WRAP announces date for Recycle Week 2016

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has announced that Recycle Week 2016 will take place from 13-19 June next year.

Organised under the Recycle Now brand of WRAP, the annual event takes a theme and is delivered to the public in partnership with local authorities, retailers, schools, businesses and community groups.

For this year’s week, which had the theme of ‘Recycling Around the Home’, WRAP produced posters and infographics detailing what household items were more recyclable than the public might think, what items should be put in black bins to avoid contaminating collections, and what useful things can be made from recycled material.

Groups were also encouraged to take part in the week by organising recycling events in their communities.

The theme for this year has yet to be announced.

Find out more about WRAP’s Recycle Week.

Grundon signs supply contract with Viridor

Waste management companies Grundon Waste Management and Viridor have signed an agreement that will see Grundon send its collected waste to Viridor’s newly-opened energy recovery facility (ERF) in Ardley, Oxfordshire.

Built at a cost of £205 million, the ERF was officially opened in June and produces enough electrical power to run 38,000 homes. It is hoped that the contract with Grundon will help ensure that the facility can run at capacity long-term.

Grundon’s Managing Director Clayton Sullivan-Webb, said: “Diverting waste from landfill and converting it into valuable renewable energy is a top priority for Grundon.

“Having secured this significant capacity over a long-term period, we can now expand our energy from waste and energy recovery services to many more customers across the wider region, providing them with a much more sustainable solution for the management of their waste.”

Viridor’s South East Regional Director Derek Edwards added: “As a business we’re giving the world’s resources new life by transforming what society throws away into valuable raw materials and energy.

“Our state-of-the-art energy plant in Ardley is already doing that to residual waste from Oxfordshire’s homes and this contract with Grundon will see businesses in the area also benefiting from our partnership work as their established collection fleet brings fuel for our plant for some years to come.”

Grundon’s operations at theLakeside incinerator, a joint venture with Viridor, will remain unchanged.

Find out more about Ardley ERF.

FoodCycle partners with Morrisons to provide community meals

Supermarket chain Morrisons has agreed to send its surplus, edible food to food poverty charity FoodCycle.

The partnership has been established between the branches of the supermarket and the charity's local FoodCycle hubs across the UK and will see surplus food from storage being used to make community lunches.

FoodCycle aims to connect people in local communities through sharing good food and in the last five years has served over 112,000 meals made from over 130,000 kilogrammes of reclaimed surplus food.

Mary McGrath, CEO of FoodCycle said: “It is fantastic that Morrisons is partnering with FoodCycle. The staff involved have been brilliant: committed to seeing perfectly fresh and tasty food go to good use.

“The partnership will allow us to expand our Hub projects, supporting even more people who are at risk of loneliness, isolation and hunger. With food poverty on the rise and the problem of food waste an ongoing issue, we know the need for FoodCycle exists more than ever.”

Martyn Jones, Group Corporate Services Director of Morrisons, added: “Our colleagues work hard to minimise waste every day and we know that our customers really care about this too. Our partnership with FoodCycle will allow us to find a good home for the small amount of unsold or used food in stores and support FoodCycle’s great work in the community.”

Find out more about FoodCycle.

Newham residents tackle fly-tipping through smartphones

Residents of the London Borough of Newham are tackling fly-tipping using a new app.

Developed by software developer Yotta, the ‘Love Newham’ app allows residents to quickly report a range of environmental issues to Newham Council. The issue and precise location is then automatically transmitted to field staff through the app, so that they can respond instantly and provide updated information.

Issues that can be reported through the app include fly-tipping, fly-posting, dog fouling and graffiti. It is available for iPhone, Windows, Android and Blackberry. Residents without smartphones can log onto the Newham Council website using a social media account to report an incident.

Councillor Ian Corbett, Mayoral Adviser for the Environment and Leisure, said: “We spent in the region of £3 million last year dealing with 70,000 fly tipping incidents alone.

“This is a problem we take very seriously. We have a 200 strong team of street cleansers, operating out of 18 vehicles, supported by 73 law enforcement officers who will clear and investigate fly tips as part of their duties.

“Using smartphone technology, together with the Yotta Mayrise in-cab devices, we can keep residents informed in real time about when reported rubbish has been cleared.”

Find out more about Love Newham.

Taylor develops flame-retardant bin lid

Bin manufacturer Taylor has responded to reports of the growing proportion of waste fires among fires by developing a fireproof lid to its four-wheeled steel bins.

According to Taylor, standard lids melt during fires, fuelling them with melted plastic and increased oxygen intake. However, the flame-retardant lid (FRLID), created using a high-grade polymer, can reportedly remain intact, preventing the fire from spreading and starving it of oxygen.

The FRLID is currently undergoing an independent verification process by Warrington Certification, in which it will undergo a robust testing procedure. Taylor expects the product to be officially launched by the end of August.

Mark Jenkins, Taylor’s UK Sales Director, said: “We’ve developed the FRLID as part of Taylor’s on-going drive to innovate and develop solutions that add real and significant value to our customers.

“We feel that the FRLID will positively impact on fire prevention, particularly in high density and high-risk areas. I’m delighted with the work of our R&D department and believe that Taylor’s investment in developing this new product will have a lasting impact on the waste industry.”

Find out more about Taylor bins.