Northamptonshire to save £7m through ‘waste efficiencies’

Northampton County Council agreed yesterday (19 February) to review the way waste is collected, managed and disposed of in its district and borough councils, in a bid to save £7 million.

According to the council, waste activities cost around £40 million a year, and the ‘sheer scale of the operation of collection, recycling and disposal means that significant savings can be made’.

It will now be undertaking work to review its waste offerings, including making ‘new and improved operational arrangements’ at the council’s 10 household waste recycling centres.

The review forms part of the ‘biggest transformation of services’ in the council’s history, which is being made to save £68 million over the next few years.

As part of these ‘radical measures’, the council will employ just 150 people in the Northamptonshire County Council Group ‘core council’ (made up of elected councillors and ‘specialist contract commissioners’), and move the remaining 3,850-strong workforce to new, separate organisations that will outsource all of the council’s services.

Leader of the council, Councillor Jim Harker, said: “The traditional model of local government not only no longer works financially but also doesn’t meet the needs of citizens any more. We are serving people with a totally new set of expectations about how they receive goods and services with an expectation of greater individual choice and more responsiveness. Our Next Generation Model will not only help rise to these expectations but do so in a way which is affordable.”

Find out more about Northamptonshire County Council’s ‘Next Generation Model’.

O2 Recycle reaches £100 million landmark

Mobile phone provider O2 has revealed that it has paid out a total of £100 million to consumers in Britain who have recycled their old mobile phones and devices.

Since the launch of the company’s recycling initiative O2 Recycling in 2009, O2 has received over 1.4 million items for recycling and diverted 142,000 kilogrammes of material from landfill.

Money raised through O2 Recycle is then used to fund O2’s Think Big youth initiatives, which funds social action projects run by 13-25 year olds across the UK. To date, around £3 million has been raised for these community projects.

Ronan Dunne, CEO for Telefónica UK, the company that owns O2, commented: “When we launched O2 Recycle in 2009, our ambition was to offer people a simple, environmentally-friendly way of disposing of their old tech, and to reward them for doing so by giving them money back, which is why we’re proud to have reached this landmark figure.”

To help recover more handsets (environmental think tank Green Alliance released a report earlier this week claiming that there are up to 125 million smartphones lying unused in UK homes), O2 Recycle customers are currently being offered 10 per cent more for their old and unused digital devices, through O2 Priority.

Find out more about O2 Recycle.

Amey wins Central Bedfordshire HWRC contract

Central Bedfordshire Council has appointed service provider Amey as the new contractor to run its four household waste recycling centres (HWRCs).

Amey will assume responsibility for the management of the four sites from waste management firm Viridor on 1 April 2015.

The contract will initially run for seven and a half years with a possible extension up to 15 years, and will be worth more than £1.5million per annum.

Mel Ewell, Chief Executive for Amey, said: “We are delighted to be awarded the contract with Central Bedfordshire Council to manage their household waste recycling centres, and further increase our work in the region.

“The new contract will see us supporting the council to increase local recycling rates by developing new opportunities to recycle and re-use more household waste in the future.

“We are looking forward to delivering this service for the residents of Central Bedfordshire by building on our local knowledge, and drawing best practice from our national experience of waste management.”

Find out more about Amey.

Axion Polymers appoints Shaun Phizacklea to its technical sales team

Plastics recycler Axion Polymers has recruited a dedicated polymer technologist to its technical sales team.

Shaun Phizacklea, a Manchester University chemistry graduate with experience in rigid plastic recycling, joins Commercial Operations Manager Steve Bell and Edyta Hallam in customer services/supply chain logistics at the materials resource recovery business.

He has been assigned the task of helping Axion expand its range of Axpoly and Axplas recycled polymers for new markets and specific end user requirements, and will be developing customised polymer blends for the automotive and durable goods markets.

Commenting on his new role, Phizacklea said: “Improving the physical characteristics of the recycled polymers, such as adjusting melt flow, impact resistance and tensile strength, are among the key challenges that make my job both interesting and rewarding.

“With more clients recognising the cost savings on virgin plastics and the opportunity to reduce their carbon impact, it’s great to be part of an enthusiastic and skilled team fully committed to growing our recycled polymer range.”

Find out more about Axion Polymers.