in the recycling rate was very encouraging, changes in lifestyle were needed to meet the greater challenges ahead.
Speaking to the BBC, the spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, Rosiaina Browning, also welcomed the recycling rate rise but reminded people that enough waste to fill the National Rugby Stadium, Murrayfield, was thrown out every day.
