West Oxfordshire is headed for major changes in the way its household waste is dealt with as a new collection scheme is rolled out in the council. Beginning Monday, 43,000 residences in the district will begin the new scheme, which will bring about the beginning of the end for weekly collections. A new wheelie bin will be provided to each household for non-recyclable waste and collected fortnightly. The move is a bid to further encourage recycling in the region and a new food scraps collection will also be introduced weekly. The weekly collection of recyclable items like paper and plastic will continue ... Full Story

Plans to ban certain materials from being sent to landfills, which would have included food, metals and paper, have been scrapped by ministers after a government report warned that doing so could increase fly tipping. Householders will no longer be faced with the requirement of having to install slop buckets within their kitchens in the wake of the government report indicating that forcing people to separate out food waste could lead to more fly tipping instances. Furthermore, the year long consultation culminating in the report found that by forcing households to collect food waste councils would have to use more taxes ... Full Story

According to a recent supermarket survey, Scots are among the highest contributors to UK food waste. Among the items most regularly thrown out by Scottish shoppers are bread, salad and bananas. The Waitrose survey revealed that Scots throw away nearly £460  worth of groceries per person per year, which is higher than the British average of £400. Admitting to wasting, nearly nine of 10 people polled said that they tossed food out at least two to three times a week. Nearly 86 per cent said that they threw away food regularly, and only third claimed they recycled their food waste. Less than ... Full Story

Villagers in Caerphilly are planning a protest after odour from rotting food waste at a local compost centre has become a burden. Residents in Gelligaer, Nelson and Penybryn said that they can smell the Bryn compost site causing them to be unable to open their windows during the summer. They aim to protest and force the firm to take immediate action. The rally will be held at Greenhill school in Gelligaer on Wednesday. The composting firm said that it is already working alongside the Environment Agency for a more long term solution to the problem. However, Ray Matthews, a resident from Gelligaer ... Full Story

A recycling firm in County Durham has finally been given the green light for an extended programme that will see household waste composted more regularly in the area. The Environment Agency and Defra have both given the go-ahead for the plans, which are sponsored by Premier Waste Management. The waste, which will encompass up to 60,000 tonnes, will be treated at a facility in Thornley near Peterlee. The firm will use bio-processing technology in order to break down common household waste into ... Full Story

The Abu Dhabi Environment Agency has begun a campaign to ensure that food waste will be reduced during the Ramadan holiday. During Ramadan in Abu Dhabi figures indicate that at least 500 tonnes of food are thrown away. According to statements made by the environment chief yesterday, the Environment Agency will launch a programme entitled “Think Before You Waste”. EAD’s secretary general, Majidal Mansouri said that culturally the holiday places an emphasis on providing large feasts to celebrate the special month. However, he said the waste food was not environmentally sustainable. He added that the best way to reduce excess food waste ... Full Story

According to preliminary figures on Welsh council recycling, twelve of the 22 local authorities have passed the national standard for recycling targets. This means that nearly half of the local councils have missed recycling target expectations as required by the Welsh Assembly Government. Councils were instructed to compost or recycle up to 40 per cent of all household waste by 2009/10, but 10 local authorities have fallen short of these goals. According to Ministers, it is believed that recycling targets would have been better reached had it not been for such severe winter weather experienced across the UK this year. They also ... Full Story

Alex Salmond, Gordon MSP and First Minister, heaped praise on Scottish firm Keenan Recycling recently for the work it is doing recycling food waste into compost. Mr Salmond was speaking while on a visit to the Aberdeen offices of Shell Upstream Europe. Shell Upstream Europe is one of about 30 companies that use Keenan Recycling’s Food Waste Collection Service. While getting to see Keenan Recycling in action collecting food waste from Shell Upstream Europe, Mr Salmond called on Scots to end the country’s throwaway culture. He said people are taking an increasing level of responsibility regarding recycling but they continue to ... Full Story

  A pioneering Scottish eco-packaging company have launched the world’s first compostable cutlery that can withstand high temperatures. Start-up enterprise Vegware, which makes products for the catering industry out of plant matter, are moving to bigger premises in order to cope with the increased demand.   The company was first established in 2006 by Edinburgh-based entrepreneur Joe Frankel. His vision was to create alternatives to plastic disposables for the catering industry. ... Full Story

  Top TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is to keep a Rocket Composter that has been on trial at his River Cottage headquarters on Park Farm. The eco-friendly cook now plans to recycle his entire kitchen’s food waste with the help of the Tidy Planet product.   Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall designed the site known as River Cottage to be low-energy and is well known for championing local produce. He hopes to have a ... Full Story

The London Assembly’s environment committee is to investigate the reasons behind the wide variations in recycling rates among the 33 boroughs in the capital. Assembly Member Gareth Bacon is leading the probe for the environment committee. The study will examine the methods used to manage waste, the financial incentives used to promote recycling and attitudes towards recycling among London residents. London owns the dubious distinction of having the worst performance for recycling across all regions of England. In 2008/2009, London showed a combined municipal recycling and composting rate of just 29 per cent. The environment committee is pinning its hopes on ... Full Story

The level of recycling in Northern Ireland has been described as deeply worrying by Alan Lawther of the Alliance. New statistics show that there appears to have been little improvement in the amount of material being recycled compared to 2009. Mr Lawther added that this had to be improved upon so that councils in Northern Ireland did not find themselves being fined by the EU for sending too much waste to landfill. NI waste management statistics collated between January and March this year show that only 22 per cent of all household waste collected was sent for recycling and 8 per ... Full Story