A 20-tonne tipper lorry connected to illegal waste activity across the West Midlands, has been crushed after it was seized by the Environment Agency. Following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering, the vehicle was detained in May 2018 by officers as part of a joint operation and partnership between the Environment Agency and local police….
Monthly Archives: June 2018
Schools boost for Duracell and BatteryBack
Alkaline battery producer Duracell has today announced that a scheme it ran last year to encourage children to recycle batteries has seen over 2.3 million recycled. The nationwide initiative, ‘the Big Battery Hunt’, was launched last year by Duracell in partnership with compliance scheme BatteryBack. Pupils from Portsmouth Grammar School who have taken part in…
Rutley steps in to cover for Coffey at Defra
David Rutley MP has been appointed as parliamentary under secretary of state at Defra, replacing Thérèse Coffey MP while she “recovers from a period of illness”. The government announcement, highlighted that the Queen “has been pleased to approve,” the temporary move until Dr Coffey makes a full recovery and is ready to return to work….
Defra opts for mandatory WEEE Producer Balancing Scheme
Defra has announced that it will amend the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) regulations to introduce a mandatory requirement for producer compliance schemes to be part of a Producer Balancing System (PBS). The balancing system is used to ensure that waste electrical equipment (such as fridges) is collected from local authority civic amenity sites…
Q1 WEEE Data shows a year on year drop in tonnages
On 1st June the Environment Agency published Q1 2018 UK data that shows a drop in the collections of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) against Q1 2017. Making assumptions based on one set of data should be treated with some caution but the 13% year on year drop in collections is concerning. This follows…
Circular Economy Package adopted by EU Council
The European council of ministers have adopted new rules for waste management, which establish binding targets for recycling as part of the Circular Economy package. It will now be mandatory for member states to meet recycling targets for municipal waste of 55% by 2025 and 65% by 2035, compared to a target of 50% by…
The WEEE Regulations 2013 – Open Scope
1st January 2019 sees The WEEE Regulations 2013 introduce open scope. This means that products formerly considered out of scope of the Regulations will be in scope and will need to be reported as EEE from this date. This will apply to all equipment that meets the criteria of EEE unless covered by a specific…
WRAP confirms theme for Recycle Week 2018
Resources charity WRAP has announced that the theme for Recycle Week 2018 will be ‘Recycling. We do. Because it matters,’ with a strong emphasis on plastics. The week will take place between 24 -30 September 2018. The charity is urging local authorities and organisations to get involved with the objective of encouraging more people to…
Morrisons portable battery containers revamped
Over 400 Morrison’s stores across the UK have recently seen the installation of specially designed battery recycling containers in the style of the Morrisons’ brand. With joint funding from Duracell, the new design is not only more in line with Morrisons current branding but also provides even greater clarity to customers with a clear battery…
Scotland’s recycling rate on the rise
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has announced that the country’s recycling, composting and re-use of waste has risen above 60 percent for the first time, according to the regulator’s latest statistics. The figures for 2018 cover both municipal and commercial waste, which has reached 61% partly from an uptake in recycling of ‘soils and…