ASDA launches attack on local authorities’ recycling
June 10, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Supermarket giant ASDA has claimed that thousands of tonnes of packaging are heading needlessly to landfill, simply because hundreds of local councils only collect the "bare minimum” from householders. They will be opposing any "pay as you throw" tax on waste because of a “postcode lottery”, which they claim makes it impossible for many people to recycle packaging, despite the fact that 93% of it is, in theory, recyclable.
The supermarket has found that, according to research carried out by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Program) during a five month period last year, the variety of materials collected by local authorities differs hugely, even in the same regions of the country. Whilst 85% of councils collect metal cans, 64% glass, 63% card and 62% plastic bottles, the facilities for collecting foil, other plastics and tetrapaks are far scarcer. Top of the league were South Holland district council and North Kesteven council, whilst languishing at the bottom were the Scilly Isles, Solihull, Warrington, Halton and Southampton.
Local authorities and the waste sector have reacted angrily to the claims. Even WRAP itself, whose data has been used by ASDA, has criticised their conclusions, pointing out that they did not take account of recycling banks.
The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) has responded by accusing ASDA of blame shifting. They point out that taxpayers do not want to see an increase in council tax to deal with the problem and that the supermarkets should take more responsibility, by providing facilities at their stores or funding kerbside collections.
The waste sector described ASDA’s attack as “misguided and misleading”, undermining the chain’s previous efforts at addressing recycling issues.
Big Ben sculpture kicks off Recycle Week
June 5, 2008 at 3:20 pm
The launch on Monday 2nd June of the fifth annual ‘Recycle Week’ has seen a number of interesting sculptures appear across the country to highlight the event and to raise awareness about recycling.
Onlookers were thrilled in London’s South Bank when a 6 metre high model of Big Ben made entirely of empty Coke cans was revealed to the public. The sculpture was the work of master sculptor Robert Bradford, who had been commissioned by Coca-Cola to make the model.
Recycle Week has been launched by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Program), a non-profit company whose aim is to help people reduce their waste, in its bid to raise awareness of recycling in the UK and to inspire more people to take an active role in recycling both at home and at work.
But the Big Ben model was not the only sculpture to mark the event, as a model of the Angel of the North, made by Sam McGeever and constructed from 10,000 mini coke cans, was also revealed to the public. Other constructions to have appeared across the country include one of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol and one of the Birmingham Bull statue.
London Mayor, Boris Johnson, said that it was a “fantastic initiative” and would do a “huge amount to encourage us all to recycle more”.
However, the models have been criticised by some as a PR stunt on the part of Coca-Cola, arguing that they will almost certainly have no effect on recycling whatsoever. But whatever the argument, the sculptures are certainly pretty impressive and will at least help to create publicity for a worthy event.
First Recycling Zones hit the UK
June 2, 2008 at 4:12 pm
In a joint project between WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) and the drinks giant Coca-Cola, the first recycling zone has arrived in the UK.
The zone was officially launched on 23rd May at Thorpe Park, with the plan being to introduce around 80 similar zones across the entire country over the next three years.
The idea is based on the assumption that if people are given the opportunity to recycle outside their home environment, then they will do so. Although people may have the intention to recycle, it does not always happen because it can be inconvenient. By placing recycling bins across the theme park, the hope is that people will recycle because the opportunity is presented to them.
Coca-Cola wanted to promote the scheme due to an awareness of the amount of waste caused by its own drinks products, and the company felt that it was a good opportunity to give something back to the community. Indeed, the focus of the recycling zones will be mainly on drinks cans and plastic bottles.
The scheme has certainly been a hit with the government, who were represented at the launch by the UK’s Minister for Waste, Joan Ruddock MP. She stated that “with a target of increasing the national recycling rate to 40% by 2010, programmes such as the recycling zone from Coca-Cola Enterprises are vital to the UK hitting its targets”.
Coca-cola have estimated that they will be spending £500,000 on the scheme, but funding is also supplied by the locations of the zones to ensure that the project is a group effort. The next zones are planned to be set up at further theme parks, including Alton Towers, as well as shopping centres across the country.
For more information about the scheme, check out the Let’s Recycle website.
The Milk Roadmap
May 27, 2008 at 1:59 pm
By 2020, 50% of packaging for milk should be made from recyclable material, according to targets set out in the Roadmap published earlier this month by Defra, in conjunction with the dairy industry. Dairy produce is something enjoyed by most of the population of the UK – most of us have a carton of milk in the fridge – but there is definitely room for improvement in the environmental impact of the industry.
The Roadmap looks at the green credentials of the process (production, processing and consumption) on a cradle-to-grave basis and focuses on areas where short-term, medium-term and long-term goals can be set. These goals include targets for a reduction in the use of water and increases in the use of renewable energy, as well as the ultimate goal of sending zero waste to landfill.
James Crick, of Nampak Plastics, says he is pleased to have been involved in the Roadmap and that he is confident that the target for introducing recyclable plastic for milk bottles will be met. His company was involved in producing the first ever recyclable plastic milk bottle and aims to provide its users with up to 10% recyclable content in 2008/09, putting them ahead of the game. The Roadmap’s targets are 10% by 2010, 30% by 2015 and 50% by 2020. This should result in a reduction by 2020 of 50,000 tonnes of virgin material.
The director of Dairy UK, the body which chaired the working group behind the Roadmap, feels that it is leading the way and setting an excellent example to other sectors, not only in the UK but globally.
Carpet industry to boost recycling rates
May 14, 2008 at 1:07 pm
If you have recently bought a new carpet, the chances are that your old one has been stuffed in the garage or the loft, whilst you wonder what on earth to do with it. With space in landfill sites fast running out, it would be good to think that the carpet could be recycled but until recently this has been easier said than done.
Now carpet manufacturers, retailers and recyclers have got together in an attempt to boost recycling rates and address the problem. A group of fifteen have formed Carpet Recycling UK, mindful of the “growing concern” and “recognition that something should be done”. According to Kate Atkinson, who has set up the alliance, the savings in landfill fees will go some way towards the costs associated with collecting carpets from householders and sorting them.
One of the founder members is the Swindon based company, Greenback Recycling, which is the first organisation to process waste carpet materials (wool or plastics) and sell the resulting plastic recyclates to industries previously reliant on polypropylene, nylon or rubber.
If your local recycling facility does not yet support carpet recycling, how about trying some of the following ideas for your old carpet?
- If it is still in decent condition, see if anyone on the Freecycle network can make use of it
- Take it to your local animal shelter for use in the cat and dog pens
- Make a rug
- Wrap it around a block of wood and let your cat use it as a scratching post
- Put it on the greenhouse floor to keep it warm in the winter
- Use it as underlay for a pond liner
Collecting and recycling your electrical waste
May 8, 2008 at 3:27 pm
A brand new company has been launched this week specialising in the safe recycling of electrical waste in concordance with the WEEE directive, which came into effect on July 1st 2007. It was introduced in an attempt to reduce the amount of electrical waste heading to landfill and has significant implications for producers of electrical items and any non-household users of electrical items. The company, called Electro Collect, has invested in a state of the art website which not only allows you to create an instant quote for your waste, but also gives some very comprehensive information on the whole issue of the “WEEE Directive”.
The approach of the company is widely considered to be a step into the future for an industry which has been notoriously slow in its uptake of the Internet. Unlike the majority of its competitors, Electro Collect offers North West electrical waste recycling to the masses through an automated and easy-to-use website which eliminates ambiguity and speeds up the quoting process tremendously.
This approach, with the website acting as the main selling tool, gives the company the advantage of being able to harness digital media in a unique and pioneering way, for the market. Especially with the lack of publicity for the piece of legislation driving the venture, the strategy of hosting educational content on the website looks to be a defining factor in the market.
Needless to say, the website looks very appealing and the quote system gives a good tool to allow you to “gauge” the cost of obliging to this new law.
Britain’s beaches blighted by more plastic litter than ever before
May 7, 2008 at 11:55 am
The latest Beachwatch report from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) shows that plastic litter on British beaches has increased by a worrying 126% since 1994. Bags, bottles and other plastic items now account for over 58% of all litter found on UK beaches. Nearly 4,000 volunteers swept 168.5 km of UK coastline to collect data for the report, picking up a staggering 346,000 items of litter as they went.
Plastic litter is not just an eyesore for us: it represents a real danger to wildlife. Over 170 species of marine wildlife, including whales, seabirds and turtles, mistake marine litter for food. This can lead to poisoning and fatal stomach blockages. Animals can also be injured, strangled or drowned if they get caught up in old fishing nets or plastic packaging such as can holders. The RSPB has urged the government to do more to protect marine wildlife by creating a robust network of protected coastal areas.
The MCS says everyone can help reduce the tide of plastic litter by taking simple steps such as taking re-usable bags to the supermarket, re-filling plastic bottles with tap water and disposing of litter responsibly.
While almost all plastic can technically be recycled, the process is complicated by the range of different types of plastic, limited infrastructure and market demand. Around 86% of local authorities in the UK now provide collection facilities for plastic bottles and retailers have recently introduced degradable, biodegradable and compostable plastic products.
Several coastal towns are making an effort to ‘Go plastic bag free’ as part of a national movement to reduce plastic waste. Modbury in South Devon claims to be ‘Great Britain’s first plastic bag free town’ after traders and shopkeepers stopped issuing plastic bags in May 2007. Campaigners are hoping that Brighton will soon follow in Modbury’s footsteps and similar efforts in Helston, Cornwall are being supported by Friends of the Earth.
The MCS runs an Adopt-a-Beach initiative to encourage individuals and communities to care for their coastal environment. By joining the scheme, you can adopt your favourite stretch of coast and take part in regular beach cleans and surveys to monitor litter.
Food recycling priority for Wales
April 30, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Recycling in Wales has been given a boost by the announcement of an extra £15 million in grants from the Welsh Assembly. Jane Davidson, the assembly’s minister for environment, sustainability and housing, revealed that a total of £50 million would be made available for local authorities to put towards recycling schemes in 2008/09. The grants will be given to those authorities that are working towards separating the different types of household waste to facilitate improvements in recycling in Wales.
Wales currently recycles 33 per cent of its waste, with this announcement setting it on course to achieve its EU target of 40 per cent by 2010. The assembly is considering proposals to target 70 per cent recycling rates by 2025. Davidson commented, “Food recycling is an area of great potential and exploiting this will be essential if we are to continue increasing the amount of waste we recycle and divert from landfill.”
It is particularly important to recycle food waste as it generates large amounts of methane when decomposing, a greenhouse gas identified as one of those responsible for global warming. Once recycled, food waste can be used to provide nutrients for soil.
In tandem with the new grants being made available, local authorities will have to pay greater tax on waste they send to landfill sites. Welsh authorities will pay £32 per tonne of waste sent to the landfill, up from £24 last year.
The authorities of Monmouthshire, Torfaen, Merthyr, Carmarthenshire, RCT, Bridgend and Swansea already have separation schemes in place, with Cardiff, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Conwy, Wrexham and Blaenau Gwent planning to put schemes into effect in the near future.
15 possible sites for eco-towns
April 22, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Gordon Brown is keen to make an impact on the hearts and minds of the British public and one of his personal passion-projects is called the eco-town. It has been announced this month which of the 15 proposed sites would be home to these 10 new carbon-neutral towns. The plans are to build towns from scratch and make them the very best example of a modern thinking and environmentally friendly habitable area. Everything in the town will be made from recycled materials, the transport designs will all use green renewable energy, and it will house totally sufficient recycling and waste water systems.
It’s a breakthrough for Europe, in as much as there have been eco-developments proposed and put into motion in the world, but this will actually house people and create an entire community. A similar project is now in full swing in Abu Dhabi called Masdar City and the plans for that project look like taken from a science fiction film. The entire city is built from renewable carbon-neutral resources and will more or less run on nothing but solar power.
In the UK though, the eco-towns are still a hugely significant proposal. Between 5 and 20 thousand homes are planned in the towns and all of these will be zero carbon – in theory at least. There has obviously been the usual rejection of the idea by conservationists and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England are worried about what this will mean to the green areas. However, ‘green’ seems to be the whole agenda here so it might end up pleasing everyone. The final 10 sites will be revealed in the next 6 months.
Boris promises payments to Londoners for recycling
April 15, 2008 at 1:30 pm
At an environmental manifesto launch on Hampstead Heath last month, Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate for London Mayor, promised to pay Londoners to recycle if he is elected on May 1st. London has fallen behind the rest of the UK with recycling and Boris hopes that the introduction of a scheme similar to one working successfully in America, may make all the difference. Perhaps predictably, current mayor, Ken Livingstone, has denounced the idea as “unconvincing green camouflage”.
Over the last three years the Philadelphia based private company, RecycleBank, has managed to make American households increase their recycling rates by 200% and now operates in over two hundred cities and towns in the States. The scheme works by measuring each household’s recycling and rewarding them with vouchers exchangeable for goods.
The high-tech wheelie bins contain a computer chip which stores the householder’s details, including an online account number, which is credited with “Recycle Bank Dollars” after special computers on the collection trucks scan the barcode, weigh the recyclable materials and work out the reward, which averages out at around $8 a week for most households. The balance on the account can be accessed online and spent in over 250 stores, including national names such as Starbucks, as well as local participating shops. Alternatively, consumers can choose to donate their dollars to local environmental charities.
Mr Johnson plans to get the Conservative councils of Westminster, Maidenhead and Windsor discussing the scheme with RecycleBank to pioneer a similar scheme in the UK. He has stated that the initiative has proved so successful in America because it rewards people for recycling, rather than punishing them by taxes for producing waste.
