1. Northern Ireland publishes marine litter strategy

Northern Ireland's Environment Minister, Alex Attwood, has published the country’s ‘first ever’ strategy to address levels of marine litter.

The strategy seeks to tackle the levels of litter present on the coastal and marine environment by taking steps to both reduce and remove it. The Department of the Environment (DOE) hopes that this will be achieved through clearer communication, ‘effective enforcement of statutory deterrents’, and ‘appropriate coastal infrastructure’.

Commenting on the Northern Ireland Marine Litter Strategy, Minister Attwood said: “The strategy is a co-ordinated approach to reducing the levels of litter in the marine environment, through education, awareness-raising and volunteering programs, along with promoting a strong system of enforcement against those who just don’t get the message that litter is unacceptable.?”

Scotland has also this week launched a draft strategy to tackle marine litter.

Read more about Northern Ireland’s marine litter strategy

2. New guide to anaerobic digestion

The Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA) has release the industry’s ‘first complete reference tool for those developing and operating AD facilities in the UK.

The ‘Practical Guide to AD’ was launched on Wednesday (3 July), and includes 11 chapters on various topics such as feedstocks, digestate, planning, permitting and funding.

Speaking of the guide, Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the ADBA, said: “Covering every stage of the anaerobic digestion process, this hands-on guide, has been developed by industry experts to boost the development of the expanding AD sector by showcasing best practice and explaining incentives, regulation, health and safety legislation and so much more.

Read the ADBA’s ‘Practical Guide to AD’.

3. Industry urged to prevent workplace injuries

DeckSafe Solutions, an anti-slip decking company, has urged the waste and recycling industry to prevent workplaces injuries by ensuring that their sites are complying to Health and Safety standards.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), there were double the amount of fatal injuries in the waste and recycling sector during the year 2012/13 than there were in 2011/12.

Further, HSE figures show that in 2011/12, 35 per cent of ‘major injuries’ were credited to ‘trips and slips’, with 26 per cent of ‘over three day injuries’ attributed to the same cause.

Decksafe Solutions is now calling on the industry to ensure that their work sites are safe environments by taking the following steps:

• keeping facilities and floors clean and free of tripping hazards (and reporting any spillages or hazards immediately);
• installing the correct type of flooring (such as slip resistant flooring for indoor facilities or anti-slip flooring for outdoor surfaces);
• regularly inspecting the condition of floors, stairs and other surfaces; and
• ensuring stairs are ‘sturdy’, well lit, and have ‘secure handrails’ and tread covers.

Read more about Decksafe solutions.

4. Biffa powers waste fleet with cooking oil

Waste management company Biffa has achieved a ‘UK first’ by using recycled cooking oil – B100 – to power its entire municipal waste collection fleet.

Biffa’s set up a collection agreement in 2011 with biofuel producer Convert2Green (C2G) to convert customers’ used cooking oil into biodiesel. To date, Biffa has used over 1.3 million litres of biodiesel in its collection fleets, which has reportedly reduced the fleet’s CO2 emissions by 78 per cent.

Robin Chambers, General Manager of Biffa’s Integrated Waste Management business, said: “Biffa’s municipal fleets are powered by the fuel recovered by C2G, enabling local authority clients to meet key targets and reducing the climate-changing impacts of fossil fuels.”

In other news, Biffa has announced it will begin Ashford’s new collection services on Monday (8 July), as part of its contract with the Mid Kent Joint Waste Partnership.

Read more about low-emission vehicles in Resource 72.

5. Bio-based plastic for carton packaging

Food processing and packaging company Tetra Pak, has announced that 82 per cent of the material used to make Tetra Pak packages in Brazil will be from low-density polyethylene (LDPE) produced from sugar cane.

The move forms part of Tetra Pak’s supply agreement with thermoplastic resins producer Braskem.

According to Tetra Pak, the LDPE trial will be limited to Brazil and is scheduled to start during the ‘first quarter’ of 2014.

Tetra Pak President and Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Jönsson, said: “The new agreement to be signed with Braskem demonstrates our commitment to bring environmental innovations to our customers and is a further step in our journey to develop fully renewable packages.”

Read more about Tetra Pak.

6. Viridor signs West London contract

Waste management company Viridor has been awarded a two-year contract with the London Borough of Hillingdon to sort 21,000 mixed recyclable materials collected from households in the borough.

The new contract, which can be extended in twelve-month intervals for up to five years, will provide residents with further opportunities to recycle, and it is expected to help the council increase its recycling rate.

As well as commonly collected materials such as plastic bottles, glass, and cans, residents will also be able to recycle rigid plastic containers and books under the new contract.

June Barlow, Viridor’s bid manager, said: “The council’s efficient collection service paired with our proven track record in producing high quality recyclate… should provide reassurance to everyone in the borough their recycling efforts are truly worthwhile.”

Read more about the Hillingdon contract.

7. Tamar Energy signs five-plant deal with Peel Environmental

Tamar Energy has appointed infrastructure developers Peel Environmental to provide up to five suitable anaerobic digestion (AD) sites exclusively for the energy company’s use.

Under the Heads of Terms Agreement, Tamar will design, build and operate any future anaerobic digestion facilities at the chosen sites to generate electricity from organic waste.

Alan Lovell, Tamar Energy’s Chief Executive said: “Our innovative funding model means we are in a unique position in the AD industry to deliver on our promise of a cost-effective, reliable and sustainable energy and waste management solution for local councils and waste contractors alike.”

The announcement follows news of Tamar Energy’s 40 plant plan, ‘the first UK-wide network of AD plants’, which will reportedly generate 100MW of electricity and gas, enough to power more than 200,000 homes, by 2018.