UK among the best in Europe for lamp recycling

Figures provided by the leading European lamp recycling schemes show that the United Kingdom was the second largest recycler in Europe in 2013.

Data collated by schemes including Ecolamp in Italy, Ambilamp in Spain, Récylum in France, Lightcycle in Germany, and Recolight of the UK, found that of the 24,000 tonnes of lamps collected and processed in 2013, the UK collected and processed 5,370 tonnes of lamps.

Germany came up top with more than 9,600 tonnes, while France came third with 4,590 tonnes. Spain and Italy were close contenders, with Spain processing more than 2,500 tonnes and Italy, 2,380.

The UK’s contribution to European lamp recycling is expected to grow. Figures released by the Environment Agency show that the UK has achieved a year on year increase in lamp recycling rates since 2008, from 23.2 per cent to 52.8 per cent in 2013.

Find out more about Recolight.

SARIA open doors to two waste facilities

Food waste recycling company SARIA held an open day at two of its processing facilities for the first time this week.

On 11 and 12 November, the ReFood Widnes gas-to-grid anaerobic digestion (AD) plant and SecAnim animal by-product processing facility both welcomed stakeholders to demonstrate how the facilities work.

The ReFood Widnes AD facility, which opened in June, turns 120,000 tonnes of commercial and domestic food waste into energy through AD, generating up to 180 million kilowatt hours (Kwh) of biomethane a year, enough to power 10,000 properties.

Neighbouring animal SecAnim processes animal by-products to produce liquid and solid bio-fuels that can generate 18,000 megawatts of renewable electricity each year. The steam produced on-site is used by the company’s two rendering plants.

Andy Smith, CEO of SARIA, said: “For the last 90 years, we have been developing innovative solutions for handling food chain by-products and we’re delighted to be able to showcase these facilities, both of which set the benchmark for recovering food industry waste and transforming it into a valuable resource.”

Find out more about the SARIA Group.

Every Can Counts summer activity reached five million people

Industry funded drinks can recycling programme Every Can Counts has announced that its summer road shows reached approximately five million people over the peak summer holiday period.

The campaign was brought to Latitude, Reading and Leeds music festivals for the second year running (in partnership with programme funding partner Carlsberg UK), attended V Festival at Chelmsford and Stafford, and worked with local authorities at popular seaside destinations in North Devon and Dorset to raise awareness of the ‘recycle on the go’ message through the summer.

It estimates that it reached more than 700,000 social media users by using photo booths at musical festivals alone.

Rick Hindley of Every Can Counts said: “Summer-time is an ideal opportunity to talk to people about recycling drinks cans ‘on the go’ and we’re very pleased with the results of this year’s campaign.

“This kind of activity enables us to engage with a younger audience in particular, and thanks to the increasing profile of Every Can Counts on social media, we have an engaging way to keep in touch with them over the coming months and encourage them to keep recycling at home, at work or college and when out and about.”

Find out more about Every Can Counts.

Make Noise party visits Newcastle on Wednesday

The second Make Noise party of autumn takes place on Wednesday (19 November) at Digital nightclub in Times Square, Newcastle, from 11pm.

The night will feature break-out house act, Secondcity. Main support comes from Saints and Sonnets label mate Artifact (whose recent support on the Route 94 show in Newcastle was incredible) and local DJ hero Marc Roberts. The Heavenly Jukebox will be also feature.

Put together by a partnership between the European Recycling Platform (ERP) and Heavenly Records, the events are designed to raise awareness about the importance of recycling electronic items.

The events are free, but to gain entry clubgoers have to bring a small broken or unwanted electrical item to leave at the door for recycling.

Make Noise have previously held parties in Brighton, Belfast, Nottingham, Leeds, Glasgow, London, Cardiff, Bristol and Bangor.

Find out more about Make Noise.