Defra releases bag charge posters for retailers

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a set of posters explaining the upcoming single-use carrier bag charge in England, which affected retailers can display in their stores.

The pack also includes resources for staff.

Only retailers with more than 250 employees will be required to charge for single-use plastic carrier bags starting in October, and ‘bags for life’, biodegradable bags and paper bags are exempt from the levy.

Shops in transit places such as airports will also be exempt, as will bags containing certain items, such as unwrapped food or uncovered blades.

Retailers with fewer than 250 employees can charge on voluntary basis if they wish.

Defra hopes the charge will bring £780 million in benefits to the UK economy over the next 10 years, raise £730 million for ‘good causes’, save £60 million in litter clean-up costs and accrue carbon savings of £13 million.

Data published by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) this week revealed that single-use carrier bag use reported by English supermarkets rose from 7.4 billion in 2013 to 7.64 billion in 2014, an increase of 3.2 per cent.

Learn more about Defra’s promotional material for the English plastic carrier bag charge.

Southwark Council launches new Bag2Bag plastic bag recycling scheme

Southwark Council has announced the introduction of ‘Bag2Bag’, a new plastic bag recycling scheme that will allow all plastic bags brought to Southwark’s Reuse and Recycling Centre (RRC) to be recycled into new bags to be distributed to local residents.

The new scheme is part of a collection service run by Veolia, the council’s waste management provider.

According to the council: ‘Eight billion plastic bags are disposed of in England every year which poses an environmental challenge. By reusing the plastic material to make new plastic sacks Veolia is closing the loop on precious resources that can be saved.’

Bags will be collected at a new recycling point at the RRC, and subsequently reprocessed by plastics manufacturer CeDo, which will shred the bags into pellets before forming them into new bags.

Over the next three months, 9,300 local properties will begin to receive the refuse sacks.

Darren Mosley, Commercial Sales Director for CeDo, said: “We have an opportunity to deliver genuine innovation to the residents of Southwark by utilising previously unusable waste and turning it back into useful second life product.”

Find out more about the Bag2Bag scheme.

Cromwell Polythene secures Enfield Council waste and recycling sack contract

Plastics manufacturer Cromwell Polythene announced yesterday (23 July) that it has been awarded a ‘significant contract’ to supply Enfield Council with up to four million waste and recycling sacks.

Tendered through the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) framework, the two-year contract (extendable by an additional two years), is for the supply of grey sacks for domestic refuse, and blue recycling sacks for residents who do not fit the criteria for a wheeled bin.

In addition to matching the colours the council had used in the past, the firm had to ensure that grey sacks were opaque enough to ‘preserve household confidentiality’, and the blue sacks transparent enough to ‘allow collectors to verify contents’.

Enfield residents co-mingle paper and card, glass, cans, plastic bottles and packaging, drink cartons, and empty aerosols, all of which are sorted at the Biffa material recovery facility (MRF) in Edmonton, North London.

Find out more about Cromwell Polythene.

P&G Fabric Care to make 230 million bottles a year out of recycled plastic

Proctor & Gamble (P&G) Fabric Care has announced a new environmental initiative that will see 230 million bottles a year made out of ‘post-consumer recyclate’ (PCR) by 2016.

The company claims that the bottles would stretch from the North Pole to the South Pole if laid end-to-end, and will increase the amount of recycled material it will use per year by 3.8 kilotonnes.

P&G, which produces brands such as Ariel, Dash, Lenor and Unstoppables, which will begin to be packaged in bottles composed of up to 50 per cent recycled plastic in early 2016, says the move is the fourth environmental action it has introduced in the past 18 months, as it seeks to improve its environmental credentials – eventually making ‘100 per cent of its products and packaging from renewable and recycled materials’.

Gianni Ciserani, Group President of Global Fabric and Home Care, said: “The increase in PCR in the packaging of our Fabric Care brands is a huge step in the right direction.

“We want to make it easier for consumers to choose sustainable brands whilst continuing to deliver superior product performance.

“I’d like to continue this momentum in the future by partnering with organisations that can provide recycled materials globally. This will allow us to increase the amount of recycled plastic in more brands and geographies. When it comes to recycling, everybody has a part to play.”

Find out more about P&G’s sustainability initiatives.

Torbay Council launches ‘Torbay Green Points’ scheme to reward recycling

Torbay Council this week (20 July) announced the launch of ‘Torbay Green Points’, a scheme to reward local residents for reducing, reusing and recycling their waste.

The scheme is backed by Green Rewards, a supplier of rewards programmes aiming to ‘stimulate green and ethical consumption and encourage more sustainable lifestyles’.

Every household is scheduled to receive a welcome pack in the coming weeks that will provide information about the scheme and how to recycle in Torbay.

Once residents have activated their accounts online or by using the free post form in the welcome pack, they will be sent a Torbay Green Points card and key fob that can be used to secure discounts at over 60 local businesses across Torbay.

Participants will also be able to earn Green Points, which will earn money for local charity projects.

Five charities will get a share of £6,000 at the end of the year, with each charity guaranteed to receive at least £500.

Speaking of the scheme, Councillor Mark King said: “With a recycling rate of 45 per cent, our residents are already good recyclers. However, as a council we want to improve.”

Graham Simmonds, Managing Director of Local Green Points, added: “Torbay Council is our first local authority partner in Devon and I’m confident this scheme, with its emphasis on the local community, is going to be a real hit with residents”.

Find out more about Torbay Green Points or Green Rewards.

GBN makes £3 million in sorting equipment for Basildon facility

London and South East-based skip hire and waste collection company GBN Services has announced an investment of £3 million in new sorting equipment and a Dicom baler at its Basildon Recycling Centre, that it hopes will reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfill.

The Basildon site, which is licensed to process 75,000 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) per annum, passes waste through a shredder, conveyor, magnets and then a picking station to sort larger more accessible recyclables.

The residual material is passed through an additional shredder before undergoing a secondary mechanical sorting process to extract any further items. Residue that is left is baled, wrapped and set to Europe as RDF.

Speaking of the investment, Tony Dickens, Director at GBN Services said: “This is a great step forward for GBN in our efforts to continually innovate and help our clients divert as much material as possible from landfill. We have selected the best combination and configuration of sorting technology that will help us achieve the maximum recycling rates and ensure the production of good-quality RDF.”

Find out more about GBN Services.