REPIC’s Responsible Recycling competition sparks nationwide interest

REPIC received almost 400 entries for its first ever consumer-facing competition, which marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) producer compliance scheme.

The competition, which headed the next phase in raising awareness of ‘responsible recycling’, ran in 20 areas across UK and was specifically aimed at local schools, community groups and good causes.

Entrants had to explain which electrical products they need and provide the correct answer to ‘What does WEEE stand for?’ in order to be in with the chance of winning £1,000 worth of new electrical products.

The winners will be announced in the coming weeks.

Earlier this year REPIC introduced its first consumer WEEE recycling campaign, Responsible Recycling, which linked to dedicated microsite.

Dr Philip Morton, CEO of REPIC said: “We’re proud to celebrate 10 years of successful WEEE recycling and we wanted to mark it with a worthwhile community initiative, which we believe has continued to encourage further responsible recycling of old electrical equipment in local communities.”

Find out more about REPIC’s Responsible Recycling campaign.

Centre for Alternative Technology celebrates 40th birthday

To mark the occasion of its 40th birthday, the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) has announced that it will host two events during the summer.

Tomorrow (26 July), CAT will hand over an extensive collection of photos and historical interviews covering its last 40 years to the National Library of Wales, and on 2 August CAT plans to host a birthday carnival, with speakers, workshops and music.

Adrian Ramsay, CEO of CAT, said: “Our 40thanniversary is not only a chance to look back on the work of this incredible organisation over the last 40 years, but also to look forward to the next 40. It is vital that we take action now to build a sustainable society for a changing planet.”

Read more about CAT’s birthday celebrations.

Essex County Council selects new software

The Essex Waste Partnership has announced a three-year contract with opensky Data Systems, a managed software services and customized solutions company, as part of plans to support its Integrated Waste Data Management Solution (iWDMS).

The software is expected to support the processing of over 100,000 individual weighbridge transactions equating to over 680,000 tonnes of waste per annum.

The partnership expects the software to support a range of aims including:

• capture of all the waste disposal authority’s contract tonnage data;
• submission of the waste collection authorities’ tonnage data;
• automated calculation of all statutory related payment, such as recycling credits and tipping away payments; and
• management of authorised vehicle tipping lists.

Jason Searles, Essex County Council’s Head of Waste Commissioning, said: “The software will streamline data management and provide the Essex Waste Partnership with an efficient solution to Statutory and local reporting. Greater visibility of real-time data coupled with increased confidence in data accuracy through automated data validation processes, were key considerations in our decision to award to opensky.”

Michael Cronin (pictured right), Managing Director at opensky, commented: “As waste policy and reporting compliance requirements change and waste management landscapes evolve in the UK, this contract signifies a significant investment in IWDMS by opensky, to address the gaps in waste data management for Waste Disposal Authorities and Waste Partnerships.”

Find out more about opensky data systems.

Biffa deploys new fleet of collection vehicles in Isle of Anglesey

Municipal contractor Biffa has announced that it will be deploying a new fleet of specialist collection vehicles worth £2 million to support Isle of Anglesey County Council’s plans to increase recycling on the Welsh island.

The new vehicles are based on Romaquip Kerbsort bodies and are capable of collecting food waste and dry recycling at the same time, which Anglsey hopes will maximise collection efficiency,

Anglesey’s fleet has consequently reduced from 15 to 10 vehicles, which Biffa expects will reduce road mileage by around 80,000 kilometres, save 15,000 litres of diesel and reduce exhaust and CO2 emissions by nearly 50 tonnes.

Pete Dickson, Development Director of Biffa’s municipal division, said that the new vehicles will enable crews to work faster, adding: “Anglesey is already one of the best recycling authorities in Wales, and Biffa wants to do all it can to help residents and council get to the 60 per cent [recycling] mark.”

Read more about Biffa’s work with local authorities.

Tetronics International share e-waste technology

Waste recovery infrastructure specialist Tetronics International has secured a contract with BlueOak Resources, USA to provide its plasma refining technology for the recovery of previous metals from e-waste.

BlueOak Resources selected Tetronic’s technology for its national project to ‘sustainably recover previous metals from e-waste’ for use in a plant in Arkansas.

Production at the Arkansas facility is scheduled to begin by the end of 2015, with the capacity to process 15 million pounds (lbs) of e-waste per year, yet BlueOak suggest that it has plans for ‘rapid expansion’.

Priv Bradoo, Founder & CEO for BlueOak commented: “e-waste in the US is a valuable source of materials crucial to our way of life. We see our new relationship with Tetronics as a huge step forward in the ethical management of e-waste, whilst supplying valuable materials back into our manufacturing supply chain.”

Graeme Rumbol (pictured right), CEO for Tetronics International, added: “BlueOak have taken their vision for sustainable e-waste management in the US and turned it into a reality, which we are extremely proud to be part of. We look forward to working with them further over the coming years to ensure these critical materials are recovered at the highest level possible, and not wasted."

Read more about BlueOak and Tetronics International.

Casepak helps printing house achieve zero waste to landfill

Leicestershire-based recycling and waste management company Casepak has helped printing company Greenshires reach the milestone of sending zero waste to landfill business.

Casepak developed a tailor-made waste management and an in-house education programme for the printers and installed an updated range of equipment to process the company’s recyclable materials.

Specifically, Casepak installed new waste infrastructure (such as balers and a ‘high-specification waste extraction system and filter’) and separate bins for cardboard and plastic, which helped reduce the number of collections of office waste by a third and see Greenshire recoup £50,000 for its recyclable materials.

Jonathan Green, Production Manager at Greenshires, said: “Greenshires’ involvement with Casepak has been beneficial to us from day one. Its recommendations were far in excess of what anyone else could offer.”

Mark Smith, Joint-Managing Director at Casepak, said: “It is great to see how our recommendations and strategy have helped Greenshires become a more environmentally sustainable business. By making changes to waste management and recycling procedures and providing education for staff, Greenshires is a fantastic example of how zero waste to landfill can be achieved.”

Find out more about Casepak or Greenshires.