The group operating a financially-troubled Aberbeen farm that specializes in rare breeds is expressing its opposition to plans for building a recycling plant nearby. Friends of Doonies Farm, the group that runs the farm, have said that their concern is that organic waste at the site would endanger their animals by attracting vermin. According to the city council, however, no organic matter would be handled at the site. Earlier this year, the council withdrew the farm’s subsidy and it gave the facility six months to show that it could be viable. Doonies Farm is now operated by a charity. At a private meeting to ... Full Story

Seeing your business disappear nearly overnight can be the end of the line for many entrepreneurs, but to one in particular it was the beginning of a new and lucrative opportunity. Six years ago Robert Shepherd ran his export company that was involved in supplying second-hand white goods to Africa, and also supplying other products, including HP Sauce. On a business trip to Senegal, he learned that due to a new EU environmental regulation, his firm would no longer be permitted to export fridges to Africa. “We lost a million pounds overnight,” he said. The EU directive was aimed at reducing CFC gas ... Full Story

According to an announcement from the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NEASTA), Eigg is set to become the first green power island in Scotland. Eigg islanders have made it to the finals in the NESTA UK Big Green Challenge and have won a £20,000 grant. The purpose of the grant is to help islanders reduce carbon emissions on the islands to zero and also to fund a website to be called ‘Build Your Own Green Island.’ Eigg and nine other competition finalists are vying for a share in the £1 million in prizes. All projects will be judged in the coming ... Full Story

The government has said that it will do what it can to make it easier for waste handling companies to store materials awaiting recycling until demand from recyclers in other countries, such as China, recovers. In the UK, the recycling market has recently had to deal the crisis brought about by overseas recyclers halting waste material purchases in response to a reduced demand for their final products. As a result, the price of recyclable materials, including cardboard, paper, plastic and metal, has collapsed, meaning that waste handling firms in the UK have not been able to sell the material they collect. The ... Full Story

Bristol has been named the most sustainable city in Britain, beating Brighton and Hove for the distinction. The second-annual Sustainable Cities Index ranked the 20 largest cities in Britain on social, economic and environmental factors. Three tables measure the city’s environmental impact, the quality of life it provides for its residents and "future-proofing" – which is a gauge of how well cities address biodiversity, climate change and recycling issues. Last year’s overall winner in the rankings, Brighton and Hove, was rated highest in quality of life and future-proofing this year, but ranked second overall due to its poorer performance on environmental issues, as ... Full Story

For the decades that it has been targeted by terrorists, London has done without public bins, as officials have feared that they could be used as places to conceal bombs. The financial hub of the capital will soon install dozens of bins which the manufacturer claims are ‘bomb proof,’ and capable of absorbing the strongest explosions. Although advertising restrictions are in place within the Square Mile, in line with heritage considerations, each bin will feature a video screen broadcasting financial news and also carrying messages from corporate sponsors, who will pay a fee fro the video advertising to Media Metrica, the company ... Full Story

In a study of the world’s cities, Edinburgh’s sustainability credentials have found it a place in the running for US think-tank Ethisphere Institute’s designation of the top 20 most sustainable cities by 2020. Edinburgh’s selection was in the top 10 in the mid-sized cities category, meaning a population of under 600,000. In the process, emphasis was placed on the city council’s ability to partner with local business to develop sustainability practices. The institute’s report says: "The stoic grey landscape and lush green foliage clash in a harmony of man and nature. So is the link between the environment and business in this ... Full Story

It is expected that the current financial crisis will have an impact on the recycling and waste sectors, leading to both “redundancies and company failures,” the industry announced this past week. With GDP growth expected to drop to at least a negative one per cent, a reduction in the volumes of commercial and industrial waste would be likely, recyclingwasteworld.co.uk has reported. This is supported by comments from Veolia Environnement made early last week indicating that the firm had been seeing “a clear slowdown in business activity since the beginning of the summer”. The company’s statement added: “The effects of the economic slowdown (decline ... Full Story

Local councils will have to construct ‘alternative waste treatment facilities’ before the European Union Landfill Directive comes into effect in 2013. A new report, ‘Well Disposed: responding to the waste challenge,’ is warning local councils that they cannot rely simply on less waste being created and increasing recycling amounts to achieve the EU targets by 2013. If plans to build incinerators are delayed by two years, for example, England’s landfill allocation would be exceeded by 13 per cent and it would incur £140 million in penalties, at taxpayer expense, the report explained. The chairman of the UK’s Audit Commission, Michael O'Higgins, stressed: “We ... Full Story

In England’s schools, more than 235 million juice and milk cartons are used every year, and a new initiative that has been launched by Tetra Pak in co-operation with the carton industry under the sponsorship of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) will provide for the recycling of these paper-based cartons. The new initiative is known as the Business & Schools Carton Recycling Service, and it marks a significant advance in the expansion of carton recycling in the UK. Recently, the number of carton collection facilities has increased to cover 85 per cent of the country, but ... Full Story

John and Ann Till have been combing the streets near their Hampshire home looking for bottles, cans and containers they could turn in at their local supermarket’s recycling centre. They determined that they could earn one reward point for every four recyclable items they posted into the machine, which could then be converted into airline miles. Every night after work they posted the items into the supermarket’s recycle bank, adding up the miles they earned that would enable them to go on a honeymoon. Eventually the couple collected and posted enough material to earn 36,000 miles – enough for them to fly from ... Full Story

New regulations for recycling in the UK are being called for by the Local Government Association (LGA) after an ITV programme exposed that locally-collected waste meant for recycling was being dumped in rural India. The LGA is demanding a system that is transparent and accountable, encouraging residents to continue recycling efforts. All council leaders in both England and Wales have received letters from the association stressing the necessity of providing residents with reliable information about the sale of recycled materials. The ITV programme tracked down mail – that had been recycled - originally sent to residents of Leicestershire County Council and Tendring, Wellingborough ... Full Story