Statistics from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency reveal that Scotland’s household recycling rate for 2018 has fallen by 0.9 per cent, though the carbon impact of Scottish household waste has also fallen once again.
MRF gate fees have risen yet again, increasing from £22 to £25 per tonne, according to the latest Gate Fees Report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
With increasing concerns about the state of the UK’s recycling system, all plastics are coming under fire, but some are more problematic than others. Will Simpson gets to grips with the hard-to-recycle black plastic and finds out more about some possible solutions.
MP since 2017, Anna McMorrin joined Parliament with a drive to tackle the UK’s environmental issues, hitting out against single-use plastic waste and tabling a bill on extended producer responsibility for packaging. Resource finds out more
Enthusiasm to simplify the recycling instructions on packaging risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater, writes Simon Weston, Director of Raw Materials for the Confederation of Paper Industries.
Waste management company Suez recycling and recovery has released a report analysing how the waste and resources industry will change over the next 20-30 years, claiming that developments in the sector will require investment of up to £35 billion.
Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has called on the government to focus on reducing all single-use packaging, rather than switching to alternative materials such as compostable plastic packaging.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has published new Material Flow 2025 reports, predicting the likelihood of reaching national and European recycling targets.
The Scottish Government has submitted legislation for the introduction of its deposit return scheme (DRS) for beverage containers, with the scheme currently slated for a 1 April 2021 commencement date.
Recycling and waste management company Viridor has published its 2019 Recycling Index, announcing that from next year it will be processing all of its plastic waste domestically.
The 12 winners of the UK’s largest grant fund to boost paper cup recycling, The Cup Fund, have been announced, sharing grants of between £50,000 and £100,000.
A new report from textile reuse charity TRAID has revealed that two thirds of textile bank users are unaware that many clothing banks are run by commercial operators.
A new accreditation standard, TRUST (Trader Recycling Universal Standard), has been established for recyclers who trade with charity shops, to ensure that collectors meet health and safety, legal and environmental guidelines.
Resources Minister Therese Coffey has been appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions following Amber Rudd’s departure from the Cabinet, leaving no minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs directly responsible for resources and waste.
Environment Agency household WEEE collection figures for the second quarter of 2019 show that the UK is falling far behind its WEEE collection target for 2019.
Four out of five Scottish residents back the Scottish Government’s proposed model for a deposit return scheme, with environmental protection their primary motivation.
Municipal waste data from Eurostat shows that the UK’s recycling rate remains some way short of the EU’s top recycling nations, though it performs better when it comes to diverting waste from landfill.
Sainsbury’s and TOMRA are teaming up to trial the first supermarket return scheme for drinks containers that includes glass – as Scottish support for an ‘all-in’ DRS builds.
The trade body British Glass has written an open letter to the Scottish Government raising issues with the inclusion of glass in Scotland’s proposed deposit return scheme.
