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

AWS Eco Plastics has contracted with Waste Recycling Group (WRG) to provide collection and recycling services for baled plastic bottles from WRG's Luton and Carnaby sites. The contract, which furthers an existing agreement where AWS collects plastic bottles from WRG's site in Wrexham, comes in a long line of contracts recently secured by AWS for the collection of mixed bottles. All bottles are taken to AWS's plastic bottle recycling facility located in Lincolnshire. Materials are then sorted by polymer and colour with PET plastics being converted to AWS' signature purePET 78 pellet. Bottle manufacturers can then purchase the recycled pellets to produce ... Full Story

Nottingham City Council has opted to extend the glass recycling trial in order to allow residents more time to recycling household glass waste such as jars and bottles. Trials encompassing several different cities have shown that glass recycling is popular among Nottingham householders and proving to effective. In some areas, glass accounts for a quarter of all recyclables collected. Now the glass collection scheme is extended to all residences in the area that have the brown bins with grey lids, which have been alloted for glass collections. Smaller houses and properties have been given bags for glass recycling. According to the city ... Full Story

Moves by industry leaders to produce lightweight bottles and begin importing wines in bulk has helped the UK cut down on its waste and carbon footprint in this area. GlassRite Wine has teamed up with the Government over the last four years to help impose green practices amidst one of the UK's biggest import industries. The UK is the globe's largest wine importer, and moving towards more sustainable measures has enabled emissions from imports to be cut down significantly. One of the ways this has been accomplished is by developing lighter weight bottles, which has spared more than 27,000 tonnes in glass. ... Full Story

Coca-Cola will use a new online app to help UK consumers receive 'eco' information regarding the popular soda makers products. The 'Trace Your Coke' application will allow coke drinkers to follow individual cans and bottles purchased in Britain from factory of origin to sales. The campaign will also serve to highlight the significance of plastic bottle and aluminum can recycling. Users can select points on an interactive map of Britain sponsored by Google. Coke's seven British factories are located on the map along with some basic background information including the people that work there. The company also hopes that the new scheme ... Full Story

Three separate recycling fraud rings were taken down in California last month, resulting in the arrests of 31 people. Fraudsters hauled millions of bottles and cans over state lines from Nevada and Arizona to profit off of California's redemption awards. Those involved with the illegal collections, which total over $3.5 billion in state redemption money, will face charges of conspiracy, unlawful recycling, and grand theft. Authorities have said that there are a myriad of fraud rings such as these. According to Margo Reid Brown, director of CalRecycle - the state's recycling programme - recycling fraud is a crime taken seriously in California and that ... Full Story