Resource Use

News in brief 28/11/2014

REPIC partners with schools to raise awareness of WEEE recycling

REPIC partners with schools to raise awareness of WEEE recycling

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) compliance scheme REPIC has launched a new partnership with UK local authorities and schools to help raise awareness about the importance of recycling old electrical items.

The REPIC School Adventure Challenge, which launched this month (November), is an educational initiative aimed at Year 3 and Year 4 school pupils that forms part of REPIC’s wider Responsible Recycling campaign, which launched earlier this year.

As well as learning about the economic and environmental value of WEEE recycling, school children will also be given the opportunity to take home a soft toy version of R3P1C, a recycled robot made out of end-of-life household electrical products, and asked to compose a short story about ‘an adventure’ they have experienced with it.

Dr Philip Morton, CEO of REPIC, said: “The REPIC School Adventure Challenge is an activity to connect what children learn at school and extend it to their home.  We’re hoping that by taking R3P1C on a journey, families will stop and think about what happens to their end-of-life products and how they can help.”

The stories will be published on REPIC’s Responsible Recycling website.

Carl Sargeant visits Henllan Bread following waste audit

Carl Sargeant visits Henllan Bread following waste audit
(L-R): Carl Sargeant, Wales’s Minister for Natural Resources; Christine Melsher, Business Account Manager at WRAP Cymru; Tom Moore, Director at Henllan Bakery; and Edward Kirkwood, Business Development Executive for BIC Innovation

Wales’s Minister for Natural Resources, Carl Sargeant, recently visited Denbigh-based bakery Henllan Bread to hear how it has been making waste savings.

On the visit, Sargeant heard that the wholesale bakers had received consultancy support from the Welsh branch of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP Cymru), which helped the company undertake a waste audit.

Following the review, the company decided to invest more than £4,000 (coupled with a £6,000 Hospitality Tourism, Food and Drink fund grant from WRAP Cymru) into new bins, signage and baling equipment to reduce waste arisings. It is thought that this will also help the company to divert over 200 tonnes of waste from landfill over the next three years, saving more than £14,000 a year in waste costs (such as Landfill Tax).

Sargeant said: “The Welsh Government funds WRAP Cymru to work with Welsh businesses to help them prevent waste, and work to become more resource efficient and competitive. Quite simply, preventing waste can help businesses across Wales save money and make better use of their resources. 

“It’s great to see a growing North Wales business like Henllan Bread think about moving towards zero waste because of the benefits that it can bring them.”

Tom Moore, Director at Henllan Bread, added: “The assistance that WRAP Cymru has provided us has been invaluable. Their personnel, along with the financial assistance provided by the Welsh Government, have helped us adapt and modernise our in-house procedures and processes. This has set us well along the path to our final goal of sending zero waste to landfill.”

Find out more about Henllan Bread or WRAP Cymru’s Hospitality, Tourism, Food and Drink fund.

HRC consultation underway in Dorset

Dorset residents are being asked for their views on possible money-saving changes to the county’s household recycling centres (HRCs). 

The Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP) provides 11 HRCs for residents to recycle a range of household materials, including those that cannot be collected at the kerbside (such as white goods).

However, in response to continuing financial pressures on the DWP and its seven partner councils, the partnership is looking at a range of options to make its HRC service ‘more cost-effective’.

These include:

  • closing all HRCs for two or three weekdays (saving up to £300,000 a year);
  • charging residents to dispose of non-household materials, such as DIY waste and tyres (saving £250,000 a year);
  • closing one or more of the HRCs (saving up to £100,000 a year per site);
  • charging Dorset residents to use their HRCs in neighbouring areas, which the DWP currently subsidises (saving £70,000 a year); or
  • charging for entry at one or more HRCs instead of closing them (saving £65,000 a year per site).

Residents are being asked to detail how each of the proposed options may affect them, and which option they would prefer, by Friday, 13 February 2015.

Councillor Anthony Alford, Chair of the DWP Joint Committee, said: “We need to look at everything we do and ensure we provide an efficient and effective service.

“We know that residents value our HRCs and are keen to hear how these possible changes might affect people before making any decisions. It is important we understand the aspects of the service that are most valued by people when deciding what the future service will look like.”

Find out more about the HRC consultation.

New metal packaging recycling mark

New metal packaging recycling mark

A new recycling mark has been developed by Metal Packaging Europe (MPE), an industry organisation representing rigid metal and metal packaging producers, to ‘engage consumers and highlight their role in the continuous lifecycle of metal’.

According to MPE, some consumers do not understand the ‘real value of recycling’ or do not always have a clear understanding of what happens with the collected metal fraction.

As such, it has developed a new mark for use both on and off metal packaging (such as beverage and food cans, paint cans, and aerosols) that comprises the message: ‘METAL recycles forever’ together with the symbol of a ‘forever loop’ (showing that metal is infinitely recyclable). The organisation’s research has found that both ‘keen recyclers’ and ‘reluctant recyclers’ in the UK, France and Spain think the message provides ‘new and clearer information’.

Anders Linde, General Secretary of MPE, said: “European consumers purchase more than 85 billion products per year in rigid metal packaging so finding a solution to encourage these items to be recycled is of great importance.

“I am delighted that our industry has jointly identified a message that really makes a difference to consumer attitudes and behaviours, reassuring ‘keen recyclers’ and inspiring ‘reluctant recyclers’.”

Find out more about Metal Packaging Europe.

Online ‘Recycleopedia’ offers guidance on kerbside recycling

Online ‘Recycleopedia’ offers guidance on kerbside recycling

The district councils of South Oxfordshire and have teamed up with an online ‘Recycleopedia’ to provide residents with kerbside recycling guidelines for over 6,000 items.

The online tool, hosted on the council websites of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse, allows users to search for specific items to understand what items (or constituent parts) are recyclable, which bins they should go into for recycling, and where their nearest household recycling centre is.

Recycleopedia founder Paul Bearman said he launched the online tool (which is also open to all UK residents from the Recycleopedia website) when his council introduced a new recycling service. He said: “I became frustrated at the basic level of information out there on what to put in each bin, so I started to create the Recycleopedia database and tools to solve the problem.

“I’m now looking forward to a great partnership with South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils helping their residents to work out what goes where.”

Recycleopedia is available online, although many areas of the country do not appear to be included in the database as yet.

Casepak appoints new Transport Manager and Business Development Executive

 Casepak appoints new Transport Manager and Business Development Executive
New appointments Stephanie Dalton and Tony Price
Recycling and waste management organisation Casepak has appointed a new Transport Manager and Business Development Executive.

Tony Price has joined the company as Transport Manager. He will be responsible for managing the company drivers, as well as overseeing the weighbridge and its staff. Price qualified as a Transport Manager in 2005 and carries a Class 1 HGV Licence.

Casepak has also appointed Stephanie Dalton as its new Business Development Executive. Dalton will work for both Casepak and its partner company Oceala, supporting the Business Development Team.   

Mark Smith, Joint Managing Director of Casepak, said: “Tony and Stephanie are valuable additions to our team. Both will bring key skills and experience to their respective roles and teams they work in with a view to enhancing Casepak’s offering. I am looking forward to working with them for many years to come.”

Find out more about Casepak.