Earlier this summer, Red Rhino held a quarterly seminar entitled "Onsite Recycling of Construction Waste". The focus of the meeting was the onsite recycling of waste throughout the construction industry. Recent studies have shown that the construction industry is responsible for more than 32% of the UK's total waste. Those same reports have revealed that over 30% of those discarded materials can be recycled or reused. The size of the construction industry in the UK means that more than 60 million tonnes of construction site waste is sent to the landfill annually. One of the main points of the day was to ... Full Story

High Peak Borough Council has teamed up with formed a partnership with Veolia Environmental Services and have saved the taxpayers £100,000 in the process. High Peak granted the new seven year contract to Veolia, the UK's leading waste management company, last month. The new scheme will help residents in the area recycle and reduce waste, with both residential and commercial services. Collecting the waste will be a fleet of new high performance collection wagons, designed to maximise the council's total recycling rates. John Haken, High Peak Borough Council's Executive Councillor for the Environment said: "Our improved recycling rates, which hit 42% in ... Full Story

Household recycling has been at the forefront of the media and government legislation for quote some time. It is obvious that we all need to step up and do our part to reduce waste, reuse, and recycle. Many of the new directives initiated seem to be targeted at increasing the recycling rate of individual households. This is necessary, but a great number of people have been asking why consumers are the ones who are being targeted when individuals are responsible for less than 10% of the waste generated in the UK. A recent report published by the House of Lords has ... Full Story

Despite the advancements in electronic communication, printing is still the top method used by businesses. A new study conducted by the organisation Kall Kwik showed that 93% of businesses continue to favor printed mailings over electronic communication. Additionally, only 14% of those surveyed would consider sending business related text messages. The reluctance to use text messages is somewhat surprising since there are more than 90 million active mobile phones throughout the UK. Part of that reluctance involves the fact that electronic messages are easy to delete, whether or not they are even read. Studies show that consumers are apt to read ... Full Story

Richard Simpson, co-founder of the Brighton & Hove Wood Recycling Project, faces a daily challenge of trying to convince foremen on building sites to separate the waste produced throughout the building process. Simpson is a former architect who certainly knows his way around a building site. Since the inception of the BHWRP in 1998, the organisation has recycled about 6,000 tonnes of timber. The initiative to promote construction waste recycling was one of the first in the UK to collect waste wood from building sites so that it could be recycled or reused. Although the company had humble beginnings, Simpson and ... Full Story

There are many printer companies that are choosing to step up and take action toward reducing the amount of waste being generated in the workplace. Among those companies is Lexmark, printer and ink cartridge manufacturer. According to Lexmark marketing manager Stephen Bell, the international company has placed its focus on "reducing the environmental impact throughout the lifecycle of its printers". This includes all processes from dust to dust. In a recent statement, Bell stated that nearly 80% of the negative environmental impact from printers occurs during usage. Therefore, the company has joined together with its business customers to review company printing ... Full Story

A recent study released by Envirowise and business consultancy organisation EEF has shown that UK manufacturers are on board with green efforts, although rather large gaps exist between small and large organisations. The study, titled "Measuring performance - Environment Survey 2008", shows the results of a survey in which 562 manufacturing companies participated. The companies collectively represent over 122, 000 workers. Overall, the entire manufacturing industry has engaged environmental programmes and is committed to taking action on such issues as end of life cycles and energy efficiency. Over 90% of the companies interviewed say they have taken measures to address some ... Full Story

Simon Jackson, the boss at a Halifax nightclub has a problem - he's stuck with several tonnes of glass bottles and has nowhere to recycle them. The Acapulco recycles approximately 14,000 bottles a week, something the club managers have done for the past eight years. Now that Sita has taken over the Calderdale waste collection contract, the company tells Jackson thanks, but no thanks. Jackson typically saves up bottles for a week and then hauls them to a recycling site at Lee Bank. Sita has told Jackson that he now needs to take the bottles elsewhere. "We got no money out of ... Full Story

Samsung is a company that has long been associated with various electronics, including mobile phones. As a step toward environmental awareness and responsibility, Samsung has recently launched a new eco-friendly series of mobile phones. The phones are eco-friendly in the sense that they are manufactured using bio-plastic materials for the handsets' exterior construction and various recycled materials used for packaging. The series consists of three models, including the F268, which was introduced in China in July; the W510, also released in July in the Korean market; and the latest model, the E200 Eco just launched in Europe. As a part of ... Full Story

Hawaii is often seen as an island of paradise with beautiful sands, rich ethnic heritage, and intriguing volcanoes. The truth for most residents, however, is that the day to day routine usually doesn't involve any of those things. Like any other well populated city, Honolulu is a hub of commerce. With commerce comes technology and with technology comes electronic waste. And like many cities around the world, electronic waste poses a problem for the environment. As part of an environmental programme, Honolulu's Kaua'i County Recycling Office has scheduled an electronics recycling drive for businesses this coming Friday; individual households will be ... Full Story

Waitrose, a UK supermarket conglomerate, has chosen five stores to take part in a pilot scheme for recycling food waste. The scheme will eventually go nation-wide but currently, a handful of stores will test the waters. Among those stores are branches located in Towcester and Northampton. The process to recycle food waste is called Anaerobic Digestion. The food waste is heated until it produces a methane-rich bio-gas which can be turned into heat and electricity. Waitrose claims that the amount of electricity generated through the scheme will be put into the national grid and is estimated to  supply enough energy to ... Full Story

Allen & York (A&Y) recruitment specialists working for the UK based Natural and Built Environment sectors have announced adjustments to their existing waste policy to promote sustainability. The company has recognised the importance of going green at their Dorset offices. Envirowise, a government sponsored initiative designed to provide practical environmental advice for businesses, was consulted for its guidance in identifying and improving the company's environmental profile. Among the changes in policy at A&Y is the implementation of a "wormery", designed to significantly reduce composted waste by up to 50%. In addition, A&Y has produced a "Green Office Guide" designed to ... Full Story