Grundon launches festive food bank campaign

Grundon Waste Management is working with the Oxford Food Bank in a ‘Festive Food Share’ campaign to raise money towards the charity’s £60,000 per year running costs.

The campaign, which started on Tuesday (1 December) will see Grundon donate 25 pence to the food bank for every food waste bin it empties from customers during December, as well as £25 for every new customer that signs up to its dedicated food waste collection service. The Oxford Food Bank, launched in 2009, delivers fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy products and bread to approximately 60 charities in the Oxford area.

The team of around 100 volunteers can provide £20 worth of food from a £1 donation, totalling £1 million worth of food per year, and relies purely on the goodwill of local businesses and individuals. It receives no government funding.

Grundon hopes to raise £3,000, the equivalent of £60,000 worth of food. Grundon staff will also be taking shifts at the food bank, which operates seven days a week.

Deputy chairman of Grundon Waste Management, Neil Grundon, said: “We’re calling on Oxfordshire’s hospitality, business and retail sectors to become smarter about the way they deal with food and stop thinking of it as a disposable commodity. As a local Oxfordshire business, giving back to the community in which we operate is very important. We hope by supporting the Oxford Food Bank we can help to raise awareness of their great work and do our bit for the environment at the same time.”

David Kay, Facilities Coordinator of the Oxford Food Bank, explains: “It costs us thousands of pounds every year to run the charity, having Grundon’s support will be very useful indeed and make a significant difference to our day-to-day activities.”

More information on the Oxford Food Bank is available at the charity’s website.

Proof of residency to be required at Cardiff HWRCs

People trying to use household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) in Cardiff will have to prove that they live in the city from January.

Cardiff Council says that it has been forced into the proof of ID measure, which requires users of the HWRCs to have a driver’s licence, council tax bill or recent utility bill, by residents from neighbouring councils travelling to use the facilities.

The council operates three HWRCs in Grangetown, Rumney and Cathays.

Cllr Bob Derbyshire, Cabinet Member for the Environment at Cardiff Council, said: “Providing ID is necessary because of the costs involved with providing this service.

“At Bessemer Close (Grangetown) alone, 17 per cent of the site users have been identified as coming from a neighbouring authority. This sort of cross border movement is costing the council in excess of £430,000 a year.

“It therefore seems fair to me that if residents from outside our catchment area want to use our facilities they should be asked to either pay for using it.”

You can find out more about recycling and waste in Cardiff on the council’s website.

Ofgem funding means construction on biomethane plant can begin

A consortium developing a plant to turn residual waste into biomethane has been awarded £5.4 million of funding under Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition.

The group is led by Advanced Plasma Power and also includes National Grid, gas distribution company Wales & West Utilities, clean energy firm Progressive Energy and CNG Services, which provides gas for use in vehicles.

In September, the plant was awarded funding of £11 million by the Department for Transport, as part of a government project to help develop and commercialise technologies that will decarbonise the transport sector.

With the new grant, construction can now begin, and is scheduled to start in Swindon in 2016. When complete, the plant will take up to 7,500 tonnes of residual waste from local homes and businesses a year and produce enough natural gas to fuel 75 heavy goods vehicles on a full-time basis or 1,500 homes.

Rolf Stein, CEO of Advanced Plasma Power, said: “This project has a key role to play in providing a renewable, secure and cost effective source of natural gas in line with government policy. Our expectation is that this plant will lead the way to a new generation of advanced recycling facilities both in the UK and around the world.”

David Parkin, Director of Network Strategy at National Grid, said: “We believe biomethane could eventually meet 40 per cent of UK domestic gas demand, with customers benefiting from renewable energy being delivered directly through the gas network.”

You can learn more about Advanced Plasma Power at the company’s website.

Former Balfour Beatty boss named as Cory CEO

The Cory Environmental Group has appointed Nick Pollard, a former CEO at Balfour Beatty, as its new Chief Executive.

Pollard left his post as UK Chief Executive at Balfour Beatty in June after two years in the role. He will take over from Pater Gerstrom, who will become Deputy Chairman of the Group after five years as Chief Executive.

Cory made a pre-tax loss of £46.9 million last year, having made an £8.4 million profit the year before. It restructured its balance sheet in August with a debt-for-equity swap at the holding company to reduce its debt by around £120 million.

In a statement, the company said: “Peter Gerstrom and the board have mutually agreed that this would be the right moment for Peter to step down.”

Gerstrom said: “After five busy years of leading Cory, I feel this is the moment to hand over the reins and to work with the new Chairman to bring in a fresh pair of eyes to the leadership of the company. I am pleased that I shall continue my association with the Group and look forward to assisting the Company through the next stage.”

Jonson Cox, Chairman of the Cory Group, said: “I would like to thank Peter for his leadership of the company over the last five years and am also pleased that we will continue to have Peter’s advice and counsel available to us as we go forward.

On the appointment of Pollard, Cox said: “Nicholas is a proven leader who successfully works with and develops people and teams. He brings a strong customer and commercial focus, bundles of determination and very relevant experience of an asset based business. I welcome him on board.”

More information on Cory Environmental can be found on the company’s website.

Resource Efficient Worcestershire Project receives European funding

Worcestershire County Council (WCC), in partnership with Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce has been awarded £726,000 of European Regional Development Funding for the Resource Efficient Worcestershire Project.

The project educates and enables small and medium-sized enterprises to improve their water and energy efficiency, waste reduction and profitability, while also focusing on carbon dioxide emissions.

Starting in 2012, the project has provided 161 businesses across the county with free resource efficiency assessments to identify potential improvements. It also runs a grant programme to help businesses introduce recommendations. According to WCC, 90 per cent of businesses that have taken part have reduced their overall energy consumption, with a reduction of over 1,500 tonnes in CO2.

Cllr Anthony Blagg, Worcestershire County Council Cabinet Member for the Environment and Chairman of the Resource Efficient Worcestershire Project Board, said: "It's great to see the project has been such a success and that so many local businesses have benefitted from becoming more resource efficient. As well as reducing their environmental impact, we have clear evidence that participating businesses can achieve increased profits and a better competitive advantage.”

More information on Resource Efficient Worcestershire can be found on the Worcestershire Business Central website.