... Full Story

Eighteen months after a highly divisive bin strike in the city of Leeds, the councillor charged with organising the service has returned back to the floor. Mark Dobson is currently responsible for running environmental services on Leeds city council's executive board and took over the responsibility under a fortnight ago when he decided to go out and do a full shift as one of the city's binners. Since then, Dobson has branded the experience "worthwhile", and explained that it gave him a clearer insight into how the service is operating at present. The 11-week dispute, that finally came to a close in ... Full Story

A council is looking into whether it can boost its recycling levels through giving households smaller wheelie bins. Over 70 households in Newport participated in a three-month-long trial and used bins at least a quarter as small as they usually. Strategy report sees the concept as being a key plan for the 2011-12 campaign and a reduction in waste bins' sizes should help to promote recycling. Newport's council confirmed that firm proposals are yet to be put forward and others around Wales are facing pressure with regards to improving and maintaining their recycling rates as the Welsh Government has set them a ... Full Story

North Yorkshire County Council has awarded the controversial 25-year waste management contraction to AmeyCespa for North Yorkshire and York. The decision follows Government approval to use part of the funds allocated in PFI credits – a type of grant – to pay out the contract. The solution proposed by AmeyCespa will include recovery of nonrecyclable waste and will allow York and North Yorkshire to exceed their goal of 50 per cent waste recycled by 2020. Technologies proposed for the waste management include reclamation and mechanical sorting of nearly 20,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year. Anaerobic Digestion ... Full Story

The latest numbers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show that in the age of austerity Britons are throwing away less food. Figures from the most recent data collected by the state department show that food waste fell last year by 2.7 per cent dropping to 23.6 million tonnes. According to experts the downwards trend comes from people becoming increasingly conscientious of waste and making things last. As trends move towards sustainable living and growing your own food, more people have set-up compost heaps in their backyards and begun buying fewer groceries at the store. Even celebrity chefs ... Full Story

Ed Miliband has declared that climate change is the biggest problem facing the UK in the near future. The new Labour leader, who laid out his vision of the next few years for both his party and the country, also stated that climate change as an issue also requires more interest to be shown in it by politicans. In his first major address since staving off competition and beating his brother David in Labour Party leadership contests, Mr Miliband criticised what he has personally dubbed X-Factor politics as well as the very notion that politicians should not focus on green issues due ... Full Story

Welsh Environment Minister Jane Davidson will showcase Wales' waste reduction successes with officials, politicians and environmental groups from across the globe. Delivering the keynote address at the Zero Waste Summit 2010, Ms Davidson will speak on the advances that Wales has made in managing its household, commercial and industrial waste issues. The International Ministerial Keynote Address is given by a new representative each year, who is invited to speak on behalf of their country's waste management advancement. Wales is just one of three countries that have instituted mandatory regulatory measures that move towards sustainability. It was also the first UK government to ... Full Story

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