Business in brief 18/01/18
Mick George now providing balers and compactors
Supplier to the construction industry Mick George has extended its recycling division to include waste balers and compactors.
Neil Johnson, Technical Waste Director, said: “The sector is quickly evolving and we’re keen to ensure our offering does likewise to keep pace with the momentum to relieve some of the wider environmental issues that the world faces.”
The selection of balers and compactors are available to buy or rent, and are designed to reduce the amount of space taken up on premises, as well as to save money on waste collection and handling costs. By compressing recyclable waste into easily transportable and financially viable bales, these machines will essentially enable organisations to divert more waste from landfill, reducing environmental impact while providing added income.
Mick George purchases regular supplies of baled or compacted recyclable materials, and offers collection nationwide. More information can be found on the Mick George website.
Millerhill energy-from-waste plant halfway to completion
Millerhill in Midlothian is the site of an energy-from-waste (EfW) plant being developed by waste services provider FCC Environment, who signed a 25-year contract to deliver and operate the £142-million project in October 2016. FCCE currently operates three other EfW facilities in Kent, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, and has two further plants under construction.
Now 15 months into a scheduled 30-month construction schedule, the Millerhill Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre is situated on the former Millerhill Marshalling Yard, a railway depot turned brownfield site. It is hoped that the plant will have the capacity to process approximately 135,000 tonnes of household residual waste per year, along with 20,000 tonnes of commercial waste.
The Zero Waste Parc, as the Marshalling Yard is now called, is designed to help Midlothian and the City of Edinburgh contribute to Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan, which aims for 70 per cent of all waste to be recycled and 95 per cent diverted from landfill by 2025.
Information about the Millerhill plant can be found on FCCE’s website.
Enva Group acquires Blue Sky Plastic Recycling
Hazardous waste solutions and water services provider Enva Group, operating in the UK and Ireland, has announced its acquisition of Lincolnshire-based Blue Sky Plastic Recycling (BSP), which specialises in recycling plastics arising from WEEE, amongst other sources, and converting them into regrinds and compounds.
Formerly DCC Environment, Enva Group was sold by Irish investment company DCC Plc in June 2017. BSP will now form one of five units operating within Enva Group, which also includes William Tracey Group, Wastecycle, Enva Ireland and Oakwood Recycling.
Chris Riddle, BSP’s Managing Director, said: “This is a very exciting time for our business, our customers and our staff. Becoming part of Enva Group is a mark of what we have been able to achieve thus far. The acquisition gives us the platform to continue to build upon that success.”
CEO of Enva Group, Tom Walsh, added: “We are delighted to be investing in BSP. Chris and his team, through clever innovation and many years of process development, have established solutions for one of the critical waste challenges of our time; converting plastic waste back into a valuable raw material.”
More information about Enva Group can be found on the company’s website.
Biffa’s contract with Arun District Council extended
Biffa, the UK’s second largest waste management company, has announced that its current contract with Arun District Council in West Sussex will be extended by a further three years. The initial three-year contract started in February 2017, and will now continue through to 2023.
The contractor’s municipal division provides Arun with a weekly household waste collection, fortnightly household recycling and garden waste collections, and streets and beach cleaning services. 2017 also saw the introduction of a new kerbside collection for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
Arun’s cabinet member for neighbourhood services, Cllr Paul Wotherspoon, commented: “Since being awarded the initial contract in November last year, Biffa has worked hard to keep refuse collections on time and our streets clean.
“The initial contract period also achieved significant financial annual savings for the council, which have benefited our finances during a tough economic climate.”
The council hopes that continued savings will see more resources diverted towards tackling fly-tipping and promoting recycling through its current project officer role.
More information is available on Biffa’s website.
