• New Earth Solutions Recycling Fund Sees 50% Return Over Three Year Period

    30 January 2012 - The open-ended New Earth Solutions Recycling Facilities Investment Fund has reached £100 million in assets – this represents an almost 50% return since its initial launch in 2008.

    The scheme forms a sub-division of the Premier Investment Opportunities Fund, which has seen a growth of 11.5% annually in terms of its share price to reach a total return of 46.6%.

  • Fund Released by Zero Waste Scotland to Help Small Businesses Step Up Recycling

    26 January 2012 - The Zero Waste Scotland initiative has today launched a support fund to make it easier for small businesses to develop innovative, cost-effective solutions that will enable easier compliance to proposed new government regulations that are due to take effect.

    Up to four projects will receive funding in the pilot phase of the fund, entailing an initial investment of up to £50,000. Further funding could become available at a later date if these pilot projects prove successful.

  • UK Recycling Industry Now Estimated to Be Worth £23.3 Billion

    25 January 2012 - A 15% rise from 2012 brought the worth of the British recycling industry to £23.3bn last year, according to research by market analysis firm Plimsoll.

    The report noted a dramatic difference in performance between the firms at the higher and lower ends of the market however, with those in the top quarter of the industry having a pre-tax profit margin of 3.3% and those in the lower ends of the spectrum presenting an average of -0.1% pre-tax profits.

  • Upcoming Exeter C&I Recycling Plant to Enhance Capacity with Autosort System

    24 January 2012 - A new £4.2 million Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Material Recycling Facility (MRF) in Exeter, which is due to become operational in April 2012, has now chosen sensor based sorting equipment specialist TITECH as its technology provider.

    The sorting specialist’s NIR (near infrared) dual sensor autosort system allows for maximum value to be extracted from the C&I waste stream, thus effectively diverting it from landfill and increasing recovery of materials for re-sale.

  • UNTHA UK Predicts Strong Recycling Performance In 2012

    23 January 2012 - Experts at shredding technology providers UNTHA UK are expecting a positive year for recycling in 2012, for the whole sector.

    The company’s Managing Director Chris Oldfield has put forward his predictions for the coming twelve months and remains optimistic at the gathering momentum in the market place for shredders to aid in recycling efforts.

  • Electrical Item Recycling Banks in Leeds Initiative Reduce Landfill Waste

    20 January 2012 - In a bid to decrease the 70% of kettles, toasters and similar waste that ends up as landfill each year, the city of Leeds is to introduce mobile bank-style containers to encourage people to recycle the small electrical items they no longer use.

    The new scheme, named ‘WEEEBATS' (Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment incorporating Battery recycling), is the result of a collaboration between Leeds City Council and the company Weeelink.

  • CNIM and Logan Construction Begin Work on £1bn Waste Energy Plant in Suffolk

    19 January 2012 - Northern Ireland firm Lagan Construction and French-based process company CNIM are now commencing work on a £45m contract to build a new waste energy plant near Ipswich.

    The contract was awarded by recycling and resource management company SITA UK in October 2010 to the joint venture CNIM/Lagan. This forms part of a wider £1bn deal with Suffolk County Council to develop a facility that will tackle the county’s residual household waste

  • New EA Ruling Leads to Closure of CRT Recycling Firm

    18 January 2012 - CRT Recycling Ltd of Shropshire claim that a recent Environmental Agency ruling regarding the storage of broken CRT glass has forced them to close their doors.

    The new guidelines, which came into effect on Christmas Day, say that “Any broken CRTs must be handled in an enclosed environment with appropriate systems to ensure that any fluorescent coatings/leaded glass dust released are contained, collected and subsequently managed properly.”

  • Automated Phone and Gadget Recycling Machines a Possibility for Britons

    16 January 2012 - The UK could soon be receiving a new series of automated electronics recycling machines, offering instant cash in exchange for mobile phones and other gadgets.

    These types of recycling machines are already available in a number of locations in the United States and are gaining in popularity.

    Once a device has been proven to work, users are given an instant quote. Gadgets that are accepted include MP3 players, mobile phones and a range of other products from a database of 4,000 items that can be recycled.

  • Axion Looks at Plastics Recycling Improvements in 2012

    13 January 2012 - UK plastic bottle recycling rates are currently around the 50% mark for drink and dairy bottles, but Keith Freegard, Consulting Director for Axion, is adamant about boosting this figure in 2012.

    Manchester based Axion design and build processing plants for companies in the recycling sector and believe that better recycling rates are easily within reach.

  • EEF Calls for Stronger Stance on Waste Management for Manufacturing Industry

    12 January 2012 - UK manufacturers association EEF is calling on the government to take a firmer line in its approach to waste and recycling in order to address a looming resource crunch.

    Findings from a recent study show that 80% of senior manufacturing leaders now regard a shortage of raw materials as a major risk to their business, and 1 in 6 companies claim this shortage is putting brakes on growth in their industry.

  • Wales Achieves Recycling and Waste Reduction Success

    11 January 2012 - The latest quarterly recycling figures for Wales show they have highest reported recycling stats in the UK, at 49%.

    In addition, Wales produced 388 thousand tonnes of waste between July and September of 2011, which measures at 5% less waste than the region produced during the same period the previous year.

  • Plastic Bottles Recycled into Scottish Bridge by Axion International

    10 January 2012 - Recycled plastic bottles that would otherwise have been headed for landfill have been transformed into a 90-foot heavy load bridge in Scotland.

    Axion International turned the bottles into Recycled Structural Composite (RSC), which is made from 100% recycled plastics. The new material is in itself 100% recyclable at the end of its life - it won’t rot, crumble, splinter, rust or corrode and also requires no regular maintenance.

    Components for the new bridge were constructed at Axion’s plant in Pennsylvania and shipped in six sections to Scotland.

  • New Shredder by Dutch Firm Set to Improve Metal Recycling Capacity in Sheffield

    06 January 2012 - Netherlands company Van Dalen Metals Recycling and Trading is investing £6 million to build a shredder at its Sheffield headquarters, which will boost its productivity as a metal recycling centre by significantly increasing operating capacity.

    The new shredder will be opened in early 2012.

    A new non-ferrous facility is also planned at the site, along with an expansion of its facilities in the south east and the creation of new roles in operations and purchasing.

  • LARAC Asks UK Government to Clarify Waste Management and Prove Green Claims

    05 January 2012 - The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) is now asking the Government to live up to its claims that they have are the UK’s Greenest Government ever.

    LARAC is asking for improved clarity over political leadership on recycling and has voiced concerns over weekly residual waste collections.

  • South Northamptonshire Council Asks Public to Tackle E-Waste This Festive Season

    23 December 2011 - In conjunction with the Weee Connect and European Recycling Platform (ERP), South Northants Council is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of recycling e-waste.

    This type of waste includes most electronics, such as washing machines, fridges, televisions and electronic gadgets – anything in fact that has a plug or battery.

  • Patent Secured for New MDF Recycling Process

    22 December 2011 - The UK’s first MDF recycling plant has edged one step closer following a patent being granted for an innovative new process that has been developed by Macclesfield-based company MDF Recovery.

    The process makes use of a technique known as ohmic heating, which is commonly used in large-scale food manufacturing to heat medium density fibreboard (MDF) in order to break down the components that hold the material together.

  • Year 2020 to See Only 55 Non-Hazardous Landfill Sites Operating in England

    21 December 2011 - A new study is predicting that there will be just 55 non-hazardous landfill sites in operation across England by the year 2020, which represents a significant drop over the next 8 years.

    Currently, there are 245 operating non-hazardous landfill sites across England, as well as a further 170 inert sites, according to Environmental Agency figures published last October.

    Tolvik Consulting’s report has taken into consideration various assumptions on recycling rates and residual waste when calculating this figure.

  • New 2017 Recycling Target Aims to Reduce Landfill by 400,000 Tonnes

    19 October 2011 - New proposals have been introduced in the UK that aim to get tough on packaging recycling – the goal is to prevent 400,000 tonnes of packaging from reaching landfill by 2017.

    The proposed new targets also include an increase in the steel recycling sector from 2012’s 71% to 76% in 2017, aluminium from 40% to 55% and plastics from 32% to 57%.

    In addition, the new targets will further help to ease the demand on raw natural resources whilst making more recycled material available for businesses.

  • EU Energy Commissioner Backs Long Terms Renewable Energy Targets

    16 December 2011 - To help businesses plan ahead, the EU’s Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger is asking for fixed goals to be set in place over the next two years for renewable energy targets that go beyond 2020
    Mr Oettinger made the call when speaking at the much anticipated ‘Energy Roadmap to 2050’ conference, which intends to set out how the European bloc plans to almost entirely decarbonise its energy usage by the middle of this century.