Resource management company Viridor has announced it will work with Spanish chemical recycler Plastic Energy to return up to 30,000 tonnes of end of life plastic waste to the economy each year.

Scottish councils are planning to reopen Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs) on 1 June, according to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

The plastics export sector has urged the government to increase financial support for companies, amid concerns over the impact of Covid-19 on supply chain operations.

The Welsh Government has announced that it has ‘widened the scope’ of its £6.5-million Circular Economy Fund to help the Welsh economy become “more resilient” as it responds to the coronavirus pandemic.

A pay dispute between refuse workers in Wirral belonging to the trade union Unite and waste management company Biffa Waste Services has been settled after workers agreed to an improved pay offer.

The Scottish Parliament has voted to approve regulations that will establish a deposit return scheme (DRS) for single-use drinks containers in Scotland.

A ‘feeling of uncertainty’ is permeating the European plastics recycling industry owing to the impact of Covid-19 on the market, according to the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), with a mixed picture emerging for other recycling industries.

Councils have had to remind residents what counts as essential waste as long queues form at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) which began to reopen across England this week.

Disruption to food waste and recycling collections services has increased since last week, according to the latest Covid-19 local authority impacts survey as local authorities report higher than normal volumes of waste.

A new study released last week (8 May) supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) suggests that regulatory barriers and technological ‘lock-in’ are hampering plastic packaging recycling efforts.