packaging news   

Fresh Horizons for Packaging Waste - One Day Conference
Letsrecycle.com are chairing the Fresh Horizons for Packaging Waste Conference on 30th September 2010. The conference will cover topics such as financial pressures, new policies and higher targets, and Valpak's Director of Policy, Adrian Hawkes, will be speaking about PackFlow and the future... read more here

Sell-by date to go in war on waste
Confusing 'sell-by' and 'best- before' dates which appear on thousands of products are set to be scrapped in a move against waste. The Govt believes the labelling system is misleading shoppers, with thousands of tonnes of perfectly good food being thrown away. A "use by" date will be used instead... read more here

electrical news   

Govt Scraps IT Recycling ‘Quango’
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Advisory Body (WAB) (the industry and govt body charged with overseeing the introduction of the WEEE directive) will be shut in the next year according to minister Vince Cable MP, who said the move was part of the govt’s ongoing strategy to cut back on quangos and create a leaner public sector... read more here

Valpak Comment: Valpak will continue to work closely with BIS representatives through one-to-one meetings and regular correspondence to ensure the continued smooth operation of collection and recycling systems for WEEE. We have also held a series of meetings with key MEPs to discuss proposed future changes to the Directive at European level and will continue to monitor the progression of any recast text on behalf of members.

WEEE sector joins forces to fund TV ad campaign
Some of the UK's biggest WEEE producer compliance schemes and reprocessors have today (July 27) revealed they have teamed up to jointly fund the production of an advert suitable for TV which aims to raise householder awareness of waste electronics recycling... read more here

Funding secured for UK-wide Electronic Duty of Care
The paper-based system of waste transfer notes used to record the movement of waste from collection to disposal is set to be replaced by an internet-based system from 2012 after the Environment Agency was awarded €2.09 million (£1.74 million) in European Commission funding for its Electronic Duty of Care project... read more here

local authority news   

UK's largest local authority sees near 5% waste drop
The UK's largest single local authority has seen the amount of waste its homes produce fall by almost 5% this year. However, Birmingham City Council believes the cut is mainly due to the recession hitting households, despite also increasing the amount of waste it recycled... read more here

Companies hit out at Defra collection stance
Two UK waste and recycling companies have come out in defence of commingled collections after Defra gave its strongest support to date for kerbside sorting as part of a consultation on implementing the Waste Framework Directive in England and Wales... read more here

Localism Bill set to prevent 'pay-as-you-throw' trials
The proposed Decentralisation and Localism Bill will rid councils of the chance to introduce ‘pay-as-you-throw' waste schemes but make it easier for them to offer rewards for people who produce less waste, the environment secretary Caroline Spelman said, July 19... read more here

Industry calls for further action in the Govt's Structural Report Plan
Following Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman's announcement of the publication of the Govt's Structural Reform Plan, there were industry calls for “more standardisation of approach to collection among the myriad of local authorities responsible for refuse collection”. In addition, there were calls for the extension of “credits under the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme to businesses that are sending their food waste to AD”... read more here

Spelman writes to councils over ‘bin spies’ claims
Town halls must stop secretly rifling through domestic dustbins for householders' personal information, the Government has ordered... read more here

commercial waste news   

Incinerators and Safety
On 189 July, there were a number of Commons Written Q&As about incinerators and the toxicity of their ash. See the link from Col. 7W... read more here

MEPs approve rules governing waste plant emissions
A new Europe-wide system of emissions and pollution standards for industrial plants that is now expected to come into force in the UK in late 2012 favours anaerobic digestion ahead of other biological treatment activities...
read more here

SEPA's new guidelines for waste oils
According to new guidelines released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), fuel oils coming from recycled waste that have met the correct specifications will no longer be treated as waste... read more here

Carpet sector sets 25% landfill diversion target
Trade body Carpet Recycling UK has announced a voluntary target to reduce the amount of waste the carpet sector sends to landfill by 25% by 2015 ... read more here

Wrap launches £2m mixed plastics recycling fund
Mixed plastic packaging recycling in the UK is being boosted with a £2m loan fund from the Waste & Resources Action Programme. The aim of the Mixed Plastics Loan Fund (MPLF) is to support UK reprocessing of plastics such as yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and plastic food trays ... read more here

Europe PET recovery moves towards 50% as Far East exports fall
European PET collection rates are closing in on a 50% figure after rates rose across the continent in 2009, according to new figures. Petcore, the European body that represents PET recycling, said that the overall collection rate had risen to 48.4% in 2009, up from 46% in 2008 ... read more here

general news   

Tesco trials green fuel from landfill on shopping delivery vehicles
Tesco is trialling the use of clean fuel derived from naturally occurring methane from landfill on a fleet of delivery vehicles for its online shopping service... read more here

Kitchen, food waste: MEPs want new recycling rules
MEPs want the EU to exploit the economic and environmental benefits of garden and kitchen waste through more recycling, separate collections and composting. They have also called for EU-wide rules as some countries are lagging behind in recycling efforts... read more here

New York City Hopes to Make Clothing Recycling Fashionable
New York will launch a program in September that will place 50 collection bins across the city in areas with high footfall to entice people to recycle their clothing instead of discarding them... read more here