News in brief 18/12/15

Every Can Counts at 1,000^th recycling scheme site for 2015

London Euston Virgin Trains’ First Class Lounge has become the 1,000^th Every Can Counts drinks can recycling site to be set up in 2015. The lounge, which joins other sites such as shopping centres, business and schools, is the first stage of a campaign aimed at sustainably disposing of drinks in public transport locations. 

There are currently 6.6 billion drinks cans sold in the UK, approximately 101,000 tonnes in weight, which are not currently recycled at these locations.  Independent research commissioned by Every Can Counts suggests approximately 63 per cent of travellers on public transport are disposing of their cans in the nearest bin rather than recycling them.

The Every Can Counts programme, which provides free advice and support on encouraging recycling, is a partnership between European and UK drinks can manufacturers, the aluminium recycling industry and drinks manufacturers.

Rick Hindley, Executive Director of Every Can Counts stated the initiative “forms a crucial part of our work on changing the empty drinks cans disposal habits of the UK population”.

He added: “The Virgin Trains First Class lounge trial is our first step in addressing this and we’re now looking to engage with even more public transport operators, whether rail, coach and buses, or trams to increase the availability and awareness of can recycling.”

Simarjeet, Kaur, Head of CSR at Virgin Trains, commented: “Working with Every Can Counts and trialling recycling in our London Euston First Class lounge provides us with an opportunity to build on our other recycling initiatives, learn more about the challenges involved and what impact we can have on can recycling at a community level.”

To find out more or sign up to Every Can Counts visit www.everycancounts.co.uk

 

BMRA appoints new Chief Executive

The Board of the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) has announced the appointment of Robert Fell as its new Chief Executive, a newly-created role within the association.

Fell’s most recent post was as a Senior Research and Development Manager at packaging manufacturer Ardagh Group. He has over 30 years’ experience in the metals industry and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Fell is also currently serving as a Director for the British Aerosols Manufacturers Association and as the Acting Chairman of the Metal Packaging Manufacturing Association.

Creation of the new role sees Fell replace BMRA’s Director General of seven years, Ian Hetherington, who is retiring from his full-time role at the end of the year. The BMRA has thanked Hetherington for navigating the BMRA through ‘one of the most challenging periods of the metal recycling industry’s history’. He will continue to advise the board and will represent the BMRA on the board of the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC).

Howard Bluck, the BMRA’s current Head of Environment, has also been made Technical Director to complement the new Chief Executive.

Commenting on the appointment, President of the BMRA Board Shane Mellor said: “We are delighted that Robert has agreed to take on the task of developing, shaping and delivering key messages that will highlight the metals recycling industry’s role in safeguarding the environment for future generations. As an industry, we have a great story to tell, and I am pleased that he is eager to help us share that story more widely.”

More information on the British Metals Recycling Association can be found at the organisation’s website.

 

Leftover food in the UK this Christmas could power the lights on 2.5 million trees

Recycling the extra food waste generated over the festive period could make enough energy to light up 2.5 million Christmas trees or cook an additional 1.3 million Christmas dinners, according to research by renewable waste management firm Tamar Energy.

British households’ Christmas indulgence sees us consume over 25 million Christmas puddings and 370 million mince pies across the festive period. But this creates around 230,000 tonnes of additional food waste, the equivalent weight of 38 million turkeys, most of which ends up in landfill.

As part of the company’s campaign to raise awareness of the reduce, reuse and recycle message this festive period, Tamar Energy is inviting people to share their best leftover recipes on social media, using the hashtag #SeasonsEatings.

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) calculates that UK households throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink annually, enough to fill Wembley Stadium nine times over. Tamar Energy describes 1.5 million of this as ‘unavoidable’, but if sent to anaerobic digestion (AD), the company says, it could generate up to 10 per cent of the UK’s domestic gas needs.

Dean Hislop, Chief Executive at Tamar Energy, said: “Reducing the amount of food we waste is something everyone can tackle this Christmas, as the increase at this time of year is quite frightening. While I wish everyone a good holiday, I also hope we’ll all reduce, reuse and recycle more.

“Not everyone has access to a food recycling service, but where we do, it is wrong that unavoidable food waste is buried or burnt when it could be recycled into green energy and biofertiliser. Unavoidable leftovers such as plate scrapings are a massive untapped source of homegrown energy. By putting this in the food recycling caddy, we could all do our bit and together we can help light lots of homes over the festive period.”

More information is available on Tamar Energy’s website.

 

WRAP awards £25,000 to Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council has received £25,000 funding from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to boost recycling in the city. Six other councils across the country have also received funding in the campaign, which will begin in February 2016.

Initiatives in the campaign include providing bags to recycle bathroom items, and a new collaboration between the council and the Southern Cooperative to improve glass and metal recycling.

Earlier this year, WRAP announced the introduction of a fund designed to increase communications through local authorities. Linda Crichton, WRAP’s Head of Resource Management, reported that the funding provided to Portsmouth City Council was part of this initiative.

She added: “We’re pleased to be working with the council to raise awareness of the recycling campaign and to help residents understand more about recycling and their local kerbside collection.”

Councillor Rob New, Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety said: “I’m delighted that we have received this funding from WRAP, which will enable us to get the recycling message out to our residents in the north and east of the city. Working with our partners, the Co-op, we hope to reach as many residents as possible and get them into the recycling habit.”

More information on waste and recycling in Portsmouth can be found on the council’s website.