Sir James Bevan appointed Chief Executive of Environment Agency

The Environment Agency (EA) has appointed Sir James Bevan as its new Chief Executive, following the departure of Paul Leinster, who left the role on 25 September after 17 years at the agency.

Bevan will leave his current role as the UK’s High Commissioner in India to take up the role on 30 November. David Rooke, the EA’s current Executive Director for Flood Risk Management, will act as interim head of the EA in the meantime.

Bevan, who was knighted in 2012, has worked for the government since 1982, when he joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). He has held diplomatic roles in a number of countries including Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), France and America, before taking up his position in India in 2011.

Commenting on the appointment, Sir Philip Dilley, chairman of the EA, said: “I am delighted that Sir James Bevan will be joining the Environment Agency as its chief executive later this year. Sir James will lead the organisation with passion, energy and a clear commitment to continue the great work it does to protect and improve the environment and make it a better place for people and wildlife.”

Bevan added: “One of the biggest challenges of our time is protecting the environment and promoting growth. We need to do both, and I look forward to playing my part in that.

“The Environment Agency is a great organisation which makes a great contribution to our country. It will be an honour and a privilege to lead it.”

Find out more about the Environment Agency.

Cancer Research promotes sustainable clothing at Brighton Fashion Week

Consumer campaign Love Your Clothes and Cancer Research are joining forces at the Open Market during Brighton Fashion Week, 15-17 October, in a bid to encourage the reuse of old clothes.

This year’s Fashion Week focuses on sustainability and encouraging the public to rethink the consumption of clothes. People are being encouraged to bring any pre-loved, good-quality clothes to the event, and they will be collected by Cancer Research representatives.

According to Love Your Clothes, around one million tonnes of clothes are bought in the UK every year, and the same amount are discarded, with around 350,000 tonnes going to landfill.

Workshops and demonstrations will take place on the Saturday, including on upcycling old clothes into new items and a swishing event.

There will also be a ‘tonne of clothing’, which the partnership will be challenging designers and students to rummage through to create new items to demonstrate how to extend the lifetime of clothes.

Campaign Manager at Love Your Clothes, Jamie Perry, said: “Keeping clothes in use for longer is the single biggest thing we can do to reduce the environmental impact of clothing. There is no reason for any item of clothing to end up in landfill – it can all be reused, donated or recycled.

“We’ve got three days of great events planned to show people how they can give their clothes a new lease of life by repairing or revamping them and the value of choosing to buy pre-owned clothes.”

Learn more about Love Your Clothes and Cancer Research.

Smurfit Kappa announces new European management structure

Paper-based packaging manufacturer Smurfit Kappa has announced a new management structure for its European operations.

From this week, Roberto Villaquiran, currently CEO of Corrugated Europe, will assume the new role of CEO Europe. As holder of the role, he will have overall responsibility for the existing European Paper and Corrugated Divisions, and will report directly to the CEO of the Smurfit Kappa group, Tony Smurfit.

Reporting to Villaquiran will be two new Chief Operations Officers in Paper Europe and Corrugated Europe. These will be, respectively, Laurent Sellier and Saverio Mayer.

Roberto Villaquiran, incoming CEO Europe, commented: “Our vision is to be the packaging solutions partner of choice to our customers, and we believe this integrated European structure will further enhance our capacity to deliver outstanding service and value.”

Tony Smurfit, Group CEO, added: “We expect our new European structure to contribute meaningfully to the continued growth and development of our business. Performance reflects both the quality of your team and the strength of your business model. We believe the strength of our team and our unique culture will continue to define our business and to drive superior performance.”

Learn more about Smurfit Kappa.

Biffa takes on new fleet for Stratford-on-Avon

Waste management company Biffa has deployed a new £3-million fleet of 20 collection and street cleaning vehicles as part of its waste management contract with Stratford-on-Avon District Council.

Comprising of 18 trucks, which will collect residents’ recyclables, food waste and refuse, the fleet also includes a mechanical pavement sweeper, a hot jet washer to remove chewing gum and two street barrows with suction units to clean in smaller places.

The fleet comes with upgraded fuel-efficient engines, increased capacity and technology including video cameras and communications technology to help protect the crew and public.

Councillor Mike Brain, the authority’s technical services portfolio holder, said: “The new vehicles are part of a planned overhaul and upgrade that will benefit many residents, and which have cost the council nothing.

“The new vehicles are more efficient, and greater reliability will also reduce vehicle breakdowns, helping to cut down on missed bin collections.”

Read more about Biffa.

Closed-loop partnership aims to use offcuts to package polymers

A ‘closed-loop’ partnership between global petrochemical company SABIC, converter Fardem Packaging and recycling company Morssinkhof Rymoplast will see polymer resin produced by SABIC delivered to customers in packaging made from recycled plastic offcuts.

Up to 100,000 tonnes of plastic per year could be transported from SABIC to its customers using the recycled packaging.

During the process, SABIC will capture recyclate from its packaging material. Bags will then be produced by Fardem and Morssinkhof and used to package SABIC resins.

Steven de Boer, Director Innovation and Sustainability at SABIC, said: “We strive to continuously create more sustainable business processes that create value into the future for society and the environment, based on the effective use of the resources available to us today.

“In this particular project, downcycling is avoided, and a higher quality use of a waste stream is generated, with a second life given in the same application.”

Rolf Morssinkhof, of Morssinkhof Rymoplast, added: “We are very happy to be part of SABIC’s ‘bag-to-bag’ programme, which is ultimate proof that by collection of well-sorted monostreams of plastic scraps, production of recycled raw materials for re-usage in the original application is possible.

“SABIC is setting the right example and challenging the plastics industry to take similar pragmatic actions.”

Find out more about SABIC.