Bertie Bulb sheds light on recycling

Bertie Bulb, the mascot of lamp recycling specialist Recolight, has used the Lord Mayor’s Show to spread awareness of the need to recycle low-energy light bulbs.

The parade, which took place in the City of London last Saturday (9 November), is an annual event to celebrate the inauguration of the new Lord Mayor. In amongst 7,000 participants, 21 bands, 150 horses and all manner of other vehicles, Bertie Bulb was part of a float entirely dedicated to recycling.

Recolight was invited to take part in the procession by the City of London Corporation. Earlier this year, the corporation installed seven containers designed by the recycling company for city residents and workers to deposit their old low-energy light bulbs, which contain small amounts of mercury.

Recolight now has over 1,470 business collection points and over 800 consumer collection points located across the UK.

Find out more about the work of Recolight.

Taylor bins rolled through London

Competing with Bertie Bulb for attention at the Lord Mayor’s Show were four ‘continental’ bins designed by bin manufacturer Taylor.

Commenting on the company’s involvement, Taylor’s Regional Sales Manager, Dave Buckley said: “The Lord Mayor’s Show is the world’s oldest street party. Just to be involved was an honour and we were proud to see our bins standing out amongst the crowd – and the rain.”

Dubbed by the company as ‘the most adaptable commercial waste bin around’, the 1,100-litre containers were towed as part of the ‘Recycling in the City’ float.

Karen Marks, Recycling and Clean City Awards Officer at the City of London Corporation, added: “Our Recycling in the City float aimed to promote recycling and the 20th anniversary of the city's unique Clean City Awards. Everyone who participated had a great time and played their part in increasing awareness of the importance of effective waste management and recycling in the capital.”

Find out more about Taylor.

No blockage for CDEnviro sludge screen

Sludge screens designed by waste management company CDEnviro have passed an acceptance test that will see them used for waste water treatment at three Severn Trent Water sites.

The S:MAX sludge screens to be employed at Wanlip, Rushmoor and Worksop are able to remove material from ‘a variety of wastewater sludges’ and can be used to treat either imported or indigenous sludge.

CDEnviro was awarded the contract for the design, supply and commission of the screens by the E5 alliance. The acceptance test was carried out by representatives from Costain Natural Resources Division.

Commenting on the two screen types selected for the Wanlip site, Derek Spillane, MEICA Manager at Costain Natural Resources Division, said: “After an extensive procurement process to select the optimum screen for both indigenous and imported sludge’s, the selected supplier was clearly identified as CDEnviro for their SRU:10 and SRU:15 screens.”

Read more about CDEnviro’s sludge screens.

Reuse shop trial in Somerset

Recycling firm Viridor is trialling a new reuse shop at its household waste recycling centre (HWRC) in Priorswood, Taunton. The experiment will enable the public to buy discarded items and thus prevent them from being broken down for recycling or landfilled.

The trial has been introduced in partnership with Somerset Waste Partnership and a local trader and will run until April 2014, when the feasibility of continuing and replicating the system will be assessed. The income generated through selling discarded goods will go towards maintaining the reuse shop, which is open at the same time as the HWRC.

Tanya Reed, Viridor Communications Manager, said: “At various sites across Viridor we already collect unwanted furniture that comes into the HWRC for local charities. We hope the reuse shop will help conserve even more materials and energy, and provide the local community with high-quality secondhand goods.”

Find out more about the Priorswood reuse shop.

Recycling pays off for Portsmouth student

A student at Portsmouth University has become the first winner under a new recycling inventive scheme introduced to the city.

Launched by the city council in October 2012, the Portsmouth BIG Recycle aims to reward and encourage recycling through a monthly draw. As part of the new initiative, the recycling bins of selected residents are assessed to decide whether they should be rewarded. Residents can lose out on a prize if they do not recycle at least three different types of waste or if they contaminate their bins with non-recyclable items.

In the first draw, conducted last month, 21-year-old student Jeremy Taylor won the top prize of £250. Responding to the news, he said: "As you can imagine, I am absolutely thrilled with my reward. Being a student, I always have to budget and watch what I spend, so to be the first BIG Recycle winner and get a prize as big as £250 is awesome."

As well as the top prize, 80 love2choose vouchers worth £75 or £25 can be awarded each month.

Learn more about the Portsmouth BIG Recycle.