Jacob Hayler appointed as Executive Director of the ESA

The Environmental Services Association (ESA), a trade association for the UK’s resource and waste management industry, has appointed Jacob Hayler as its new Executive Director.

Hayler, who has been the ESA’s Economist since 2005, will take up the role on 2 January 2015, replacing the ESA’s current Director General, Barry Dennis, who is retiring on the on 31 December 2014.

ESA Chairman Peter Gerstrom, said: “I am pleased to announce Jacob as the new ESA Executive Director. He has a wealth of knowledge, spanning the whole of the industry, gained through his work in his current role at ESA. He is acutely aware of the economical, environmental and regulatory challenges that the sector faces, so is well placed to lead the trade association for the sector.

“I would like to take this opportunity to wish him luck, and to say that I look forward to working with him, and engaging with key stakeholders on the topics that are important to the sector – the circular economy, infrastructure development and sector certainty and direction.”

Find out more about the ESA.

LWARB invests £1.25m in the London Re-use Network

The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) has invested a further £1.25 million in the London Re-use Network.

The money, made up of a small £100,000 loan and a £1.15-million revenue participation agreement (and including a refinancing of LWARB’s existing £650,000 loan), will be made to London Re-use Ltd (LRL), the network’s central operating company. It has been awarded to the body after it exceeded its reuse and recycling targets for a third consecutive year.

It is hoped the investment will see the network ‘grow its service offerings, increase its retail presence’ and ensure that London ‘keeps leading the way in making reuse mainstream’.

Charles Craft, Managing Director of London Re-use, said the network was “delighted with the further support from LWARB to achieve its goal of a network of sustainable reuse services working together across London”.

He added: “Having established key infrastructure improvements the investment will now allow the network to grow its services throughout the capital and provide a greater diversity of benefits to Londoners whilst achieving environmental and social benefits for all.”

Matthew Pencharz, the Mayor of London’s Senior Advisor for Environment & Energy and LWARB member, added: “LWARB’s investment into the London Re-use Network will divert thousands of tonnes of material that would otherwise be disposed of, saving Londoners money and carbon, and illustrating the value of a circular economy.”

Find out more about LWARB and the London Re-use Network.

Keep Food Fresher For Longer pilot gains 500 signatories

A Love Food Hate Waste campaign in Wales has seen 500 people pledge to make changes to the way they use and store food in a bid to reduce waste and save money.

The two-month ‘Fresher for Longer’ pilot programme, carried out at The Co-operative’s Porthcawl food store, saw shoppers given hints and tips on how to reduce avoidable food waste.

Ian Ayling, Community Director for The Co-operative Food, said: “As a community-based food retailer, we are pleased to have played our part in the success of this pilot programme. The campaign, which is designed to raise awareness on how even small changes in behaviour around packaging and storage could keep food fresher for longer has received some really positive feedback. We hope it will help customers to not only save money, but also to play their part in reducing the impact that their food waste has on the environment.”

The pilot was praised by Carl Sargeant, Minister for Natural Resources at the Welsh Government, who said: “The message is clear: keeping food fresher for longer saves money and helps to reduce waste. There are environmental and financial benefits to making the most of the food that we buy, and cutting unnecessary waste, in the run-up to Christmas.”

Love Food Hate Waste is now undertaking further detailed research into consumer awareness, behaviours and attitudes to food waste and food packaging. The findings are expected to be revealed in ‘late spring 2015’.

Find out more about the problem of food waste.

J&B Recycling receives £7.5m from BGF

The Business Growth Fund (BGF) has invested £7.5 million of growth capital in waste management company J&B Recycling to ‘drive its future success’.

Established in 2011 to help support Britain’s smaller- and medium-sized businesses, the BGF is an independent company backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups: Barclays; HSBC; Lloyds; RBS; and Standard Chartered.

The fund announced earlier this week that it has invested £7.5 million in the company to enable it to develop a new recycling facility in Middlesbrough for treating commercial waste and to support ‘further expansion at existing facilities where household waste is treated’.

According to BGF, the company is appealing for investment as it ‘operates in a sector that is subject to strong regulatory growth drivers’, particularly as current EU and UK government policy ‘aims to divert as much waste as possible away from costly and capacity-constrained landfill sites, into recycling and recovery’.

Following the investment announcement, J&B Recycling’s non-executive director Ross Smith took on the role of non-executive chairman. Smith was formerly CEO of computer networking company MDC Technology and Chairman of alarm signalling supplier CSL Dualcom.

Find out more about J&B Recycling and the Business Growth Fund.

Devon calls for waste innovation projects

Innovative schemes that can reduce household waste and increase recycling across Devon are being invited to bid for a share of a £4,000 fund.

The Devon Authorities Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee (DAWRRC), which represents a partnership between the seven District Councils, Exeter City Council, Torbay Council and Devon County Council, has launched the Innovation Fund to ‘stimulate new approaches to reducing, reusing or recycling household waste in Devon’.

The fund is open to all, including individuals, businesses and community groups, and aims to reduce household waste arisings and help the council reach its 65 per cent recycling target by 2025.

Councillor Ray Radford, Chairman of the DAWRRC, said: “The challenges of improving on Devon’s recycling success become even greater, particularly with the increasing amount of waste being produced and all partnership authorities facing financial pressures. The Innovation Fund aims to support new schemes which may contribute to addressing these challenges of reducing household waste, or reusing and recycling more.”

The closing date for applications is Friday, 6 March 2015.

Find out more about DAWRRC’s Innovation Fund.