According to Friends of the Earth, more than 50,000 new jobs could be created across the UK if the country increases its recycling rates. In a report published today, the environmental group urged the government to not waste any opportunities to boost recycling and economic opportunities by raising recycling targets. Entitled, More jobs, less waste, the report states that at least 51,400 new jobs could be created if the UK was able to recycle 70 per cent of all its municipal household waste. Additionally a further 18,000 jobs would be available if commercial and industrial waste was recycled at similar rates. Currently, ... Full Story

The three-day Recycling & Waste exhibition set to be held in Birmingham will kick-off today showcasing some of the UK's premier recycling technologies. Ranging from recycling plants for nappies, innovative new composting systems and technology that will use food scraps to produce biofuel, the convention will exhibit all the latest eco-solutions on the UK recycling market at present. Held at the NEC in Birmingham, the three day show begins Tuesday 14 September and will end Thursday 16 September. The focal piece of the exhibition is the new Waste Minimisation Zone, which features a drop-in advice surgery and daily showcases of new ... Full Story

After much hype over the proposed ban on recyclable materials being sent to landfill, the coalition has quietly abandoned those plans. Announcing yesterday that the UK is on track to meet the EU's targets for 2010, which requires a certain amount of municipal waste to be diverted from landfill, the government has scrapped plans to ban recyclable waste from ending up in landfill. With current progress on track to meet additional targets in 2013 and 2020, the UK government is feeling confident that all goals will be met. However, environmental groups may be upset by the news as the previous government was ... Full Story

A Devon resort has launched a controversial new recycling initiative that will require around 60,000 householders to sort through their own rubbish prior to kerbside collections. Tor2, the firm responsible for the scheme, said that it aims to recycle 50 per cent of all waste by 2012, for an estimated savings of £14m in landfill costs per year. However, residents are claiming that the programme is too complicated. The Torbay Council'c call centre has been inundated with complaints since the scheme was put into circulation. The council has said that the majority of savings will be seen in cutting fines and taxes ... Full Story

In a Jersey car park in St Aubin, numerous recycling bins will be installed in  an effort to increase on-the-go recycling for local residents. Beginning Friday, islanders will be able to deposit recyclable items in the form of cans, paper, plastic and glass bottles directly into the new recycling banks being setup in the back of St Aubin’s parish hall. The facility will increase the number of recycling sites on the island to a total of 15. The bid comes in a move to reduce the growing number of fly-tipping incidents with glass bottles. Additionally, the Parish of St Brelade has put ... Full Story

An additional 37,000 residences have been added to a new recycling scheme in Halton to encourage more recycling within the borough. The initial six-month pilot being run by RecycleBank used a rewards-based system to encourage householders to recycle more. The pilot was such a success that the council has now extended it to Widnes and Runcorn. Halton Borough Council was the first authority in the north and the second county in the UK to receive the scheme. By 2011, an additional 9,000 homes will become part of the scheme. Cllr Rob Polhill, leader of the Halton Borough Council, said that the roll ... Full Story

A new scheme in Cleveland will see residents having to ensure their recycling is out in a timely manner or risk receiving a fine of $100. As the fine-based recycling schemes grow in popularity worldwide, many local authorities in the UK and US have taken to adopting the scheme. Prior to the coalition government’s announcement that the UK would focus primarily on rewards-based recycling, councils across the country were beginning to adopt penalty-based initiatives. This latest scheme in the US city in Ohio will see RFID smart chips placed into bins in order to monitor which residents are placing rubbish out on ... Full Story

Every Can Counts teamed up with Manchester-based creative agency Studio North to promote workplace recycling at last week’s V Festival. The annual festival hosted a ‘Can you kick it’ football challenge in order to promote the Every Can Counts initiative, which encourages concert goers to exchange at a minimum one empty can and be entered to win VIP campaign tickets to attend next year’s V Festival. Studio North has also been developing ‘on the go’ recycling schemes as well as adding a social media aspect like blogging to Every Can Counts’ website. The campaign has also been featured on Twitter and Facebook ... Full Story

A new reality show, ‘Great British Waste Menu’, scored top marks in the ratings with more than 5 million viewers tuning in on Wednesday, according to the most recent audience figures. The programme features four top ranking chefs who attempt to utilise waste food to make standard restaurant dishes. Drawing in a whopping 5.09 million average for the BBC One, it aired  this week during the 8.30 to 10pm slot. The show was able to outrank ITV’s live segment on the Tottenham Hotspur’s Champion’s League victory where they beat out Young Boys, which drew in 4.11 million airing at 7.30. Overall the ... Full Story

According to councillors across the country, the current waste processing system requires too much red tape making the process more complicated than necessary. At the moment, local authorities are forced to regularly submit information via the Environment Agency’s WasteDataFlow register. The online database, which was implemented in 2004, helps officials monitor the influx of waste. However, councils now are saying the forms on the database, which require regular updates, are time consuming to complete and councils should not encounter this much bureaucracy when managing waste processing. Data entry from each authority is required on a quarterly basis, which many ... Full Story

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Straight, a recycling group based in Leeds, will begin to manufacture its own kerbside recycling boxes after its acquisition of an injection moulding firm. Purchased by Dyro Holdings, owner of Powell Plastics based in Hull, for £2.9m, the purchase will see Straight manufacture its own products internally. However, the purchase was incurred by Straight roughly one-third of it in-house. Dyro, which maintains around 60 staff members, made the bulk of its £10m annual profit selling plastic recycling and waste containers to Straight. The business operates over 20 injection moulding machines and earned £1.12m in profits during 2009. Chief executive at Straight, Jonathan Straight ... Full Story