1. Manchester free lunch

Five thousand members of the public will be served a free, hot lunch made from ingredients that would otherwise have been wasted, such as ‘cosmetically imperfect’ vegetables and fruits, to highlight the problem of food waste.

Held at Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens on Saturday (15 June) between 12noon and 4pm, the ‘Feeding of the 500’ event has been organised by Manchester Friends of the Earth, the north west branch of food charity FareShare, Cracking Good Food and the Feeding the 5000 team.

Corin Bell, Lead Food Waste Campaigner at Manchester Friends of the Earth said: "We're really excited to be putting on a Feeding the 5000 event in Manchester. In the current economic climate, with so many people struggling to afford basics like food, it is scandalous that perfectly nutritious food is wasted because it isn't the right shape, colour or because it's the "wrong" size".

Founder of Feeding the 5000 Tristram Stuart, added: “It will be an opportunity for the people of Manchester to send a strong message to food businesses that they want a stop to the unacceptable levels of food waste in the supply chain.”

Read more about Feeding the 5000.

2. UK INDEMAND job opportunities

Nottingham Trent University is currently advertising for three Research Fellow posts in a new centre, UK INDEMAND, an £11 million partnership with the universities of Cambridge, Leeds and Bath that aims to help industry to achieve a more sustainable use of materials.

The Research Fellow in Product Lifetimes, Research Fellow in Sustainability, Value and Depreciation, and Research Fellow in Product Life Extension (specifically looking at repair and maintainance) positions cover a range of sectors, including buildings, vehicles, electrical and electronic equipment, industrial goods and consumer durables.

The posts are fixed term for 3 years, with the possibility of extension.

Read more about the job opportunities.

3. Repic gains environmental management accreditation

Repic, the UK’s largest waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) producer compliance scheme (PCS), has achieved ISO 14001 Environmental Management accreditation.

ISO 14001 outlines a set of standards for organisations to adhere to in order to design and implement an effective environmental management system. It includes guidance on areas including improving efficiency and waste reduction, reducing risk and environmental liabilities, and improving health and safety conditions for employees and communities.

Dr Philip Morton, CEO of Repic, said: “Achieving the accreditation further demonstrates our commitment to the environment, our members, the local authorities we work with and other collection and treatment partners.

“It is almost ten years since Repic was established and back then, we set ourselves a goal to provide maximum cost-effective compliance for our members, consistent with excellent environmental performance. This still remains our priority and this is another step on our continuing journey to constantly improve the service we offer the many organisations with which we work.”

Read more about Repic.

4. UK could save £64 million a year under WEEE revisions

A new report undertaken by 360 Environmental for electricals manufacturer Hewlett Packard has found that if government went ahead with the matching process option as outlined in the consultation on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) legislation, the UK could save up to £64 million a year.

The report claims that by matching collection sites to compliance schemes (one of the four options outlined by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), the UK could generate the largest amount of savings.

Dr Kirstie McIntyre, from Hewlett Packard said: “The current UK WEEE system has led to excessive costs to UK business. The government has stated that it is determined to cut these costs through its Red Tape Challenge. This report shows that option 4: the Matching Process provides the best option to cut red tape, saving between £35 million and £64 million each year. Widespread experience from other EU countries underlines the advantages of option 4.”

Read more about the WEEE consultation.

5. City of London partners with European Recycling Platform

The City of London Corporation has introduced 17 new battery collection bins in partnership with European Recycling Platform (ERP), to increase the amount of waste batteries that are recycled in the City.

John Tomlinson, Chairman of the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee, who attended the launch on 4 June, said: “The City of London Corporation is committed to providing all of our residents with the opportunity to recycle as many materials as possible – from batteries through to WEEE. We know that we have to engage with our residents, and also people visiting and working in the City, and we have to look at new ways of doing this. We are delighted with these splendid new recycling containers. We think they will encourage everybody to recycle their old batteries.”

Batteries collected from the City of London battery collection bins will be taken apart for material recovery.

David Harding, Business Development Manager for ERP UK, added: “The City of London Corporation is a prestigious partner and we have worked closely with them to develop these eye-catching and robust containers. We hope that these containers, which are conveniently located all over the City, will remind people how easy and important it is to recycle their waste batteries.”

More details on batteries recycling in the City of London and the full list of container locations can be found here on the City of London website.