Merry-go-round awarded Revolve status by Zero Waste Scotland

Zero Waste Scotland has awarded Merry-go-round, a social enterprise and charity based in Glasgow, its Revolve stamp of approval – a reuse quality standard for shops and charities that sell secondhand goods in Scotland.

The charity encourages local families to donate, recycle and reuse secondhand children’s toys, clothes and books as well as providing parenting support through events and guidance groups.

Founded in 2012, Merry-go-round aims to help local families save money by offering low-cost secondhand children’s goods and supports families in need by distributing free goods and providing jobs and voluntary work within the local community.

Following the award, Ian Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Merry-go-round Glasgow is an outstanding example of a very effective social enterprise organisation.

“Its benefits are multiple – not only does it have a positive impact on the environment, it helps a huge number of people in many different ways. Merry-go-round Glasgow reduces waste, creates jobs, saves people money and provides invaluable advice to parents and families.”

Sam Moir, Founder of Merry-go-round Glasgow, added: “The whole team is thrilled that we have received Revolve accreditation and to be recognised as a quality organisation. It’s a fantastic achievement which reinforces the fact that secondhand needn’t ever be second-best. We will be very proud to display the Revolve branding around our boutique.”

Learn more about Merry-go-round and about Zero Waste Scotland.

HGVs now banned in London under Britain’s first ‘Safer Lorry Scheme’

Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), including refuse collection lorries, which fail to meet strict safety requirements to protect cyclists and pedestrians have now been banned throughout Greater London.

Vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes entering London must be fitted with sideguards to protects cyclists from going under the wheels in a collision as well as specialised mirrors to give the driver a clearer view of cyclists and pedestrians. To further reduce blind spots, HGVs must now be fitted with bigger side windows in the lower panel of the lorry door.

This new ban will be enforced by the police, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the joint Transport for London and Department for Transport-funded Industrial HGV Taskforce, with any breach of the new regulations entailing a fine of up to £1,000.

However, Jacqueline O’Donovan, managing director of the family run waste management company O’Donovan Waste Disposal, who was involved in developing the scheme, says these new regulations are ‘not enough’.

She said: “While the introduction of the Safer Lorry Scheme is extremely welcome and will no doubt have a positive impact on all road users across the capital, this alone is not enough to cut incidents involving HGVs and other road users to an acceptable level.

“To ensure that everyone has the best chance of travelling safely, we need to combine the introduction of enforced HGV safety equipment with more training and education for both drivers and cyclists.”

“HGV owners need to see this ban not as a burden, but more of an opportunity to help the industry shake its reputation as the ‘bad guys’ in this situation.”

Read more about the Safer Lorry Scheme.

CIWM Clean Britain workshop to focus on ‘cutting-edge communication’

The final Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) Clean Britain workshop, taking place on 2 October in Northampton, will focus on ‘cutting-edge communications’, including social media, for creative anti-littering campaigns. The workshop is free to local authorities, community groups, private companies and anyone involved in the street scene community.

Guest speakers will discuss their methods of capturing the public’s attention when it comes to the fight against litter. Speakers include Martin Dorey, star of BBC2’s One Man and his Campervan and founder of #2minutebeachclean; John Read from Clean Up Britain; and Kieron Whiley from Costa Coffee.

Clean Britain, now in its its 26th year, advocates the work of local authority street scene teams and community volunteers in keeping public spaces safe and clean.

It says that ‘the annual Clean Britain Awards and ongoing workshops provide a great opportunity to share best practice in street scene management and showcase successful local environmental quality initiatives including innovation, campaigns and prevention measures’.­

Find out more about Clean Britain workshops.

Initiative ensures thousands of cans recycled at Notting Hill Carnival

A partnership between recycling campaign Every Can Counts, KA drinks and waste management company SUEZ encouraged the estimated one million visitors to last weekend’s Notting Hill Carnival to recycle empty drinks cans.

A ‘KAnival Krush’ zone was installed on Portobello Green at the two-day festival to encourage the recycling of cans.

In exchange for a bag of empty cans ready for recycling, the KAnival Krush gave out a free can of KA drink. The empty cans were then placed into segregated bins for SUEZ to take away after the event.

The initiative was led by Every Can Counts, a programme to increase the recycling of drinks cans being recycled, funded by the UK’s drinks can manufacturers, recyclers and fillers.

Every Can Counts Brand Manager, Jonathan Easthope, said: “Notting Hill Carnival is an amazing event and the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of drinks can recycling. The partnership with SUEZ Waste Management and KA drinks sets a new standard for promoting drinks can recycling at a large event.”

Chief Executive Officer of the Recycling and Recovery UK division of SUEZ, David Palmer-Jones, said: “Our crews swept up over 200 tonnes of rubbish over the weekend and recycling as much of it as possible is our top priority. The partnership with Every Can Counts and KA is an inventive way to get people recycling and hopefully we will begin to see more initiatives like this.”

Learn more about Every Can Counts.

Salvation Army Trading Company joins with Keep Britain Tidy to encourage youths to recycle

The launch of a new partnership between Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) and Keep Britain Tidy aims to encourage stronger awareness for textile reuse and recycling in younger generations as well as increasing donations for The Salvation Army.

The work will run in tandem with SATCoL’s school educational scheme, Recycle with Michael, which provides schools with colourful clothing banks as well as information packs, rewards schemes and press office support to help schools get their recycling activities in the media.

SATCoL has expanded in the past year, with an increase of its clothing banks to over 6,700. It makes weekly deliveries of around 400,000 clothing collection bags to homes across the UK.

Commenting on the partnership, Keep Britain Tidy’s Education Manager, Morgan Phillips said: “Pupils can explore a wide range of sustainability issues by studying the full life cycle of textiles. Through this partnership we hope pupils will not only learn more about the textiles industry in the classroom, they will learn by taking action too!”

Read more about the Salvation Army Trading Company and Keep Britain Tidy.