Like the fridge mountain in 2018 we are now experiencing a growing backlog of waste aerosol cans awaiting recovery. Despite a growing recycling sector, for far too long the UK has failed to keep up with sufficient investment to meet demand. As with many industrial sectors Britain seems reluctant to put sufficient money into new…
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Covid-19: Being prepared
Our Government appears to be taking a cautious but pragmatic approach to the risks associated with the spread of the latest virus and worldwide reaction. As a business our initial responsibility is to our colleagues and customers. We are closely following Government advice, while ensuring that should anyone who may be at high risk self-isolates….
Paper market concerns continue
An international warning of price pressures in the recovered – waste – paper market has come from the global organisation, BIR. The French president of the recovered paper division of BIR, which is a global recycling industry federation, has warned that not all recovered paper will find an outlet in current markets. The situation has…
Revised on-pack recycling labels go live
OPRL – the On-Pack Recycling Label organisation – has launched a new labelling system in an attempt to help consumers work out what to do with packaging. The ‘simplified’ labels follow a long period of discussion and for the majority of packaging will now advise consumers to either ‘Recycle’ or ‘Don’t Recycle’. Previously the labels…
Food waste action week in May
The first ever ‘Food Waste Action Week’ has been announced by the Government alongside a £1.5 funding programme to help change the public’s behaviour with regard to and also for transforming food waste into other materials. The Government has a Food Waste Champion, Ben Elliott, who announced the week and urged “everyone to get involved”,…
Concerns over alternatives to plastic
Supermarket chains could be rushing to stop the use of single plastics and using alternatives that may cause more environmental harm, an environmental report has suggested. The UK environmental think-tank, the Green Alliance, published a report called Plastic Promises in January which was based on interviews with senior packaging and product staff in supermarkets and…
Environment Bill set to transform producer responsibility
With the UK now out of Europe, the Environment Bill has started to make its way through Parliament and is set to replace some European Union measures as well as introduce fresh ideas from the UK government. At the beginning of February, the Bill passed through its automatic first stage in the House of Commons….
Environmental legislation planned for 2020
While Brexit looks likely to dominate early political debate and ministerial work in January, 2020 looks set to be a big year in terms of environmental legislation. Top of the tree, within the Parliamentary process, for the environment will be the Environment Bill. This was first announced in the Queen’s Speech that was delivered on…
Lincolnshire in warning over fires from batteries
Concerns about fires caused by the public not removing batteries from toys and other household items have already been raised this year. Early in January Lincolnshire County Council issued a warning over batteries following three small fires at its household waste recycling centres in rubbish deposited by members of the public after Christmas. The fires…
Larger retailers to take-back in-store from 2021
The Recycling Minister, Rebecca Pow, has approved plans which will see larger retailers having to offer instore take-back for waste electrical and electronic equipment from January 2021. On 24 December 2019, Defra said that the minister had approved the takeback requirement. This represents changes to the current UK WEEE system where the main focus on…