Shanks fire under control

A fire that broke out at the Frog Island mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility in East London (pictured above) on Monday (4 August), has now been brought under control, operators Shanks Group plc has announced.

Two fire engines and 81 firefighters and officers from Wennington, Dagenham, Barking, East Ham, Stratford and Romford fire stations were initially sent to the scene on Monday morning to tackle the blaze, which has affected around 2,500 tonne of waste.

There were no reported injuries and the fire was brought under control the same day.

Shanks has said it is assessing the extent of the damage at the site and will report on recommissioning progress in due course.

In the meantime, the majority of the waste from East London Waste Authority will be diverted for processing at the project’s other MBT facility at Jenkins Lane.

The cause of the fire is not yet knownbut an investigation is ongoing.

Read more about the East London Waste Authority.

Croydon garage owner fined £1,600 for flytipping trade waste

Croydon Magistrates’ Court has ordered local garage owner Ramiz Laci to pay almost £7,000 after he dumped tyres and old car parts into a residents’ bin shed.

On Tuesday (5 August), the court heard how local residents, after becoming suspicious of someone flytipping, photographed a man unloading trade waste from a van into their bin shed (see above) in July and August last year.

Laci was identified as the registered owner of the van, and despite initially denying he had been involved, he later admitted that he had knowingly dumped the car parts in bins used for household waste (instead of paying for a commercial waste collection).

He was fined £1,600 and ordered to pay £5,00 in costs.

Councillor Stuart Collins, cabinet member for a clean and green Croydon, said: “This sentence proves it’s not worth trying to mess with Croydon…Fly-tipping and avoiding trade waste costs really doesn’t pay in the long term – because once we catch people we will make sure they face the consequences in court.”

Find out more about Croydon’s crackdown on flytipping.

Biffa introduces changes to South Bucks District Council waste service

Waste management firm Biffa has made a number of changes to South Bucks District Council waste service to reduce landfilling and increase recycling.

According to Biffa’s data, since changing the service, South Bucks’ recycling rate has increased from 32.41 per cent in 2012/13 to ‘over 50 per cent’ in 2014.

This increase has reportedly due to:

• purchasing 16 new collection vehicles (pictured above);
• introducing weekly food waste collections from 23 litre caddies;
• switching 80 per cent of the district from weekly to fortnightly collections of residual waste;
• introducing more capacity for dry recycling and providing recycling for more material streams; and
• offering a fortnightly chargeable green waste service.

Biffa Municipal Development Director Pete Dickson, said: “We are delighted to have designed an up-to-date and successful service in partnership with the council. This is already reaping great improvements in recycling, and there is strong potential to increase this further.”

Find out more about the waste service in South Bucks District Council.

Portsmouth hosts BIG Recycle sports day

Portsmouth’s recycling campaignBIG Recycle will be hosting a free family event in Victoria Park on Thursday (14 August) to promote the message of recycling.

The event, which runs from 11am – 3pm, will see include a range of sports activities and ‘recycling-friendly competitions’ such as relay races with a recyclable baton, ‘toss-the-trash’, a recycling treasure hunt, to encourage children to get involved with recycling at home.

The BIG Recycle mascot, Super Panda, will also be at the event, with a prize being awarded to whoever takes the best picture with him.

Councillor Robert New, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "The aim of the event is to help remind families in Portsmouth about the materials we recycle in Portsmouth, while having a bit of fun with it. Hopefully people will go away from the event feeling a little bit more knowledgeable about what you can put in your green bin, and if they're already a super recycler then hopefully they'll just come along for a bit of fun."

Read more about the BIG Recycle.

North Lincolnshire HWRC to close for refurbishments

On Wednesday (13 August), refurbishment work will begin on North Lincolnshire Council’s household waste recycling centre (HWRC) in Belton.

During the closure, which will last until 8 September, residents are advised to use the council’s other HWRCs or the community recycling centres in Epworth Leisure Centre, Potts Lane car park, or Coronation Village Hall in Owston Ferry.

The council has apologised in advance for any inconvenience caused by the closures and has asked residents to continue to recycle.

Find out more about the Belton HWRC closure.