The incinerator proposed for Splott in Cardiff will receive an extended deadline for residents to voice their concerns prior to the Cardiff council granting an environmental permit. Environment Agency Wales initially backed the proposed plant and but has extended the deadline for consultations by 10 days after concerns arose that residents would not have time to comment due to a school holiday. Cardiff council has already given the project planning permission. According to a statement from Environment Agency Wales, the body wants to make sure that all householders have ample time to comment and voice concerns regarding the planned facility. It also ... Full Story

Rotorua has just received a $1 million grant to construct its new human waste processing plant. New Zealand Environment Minister Nick Smith announced that the funding would be granted to the council from the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund. Making a statement at Scion yesterday, the Minister said that the project would benefit both Rotorua and the country overall. He added that the nation prided itself in using methods that were 100 per cent pure and said that Rotorua would have a challenge in that a large portion of the population lives away from the coast. The minister further said that New Zealand ... Full Story

The green light has been given for a controversial new biomass incinerator slated to be built in Glenavy. The North’s Environment Minister Edwin Poots approved the power plant yesterday amidst strong protests from Co Antrim residents and environmental groups. Upon completion, the proposed plant will generate enough electricity to power up to 25,000 residences. Rose Energy is behind the move, which is a joint venture firm comprised of the three largest poultry producers in the area; O’Kane Poultry, Glenfarm Holdings and Moy Park. The new facility will also bring 40 new jobs into the area as well as provide construction jobs for ... Full Story

Construction began today on the world’s first ever industrial scale waste-to-biofuel facility. Being built by privately-owned Enerkem Inc, the $75 million plant will be in Edmonton, Alberta and be able to generate enough biofuel to run over 400,000 vehicles each year using a five per cent ethanol fuel blend. Canada has been taking a forefront in the internationally community in biofuel investments as a means to reduce its carbon footprint. The country will announce in September that all petrol must have five per cent renewable content. Enerkem has obtained a 25-year agreement with the local Edmonton council to use 100,000 tonnes of ... Full Story

Cerebra Integrated Technologies, one of India’s premier total IT Solutions retailers, announced a new partnership with Cimelia Resource Recovery Pte Ltd, India’s biggest e-waste recycling firm. The alliance will allow Cerebra Integrated to begin work on its proposed e-waste recycling facility, set to be constructed near Bangalore. Located on 10 acres of land in the region, the new electronic waste recycling unit will be set-up entirely by Cimelia including machinery. The recycling firm will also aid Cerebra in the managing of the new facility. Appropriately dubbed the E-waste plant, the new recycling unit will allow Cerebra Integrated to double its e-waste recycling ... Full Story

Major UK mobile service provider, O2, has launched the first ever sustainable rating system for mobile handsets. In the wake of survey results indicating that 44 per cent of the mobile giant’s customers would be influenced by environmental factors when deciding on a mobile phone, O2 has designed a new scheme that will allow it to rate mobile handsets produced by various firms. The newly founded Eco Rating will score phones out of 5, and currently the Sony Ericsson Elm has received top marks with 4.3. The scores will be published both online and in the service provider’s retail outlets. Eco Rating was designed ... Full Story

According to Local Government Minister Rodney Hide, Aucklanders’ will save up to 20 per cent on their water bills as soon as next July. As the Super City Council looks to outline new ratepayer gains, the announcement follows Auckland’s water providers being consolidated into one firm, Watercare Services Limited. The new utility will introduce one tariff that will cover 1,000 litres for $1.30 as opposed to the previous range of $1.31 to $2.33. According to Mr Hide, the council has reviewed 11 reports that stated that one water agency would lead to significant savings for local residents. Wastewater charges have not yet ... Full Story

A new report indicates that coal waste could be threatening the water supply in up to 21 US states. While the US Environmental Protection Agency reviews new federal regulations for coal ash waste, it could be posing a bigger problem than has previously been documented. The study, which was run jointly by the Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice and the Sierra Club, shows that there are 39 sites spread across 21 states that have contaminated groundwater as a direct result of coal ash dumping by utility firms. In some areas, the coal ash waste has even affected surface water. These figures are in ... Full Story

UK Corporations are starting to realise the environmental and monetary benefits of recycling old company mobile phones. It has been estimated that over 3 million firms in the UK will give out company or company-paid mobiles as part of upgrades or new handouts this year. With the large excess of redundant phones in the corporate sector, businesses are beginning to appreciate the value of recycling phones that employees exchange for new ones. Actions being taken by these firms include setting up recycling drives in building lobbies or forming partnerships with online recyclers. Not only do corporations receive environmental accolades for responsibly recycling, ... Full Story

A team of 60 firefighters are tackling a large fire at a recycling facility in Horwich. After being called to the Armstrong Group recycling plant, fire crews have continued to try to contain the blaze that broke out at 2 am after hundreds of tonnes of plastic refuse caught fire. Traffic has been shut down on Chorley New Road and the plume of smoke resulting can be seen for miles outside the facility. A support vehicle and eight of the county’s fire engines have been called to the scene. A Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said that crews arrived to ... Full Story

According to new reports, the French government will seek to begin a new series of contracts totalling 10 billion euros to fund 3,000 MW of offshore wind capacity. Next month, the government will being tendering contracts with various energy groups seeking to begin producing electricity in the form of renewable wind energy by 2015. Furthermore, the government aims to have a total of 6,000 MW in offshore wind capacity by 2020. So far five of 10 sites in Normandy have been identified to receive 600 wind turbines. France has been attempting to catch up to Germany by increasing its capacity for floating ... Full Story

Royal Dutch Shell Plc announced Thursday that it will begin commercial demonstrations of its new equipment designed to reduce waste pools that are created by Canada’s oil sands extraction industry. It also confirmed that the new tech will be made available for competitors as well. Shell executives have said, however, that it is still not certain if the new technology will be up to standard with a new directive outlined by the Alberta government. The waste pools, known in the industry as tailing ponds, are a mixture of silt, sand and the residual oil leftover from using hot water to separate ... Full Story