Westfield Shopping Centre announced today the launch of its new recycling initiative, which will see an expected 675 tonnes of beverage containers diverted from landfill per year. The scheme, which will be rolled out on a national level, could collect enough recyclable material to fill nine Olympic swimming pools per year. The Parliamentary Secretary for the NSW Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, Angela D’Amore MP was on hand to official kick-off the campaign at the Westfield mall in Burwood, NSW yesterday. According to Ms. D’Amore the coordinated recycling plan was a first for Australia and that it would significantly ... Full Story

The City of York Council said that it will resume its box deliveries for its kerbside recycling scheme for households that have not yet received them.Deliveries were placed on hold at the peak of the summer holiday season in order to avoid the risk of boxes being left outside houses while families were away on vacation. Over 30,000 households had already received the new boxes at the beginning of summer and the remainder – around 40,000 households – will all have the new boxes beginning 6 September. The new box scheme incorporates three containers, each designed to store specific recyclable materials ... Full Story

A new report from Swiss consulting firm SRI Consulting suggests that the yield from PET recycled bottles is 50 per cent or more, meaning that placing the bottles into landfill may lead to a lower carbon footprint. According to Eric Johnson, a research analyst at the Zurich-based consulting company, recycling is not the most efficient way to handle waste management of PET bottles. He added that firms needed to examine all the plastics collected. Author of the report PET’s Carbon Footprint: To Recycle or Not Recycle, Mr Johnson outlines the ... Full Story

Plastics recycling firm Closed Loop Recycling is planning to open a series of plants across Britain. The company, which produces food-grade rHDPE and rPET, has hired UBS bank to help raise £30 million in financing for its plans. Closed Loop Recycling already has a plant in Dagenham, Essex, which has been operating since 2008 and has been very successful. The company is now intent on building a second plant on Deeside. The Dagenham plant already produces 35,000 tonnes of plastic bottles from consumer waste every year. The new plant will bring total annual production capacity up to 85,000 tonnes. The combined ... Full Story

Thirsty residents in the south of England are being urged to take a ‘tap water test’ in a bid to cut down on waste created from bottled drinks. Councils across Dorset are urging people to go back to tap as part of a new drive to cut waste and save money and energy.   Recycling teams are heading out across the region where they are setting up stands and inviting residents to rediscover the taste ... Full Story

Aberdeen has seen waste recycling hit record levels since the city’s council implemented its alternate-week collection system. The new system was launched in May and the benefits showed immediately. Not only was May a record month for recycling, but in the weeks before the new system and even since, residents eager to maximise the usefulness of the new system deluged the council with requests for extra recycling containers. May was Aberdeen’s best month ever for recycling. The recycling rate hit 32 per cent. Initial figures indicate rose to 33 per cent in June. The figures for May and June are both ... Full Story

The latest figures from the Environment Agency show a marked increase in the amounts of packaging being recovered and recycled in the second quarter of 2010 but aluminium recovery is down. Some reprocessors have yet to report their data but about 1.8 million tonnes of packaging was recovered or recycled. This represents a 7.5 per cent increase over the same period of 2009. The amount of glass recovered was up by a handy 18 per cent, to 472,912 tonnes. However, some 3,000 tonnes less aluminium was recovered compared to last year. That’s a drop of 20 per cent. The lower ... Full Story

Northern Ireland continues to fall behind other parts of the United Kingdom in recycling. Figures just released show households in Northern Ireland were recycling less than a third of their waste in the first quarter of 2010. By contrast, homes in England were already recycling at the rate of 34 per cent by 2007/2008. Northern Ireland’s domestic recycling rate in the first three months of this year was up by just 0.2 per cent over the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is forecasting England’s recycling rate will hit 40 per cent by the ... Full Story

A consortium of green groups are pressuring the Australian government to take action on a proposed national recycling scheme for bottles and cans. Environment ministers are scheduled to meet in Darwin to talk about the potential container bin scheme after decisions on the move were delayed last year so more research could be conducted. Under the proposal, the current 10-cent recycling fee levied on bottles and cans would be returned when the containers are brought for recycling. At present, South Australia has been the only state to implement such a scheme. But environmental groups are calling for the government to nationalise the ... Full Story

Ladbrook announced that they have begun working on developing a glass recycling machine. Based in North Walsham, Ladbrook Engineering is currently producing designs and concept models for a new generation of glass recycling equipment called the 'Little Smasher'. The 'Little Smasher' is currently being developed to heighten convenience and safety in the bottle smashing process so that waste storage can be reduced and transport made easier. The engineering firm has partnered with Smash & Grab Glass Recycling Ltd for the design, and Ladbrook will be providing the manufacturing services. Mike Blowers, managing director for Ladbrook, told PRW.com that the company was excited ... Full Story

Since its inception, Coca-Cola's Recycle Zone recycling bins programme has collected over four tonnes of recyclables in London's West End per day. The soft drink maker revealed the figures during Recycle Week this year, just prior to its launch of UK Recycle Zone's 66th location in Peterborough. According to the beverage manufacturer, one tonne of materials are being collected each day just at Oxford street. That equals a year of 99 million Coke containers, and a total of 60 per cent of all waste being placed into the 260 bins located around London. The dual bins contain a compartment for regular rubbish ... Full Story

In order to raise its green credentials, the Ritz-Carlton hotel group will begin to replace plastic bottles with plant-based, biodegradable water bottles instead. Implementing the new product at 40 of its 73 properties, the hotelier will be the first among major hotel chains to welcome the change. Hotels in the US and Caribbean will be making the switch. The bottled water is offered at the hotel's jogging stations, pool areas, and in guests' rooms. Vehicles are also outfitted with water bottles as part of the hotel's valet service. In total the company consumers around 5 million of the 16 oz water ... Full Story