WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) will grant funding during 2008 to encourage new ways to process waste from the construction sector, including construction, demolition and excavation material. It is part of their Construction Waste Capital Grant Programme 2008, aimed at helping half the construction waste that ends up in landfill, by 2012. Funds can be provided for building new processing facilities or expanding existing ones, aimed specifically at collecting, segregating and processing waste from the construction industry. Deadline for submissions is Wednesday 16 July, 1.30pm, either by email to sonia.simpson@wrap.org.uk or by mail to Waste & Resources Action Programme The Old Academy 21 Horse Fair, ... Full Story

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) is calling for a strengthened and more focused attach on illegal operators who fail to meet the regulations in the metals industry. The BMRA recently published a policy paper highlighting this issue entitled “Agenda for Change.” The Agenda outlines various issues in the £5 billion metal recycling industry in the UK, as well as the changes that the BMRA feels are necessary for the government and other regulators to introduce into the industry in the future. According to the association the “one-size fits-all environmental regulation and the lack of an industry-focused strategy are creating trade barriers ... Full Story

A report published this week in the Guardian suggests that Olympic officials in London may be engaged in discussions with Olympic organizers in Chicago over the possible recycling of London’s main Olympic Stadium. London will host the Olympics in 2012. Chicago is one of the leading cities with a bid to host the 2016 Games. As a result, the two cities are reportedly discussing the possibility of dismantling London’s Olympic Stadium and shipping it across the ocean to be reused. As many as 55,000 seats from the 80,000 seat arena could be sent to Washington Park in order to expand and existing ... Full Story

A company in South Yorkshire recently launched a new recycling service for businesses, claiming to be able to efficiently recycle almost all of the waste it collects, including electronics and electrical items, for free. Barnsley-based SR Recycling has been in the business for over 35 years and aims to recycle 99 per cent of the waste it collects. The company was inspired by Japanese recycling techniques which use disassembly lines in order to separate waste. In the UK, a process called granulation occurs which makes it difficult and expensive to recover waste. According to SR Recycling, many of the chemical and metals used ... Full Story

Italy recently hosted an international competition to design a machine which could be used by homeless garbage collectors in order to recycle aluminium. Students from the Technological University of the Mixteca in Mexico scooped up the first place award which was handed out in Florence. A spokesperson for the university, Hernandez Dominguez, said that the winning design was the result of contributions from five students. "The main characteristic of this machine is that its design allows for easy use by the poor, including most of the homeless, even illiterate," Dominguez said. The competition was organized by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), who ... Full Story

The initial contract by Hampshire county council to collect, store and dispose discarded motor vehicles has been given to Silverlake Garage Ltd, a local firm. However, Silverlake Garage Ltd is only anticipating the collection of fewer than two thousand motor vehicles annually from the contract because of the high prices of scrap metal which has shrunk the number of abandoned cars in the county. The three year contract obligates Silverlake Garage Ltd to collect vehicles and process them at their concrete centre in Shedfield, which is situated close to Bishop's Waltham. Silverlake Garage Ltd has extended the acreage of this centre from 4 ... Full Story

New territories in metal recycling Increasing demand for metal in France has made people turn to new avenues in search of the precious commodity. At Chateauroux Airport for instance old planes are beginning to become yet another source for the global scrap metal recycling business. Currently the world's scrap metal business supplies close to fifty per cent of the world's steel. Experts put its value at around one hundred billion euros annually. Demand for scrap metals has expanded in a big way as the economies of countries such as China and India expand. This has resulted in raising prices for ... Full Story

Rio Tinto Alcan today began a new (Euro 5 million) (US$7 million) remelting furnace for the recycling of used beverage cans (UBC) and a new (Euro10 million) (US$15 million) trimming and slitting machine for beverage can body stock at its Neuf-Brisach site in France. "These investments strengthen Alcan Specialty Sheet's position as the leading supplier of the rapid expanding European can stock market," stated Christel Bories, President and Chief Executive Officer, Alcan Engineered Products. "Neuf-Brisach's fully integrated recycling, rolling and finishing facility makes it unique on the European continent," she added. "Alcan Specialty Sheet is now able to offer competitive end-to-end customer ... Full Story