Crown packaging cuts waste to landfill by 37 per cent

Crown, one of the largest packaging companies in the world, has published a sustainability report stating that it has cut waste to landfill by 37 per cent since 2007, and increased recycling by over 100 per cent, nearly 3,000 tonnes, in the same period.

Crown reported that it used 14 per cent less coatings since 2007, representing a reduction of nearly 9,000 tonnes.

The report also highlighted the credentials of metal packaging, claiming that if the entire fruit and vegetable supply in the United States was canned, rather than packaged for refrigeration or freezing, an estimated seven million tonnes of food would be saves, equivalent to about 22 million tonnes of CO2.

Crown is one of the largest producers of food and beverage cans. Timothy Donahue, President and Chief Operating Officer of Crown said: “Some of our greatest achievements in this reporting cycle are in the areas of waste management, coatings reduction and employee safety. We are committed to continuous improvement in these areas and others as we increase global production capacity and build our presence in new markets.”

More information can be found in Crown’s sustainability report.

£225k needed to prevent needle recycling contamination in Tewkesbury

Dirty needles, associated with drug and medical use, have been found in household waste collections, causing problems for waste management services and Tewkesbury Borough Council.

More than 30 incidents of recyclate contamination have been reported in the Brockworth and Churchdown areas of the authority alone, with an additional incident in Winchcombe resulting in nine loads of waste being sent to landfill instead of being recycled.

The waste was supposed to be received at Bishops Cleeve recycling centre, run by Grundon Waste Management, who are currently in their final year of a three-year, £2.2-million contract with the council.

The council has stated that this contamination not only increases the costs of recycling for the council but also causes increased risk to waste management personnel and delays in sorting the waste collected.

Environmental and housing services manager for the council, Val Garside, has recommended a one off payment of £225,500 from reserve funding be made available to cover the costs of extra inspections and reduced processing speed necessary to deal with the problem

She said: "Whilst in general the contract has been progressing well, over the last year there have been incidents of contamination within the recyclate material, which is resulting in increased risks to staff and significant impacts upon the sorting process. This level of contamination in the recyclate stream has some clear consequences for both the operator and the council, which need to be actively addressed.

More information on waste and recycling in Tewkesbury can be found at the council’s website.

Vehicles seized under Croydon Council’s fly tipping clampdown

Council officers targeting people who illegally carry or dump waste for cash have seized four Ford Transits in a month under joint operations with local police as part of the on-going Don’t Mess With Croydon clampdown.

The vehicles, which are all due to be crushed, were found carrying waste without a valid waste licence, with one displaying leaflets advertising waste removal services.

The focus on unlicensed waste carriers comes as a result of council officers having to clear away up to five truckloads of house clearance rubbish that is illegally dumped on Croydon streets and industrial estates each week.

The council advises all residents wanting someone else to dispose of their household rubbish to only use people with a valid waste carrying licence issued by the Environment Agency. Failing to do so can land the householder and the offender with unlimited fines and a criminal record.

The Don’t Mess With Croydon clampdown has so far led to dozens of successful prosecutions for fly tipping and littering, with one man jailed for six months for dumping 42 tonnes of waste last May.

More on the Don’t Mess With Croydon clampdown at the council’s website.

15,000 tonnes of food waste recycled over festive period

Around 15,000 tonnes of festive food, the same weight as 45 Boeing 747s, were transformed into renewable energy by food waste recyclers Biogen over the Christmas period, the company has claimed.

The mountain of food waste, which would otherwise have gone to landfill or incineration, was processed by the company’s national network of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants during the Christmas and New Year period to generate electricity for the national grid or create a biofertiliser for farmland.

Food waste volumes typically increase over the Christmas holidays by as much as 30 per cent, which meant that Biogen had to put plans in place to cope with the demand.

Simon Musther, Head of Commercial Operations at Biogen, said: “We extended our site working hours…throughout the period, including the bank holidays and Saturdays.

“Over the Christmas and New Year our operation teams processed food waste throughout the night to ensure they were ready to receive the early morning influx the next day.”

Milton Keynes to trial ‘bags for life’ in kerbside collections

Milton Keynes Council is to trial using reusable ‘bags for life’ in kerbside collections, a move that could save the council around £500,000 a year.

Two areas in the Beanhill area have been chosen to test how practical the bags, which have a 15 kilogram capacity and are made from a strong woven fabric, are. The trial will also tell council officers how many bags would be needed under the system.

The council is looking to move away from using pink sacks and says that the continued use of plastic sacks to contain our recycling is ‘no longer viable’, with a reusable alternative bringing ‘both environmental and economic benefits’. Weights in the bottom of the bags will keep them in place at property boundaries on collection day, when they will be emptied and returned.

The council estimates that, as well as negating the chance of split sacks and plastic waste from disposable bags, the reusable bags would save the council £500,000 a year through sack delivery and purchase.

Cllr Mick Legg, Cabinet Member responsible for Environment and Waste, said: “At a time when we’re attempting to reduce our waste both nationally and globally, the continued use of plastic bags to recycle our waste is no longer sustainable, so we need to test a greener, more viable alternative which will make it just as easy for residents to recycle and save the council money.

“We hope the bags will prove to be far more convenient for householders and reduce the amount of debris in our streets resulting from animals and birds attacking pink sacks.”