News

News in brief 11/03/16

Partnership for production of Seabins announced

Seabin Pty Ltd and Poralu Marine announced this week (9 March) the formation of a partnership to develop, manufacture and distribute ‘Seabins,’ ecofriendly collectors of water-borne plastic waste.

The idea behind Seabins, designed by Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, is to counteract water pollution at marinas, ports and water bodies by being immersed in water, fixed to a pontoon and connected to an electric pump. The bins create flow, which brings hydrocarbons and floating plastic waste to the collector. Waste is collected in a bag made of natural fibres and water is filtered to remove hydrocarbons. News in brief 11/03/16

The design and development team of Seabin Pty Ltd will be supported by the researchand development team of Poralu Marine, a French maker of aluminium facilities for marinas, which covers 18 countries on five continents, which the partnership says will provide proximity to Seabin customers and limit the carbon footprint of the project.

Marketing of Seabin is expected to start before the end of 2016.

For more information visit www.seabinproject.com

 

UPM Shotton facility more efficient after refit

UPM Shotton, the UK’s largest manufacturer of 100 per cent recycled newsprint, has reported a boost in efficiency and quality at its materials recovery facility (MRF) in North Wales after a retrofit to install mechanical and optical improvements.

Work carried out included improving the infra-red optical sorting system and sorting screens at the facility. According to the company, this has allowed an increase in capacity of the facility without reducing product quality. Extra training has also been provided to manual pickers to ingrain the ‘Total Production Maintenance’ ethos.

UPM Shotton is a paper mill processing unit that contains both the MRF and a biomass-fuelled combined heat and power plant. News in brief 11/03/16

The facility provides renewable energy, closed-loop recycling and 100 per cent recycled newsprint for the UK and international newsprint markets.

Simon Walker, Head of RCP Sourcing at UPM Paper ENA said: “We are delighted to have completed this improvement in a timely and controlled manner, such that there was no interruption to our regular suppliers. It naturally follows that UPM is now seeking further sources of co-mingled materials with or without glass to make best use of the MRF capacity improvement.”

 

Ribbex UK enhances capacity with grit removal technology

Ribbex UK Ltd has expanded its waste handling capabilities by installing CDEnviro’s grit removal solution, G:MAX. According to the companies, this will allow the waste management firm to double its capacity in several waste streams by 2017 and lower production costs.

The G:MAX equipment incorporates CDEnviro’s HydroClone technology and screening facilities. It removes particles, which are potentially damaging to downstream processes, using a dual stage washing and recycling method.

A modified version of G:MAX has been installed at Ribbex’s Welwyn Garden City treatment plant, which incorporates a larger screen to increase dry solid loading. The grit recovered using such equipment can be used as an additional revenue stream as it can be converted to pipe bedding, road fill and also used in landscaping.The attachment of a new screw hopper, a rotating helical screw within a tube, to the G:MAX demonstrates the adaptability of the system. This fixture, according to CDEnviro, will minimise the footprint of the plant and allow clean handling of waste. The company also says that G:MAX will result in he reduction of parts needing replacements, less plant down time and a decrease in the volume of waste sent for remediation. It has been retrofitted with existing works in mind to minimise disruption.

The Welwyn Garden City plant handles over 1,000 tonnes of waste each month, and the G:MAX will allow a greater range of waste streams to be treated at the site.

 

‘Love Your Clothes Bangor’ sets one tonne challenge

The ‘Love Your Clothes’ campaign is heading to Wales for the first time, with a series of events lined up in Bangor from 11 to 16 March and the aim of collecting one tonne of clothing for charity.

The campaign was developed by the Waste & Resources Action Programme  (WRAP) to encourage people to think about the way they buy, use and dispose of clothes and to highlight the environmental impacts of clothing.

In the UK, 350,000 tonnes of clothing are sent to landfill, giving the clothing industry the fifth-biggest environmental footprint of any UK industry. According to ‘Love Your Clothes,’four out of five adults have clothing they haven’t worn for a year. Extending the lifetime of clothes can lead to a 10 per cent reduction in waste.News in brief 11/03/16

The ‘Love Your Clothes Bangor’ campaign is being run in conjunction with Bangor University’s Sustainability Lab and the university’s students’ union. The public will be encouraged to donate or buy secondhand clothing, but will also be urged to care for their clothes better.

A pop-up shop will be located in the Deiniol Shopping Centre and will host care and repair demonstrations, sewing and upcycling workshops, family events and clothes swapping initiatives to remind people how to repair and care for their clothes including a ‘Repair Café.’

All clothing handed in to the pop-up shop will be donated to Age Cymru, the British Heart Foundation Cymru and Antur Waunfawr, who support the ‘Love Your Clothes Bangor’ event.

More information is available at the ‘Love Your Clothes Bangor’ website.

 

‘Smart bins’ installed in Leeds city centre

Leeds City Council has updated its waste collection strategy by installing 17 Bigbelly stations in Leeds city centre to support the ‘1 piece of rubbish’ campaign, which encourages the public to pick up one piece of rubbish every day.

The high-tech bins have been installed following a trial in 2014 and contain solar-powered compaction technology, which increases the capacity of each bin from 606 to 800 litres. The bins can also communicate when they are full.News in brief 11/03/16

The move is intended to will save the council time and money currently wasted by emptying partially full bins and keep streets safer by reducing waste collection vehicle movements. Currently, there are 440 litter bins in the city centre, which are emptied on average twice a day.

The Bigbelly stations, which have been placed at key locations, including Briggate, the train station and Leeds First Direct Arena, can also provide ‘up to the minute’ overview of collection routes. Bigbelly stations will be closely monitored to see if they are successful in increasing the efficiency of waste collection.

Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for environmental protection and community safety at Leeds City Council, commented: “We need to be sure that we have the right kit that’s going to help us offer the most effective street cleaning service. Now that we own a number of Bigbelly bins, we can really get to grips with how these could fit into our operations in different circumstances.”

Mark Jenkins, Sales Director for the Egbert Taylor Group, which now includes Bigbelly within its stable of brands, adds: “Local authorities’ budgets continue to be squeezed and as councils throughout the UK are having to be more creative with their resources, manufacturers are becoming more creative with their solutions.”

For more information is available on the Bigbelly website.