Keep Britain Tidy welcomes fly-tipping penalties

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy has welcomed the introduction of new fixed-penalty notices (FPN) for fly-tipping but says more needs to be done to stop the increase in such waste crimes.

The FPNs, which come into force next Monday (9 May), will take the form of fines between £150 and £400, and will allow local authorities to deal with small-scale incidents outside of court.

These make up the majority of cases as two-thirds of all incidents involve household waste in amounts small enough to be dumped from small vans or cars and 48 per cent occur on roads.

The latest government statistics show that incidents increased by 5.6 per cent in 2014/2015 to around 900,000 cases. It is hoped the introduction of FPNs will help decrease the incidents of fly-tipping, which is a growing problem in England, costing local authorities around £50 million per year.

Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “More work is needed if we are to get a grip on this problem, in particular looking at prevention of fly-tipping before it occurs. We will shortly be launching a brand new call to action on fly-tipping, outlining exactly what is required to eradicate this menace once and for all.”

Twenty-one fridges left at ‘dumping hotspot’

Twenty-one fridges have been dumped at a ‘dumping hotspot’ near Cheltenham where fly-tipping reportedly occurs at least once a month.

The fridges were left in ditches on either side of the road between Staverton and Boddington in what one resident told the Gloucestershire Echo was the worst incident of fly-tipping in recent memory. Sofas, gas canisters and rubble are also dumped at the site on a regular basis.

Police were called about the incident, which took place around 23 April, and they subsequently reported it to Tewkesbury Borough Council. Contractors for the council have since removed the fridges using specialist equipment at ‘significant’ cost.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary said it was a council issue and would not be investigated further by the police. These incidents are, however, investigated by the council to see if there is any evidence as to those responsible.

A local resident commented to the Echo: “Tewkesbury Borough Council always clear it up very quickly. We just feel helpless. We don’t think there’s anything that can be done to stop it, short of making the tips free again.”

David Steels, Environmental Health Manager at Tewkesbury Borough Council, said: “There is no excuse. There are lots of reputable commercial waste services available and, for householders, the council offers a bulky waste collection service for a very reasonable price.”

Recycle Devon launches REUSE campaign

Recycle Devon has launched a new campaign to encourage residents to repair or repurpose old products or pass them on to someone else. The REUSE week campaign, which will run between 16 and 22 May, was devised by Tavistock Scrapstore and is backed by Devon County Council.

Approximately £400 million is wasted by UK residents throwing away items that could be reused, according to the Local Government Association. REUSE week will encourage Devon residents to give old objects a new lease of life.

A series of events have been planned for REUSE week, which will provide information and educate residents how to reuse unwanted items. These include a clothes swap event and a junk pile challenge, where residents are invited to create something from junk. There will also be a screening of a new documentary, 'REUSE!', in conjunction with Transition Exeter. This screening takes place at Exeter Community Centre on Thursday, 19 May from 7-9pm and is free to attend. After the film, Exeter Scrapstore and furniture re-use charity, Turntable, will take part in a Q&A session.

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “If an item is reused it doesn’t need recycling. Throughout the county there are numerous charities, enterprises and community groups who run reuse-related projects.

“These range from the four Scrapstores in Devon that take materials from businesses that would otherwise have been wasted and puts them to creative use, and the 14 furniture reuse enterprises which collect and sell on furniture and other household goods both on the open market and at a subsidised rate to those on lower incomes.

“Reusing items not only helps conserve the planet’s resources by reducing the amount we need to buy new but it can also save you money.”

Ward Recycling invests £490,000 in Middlesbrough plant

Ward Recycling has completed a £490,000 investment in new machinery for its recycling facility and glass beneficiation plant in Middlesbrough.

The company has purchased a new £385,000 baler, which bales sorted finished products and has increased the payloads of vehicles leaving the site. It says that the increased performance has allowed faster throughput resulting in more tonnage being sorted and reduced energy consumption.

In addition to the baler, the glass media side of the business, which produces a product used to filter drinking water and as a replacement for silica sand used in swimming pool filtration systems, has installed a trommel and a series of new conveyors worth £105,000 to screen out any unwanted material and improve the purity of its final product.

Gareth Godwin, Manager at Ward Recycling, said: “We receive and process huge volumes of glass from commercial and household collections, which requires a lean operating model and efficient processes throughout our business. This is the latest in a series of investments that have improved efficiency and as a result increased our capacity and ability to easily manage any cyclical influxes in demand.

“As well as delivering efficiency gains, the new screening system will enable us to recover more viable glass from our recycling inputs – reducing wastage and ensuring as much material as possible is processed for reuse.”