1. Palm awarded Hartlepool contract

Palm Recycling has announced that it is to provide kerbside collections of recyclables for Hartlepool Borough Council’s 42,000 households after being awarded a seven-year contract by the local authority.

The contract, which came into effect at the beginning of April, will also see Palm sort and deliver collected materials to ‘end-user markets’ and replaces the partly-outsourced service previously in place.

Operations Regional Manager at Palm Recycling, Lennie Corrigan, said: “This is a great opportunity for Palm Recycling as the scheme should deliver high volumes of good quality recyclate. Palm Recycling’s network of reprocessors, including our parent company Palm Paper for the fibre reprocessing, will ensure the maximum amount of materials are recovered and processed into high quality raw materials.”

2. New York now recycling ‘all rigid plastics’

The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has announced that the city’s recycling programme now accommodates the ‘recycling of all rigid plastics, including toys, hangers, shampoo bottles, coffee cups and food containers’.

Part of New York’s ‘Solid Waste Management Plan’ the improvement of recycling services in the city is expected to divert ‘more than 50,000 additional tonnes of waste’ from landfill per annum, saving the taxpayer in the region of $600,000 (£387,00).

Bloomberg said: “If it’s a rigid plastic – any rigid plastic – recycle it… There is no more worrying about confusing numbers on the bottom of the container.”

According to Deputy Mayor for Operation Cas Holloway, the announcement “represents the largest expansion of … [New York] City’s recycling efforts in 25 years.”

This follows news of an address by Bloomberg to New York in which he stated his intention to push for a ban on Styrofoam in the city.

3. MITIE signed up as a partner of the Facilities Show

The world’s largest facilities management event, Facilities Show 2013, has announced that outsourcing and energy services company, MITIE, has signed up as a partner of the show.

As a result, MITIE will have a ‘considerable presence’ at the 2013 event (14-16 May at Birmingham’s NEC), participating in industry seminars and providing an ‘interactive stand on the show floor’.

Corporate Affairs Director at MITIE, John Telling, said: “We are delighted to be partners of Facilities Show 2013 and look forward to building our relationship over the coming years.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to engage in dialogue with our industry peers and explore smarter ways of working in FM, both now and for the future.”

Read more about the Facilities Show 2013

4. Furniture bodies and pressure groups join forces against biofuel subsidies

Leading bodies in the furniture industry have joined forces, calling for ‘strict limits of subsidies’ for the use of wood in biomass power stations.

With Energy Bill decisions in Parliament next month, the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA), British Furniture Confederation, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth cosigned a letter sent to the government in an attempt to influence debate.

FIRA council member, Dr. Pete Beele, said: “Current biomass expansion plans could see biomass wood consumption reach six times the UK’s annual forestry harvest by 2017.

“Government subsidies for large biomass power companies will continue to drive the demand for virgin timber, which will inevitably result in significant increases in its price.”

5. CRUK’s fifth annual conference to address recycling

It has been announced that ‘moving from waste to resource’ will be the focus of Carpet Recycling UK’s (CRUK) fifth Annual Conference, covering all sectors of the ‘carpet waste supply chain’.

The conference, a one-day event in Birmingham on 19 June, is aimed at those interested in undertaking carpet waste recycling or making use of new recycling technologies.

Topics set to be discussed at the conference include: waste prevention/redesign, take back schemes, reuse and energy from waste (EfW).

Director of CRUK, Laurance Bird, said: “This year, we have attracted speakers at the forefront of innovation to share successes, gain recognition and impetus for their projects, and celebrate progression towards a future where carpet waste is a resource rather than a waste material destined for landfill.”