The Scottish Government along with Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government have agreed to scrap plans to impose a statutory collection scheme for waste known as non-packaging agricultural plastics (NPAP). The NPAP proposals would have seen waste like fleece plant jackets, silage wrap and mulch film all fall under the new statutory. However, following a review of the scheme, Defra announced the ministers have decided against government intervention. The reasons for abandoning the proposal are mostly fiscal as ministers concluded that such large costs for such a small waste stream could not be justified. Nearly 85,000 tonnes of NPAP waste is produced ... Full Story

Repak’s Recycling Week will kick-off on Monday by targeting recycling in the workplace in an attempt to encourage more workers to divert waste from landfill while on the job. According to the packaging recycle group, more than 20 kilos of packaging waste were recycled each second in Ireland last year. The results were announced at Repak’s launch for its recycle week initiative and place Ireland in no. 8 for packaging recycling rates out of the EU member states. Dr Andrew Hetherington, CEO of Repak said that last year each household in Ireland recycled on average 144 kilos of cans, boxes, bottles and ... Full Story

UK grocers have exceeded the targets that were set for them on food waste but are still contributing a large amount of package waste, research has shown. Official figures, taken from 2005-2010, show the results of an agreement between UK grocers and the country's Government's waste reduction body WRAP, or the Waste and Resources Action Programme as it is sometimes more commonly known. Over the last five years, nearly three quarter of a million tonnes of food waste, as well as over half a million tonnes of packaging waste, have been cut out. Although the latter figure suggests an improvement, it is ... Full Story

According to a government-funded waste reduction body, more than 40 UK retailers have managed to slash food and packaging waste by 1.2 million tonnes between 2005 and 2009. WRAP said in a statement that around 670,000 tonnes of food waste and a further 520,000 tonnes of packaging waste had been eliminated in a five year time span. Among the retailers that helped reduce the waste are Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda. According to WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin, the evidence indicates that people are becoming increasingly aware of food waste as a national issue. She added that more householders are checking their food ... Full Story

A new study shows that drinking fuelled by the persistent recession has hindered supermarkets from reaching waste targets. Despite the boost in drink sales bringing in revenue for the UK retailers, the increased spending on booze as Britons opt to drink at home in lieu of a night on the town has led to a mountainous increase in packaging waste. Today, the 21 per cent increase in drink sales is being blamed for he UK grocery sector’s inability to meet the targets set out by the 2005 Courtauld Commitment – a voluntary waste plan between Waste and Resources Action Plan (WRAP) ... Full Story

Popular UK retailer Sainsbury’s has been dragged into a landmark packaging case by a local council just hours after it announced improvements to its cereal packaging. For Sainsbury’s, the timing was slightly unfortunate. Not a day after the retailer had announced it would do away with cereal boxed in favour of bags to cut down packaging waste, Lincolnshire County Council brought charges against the group for violating an obscure packaging law. According to trading standard officers, Sainsbury’s violated the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations with their latest meat promotion – Taste the Difference. The law, which indicates that items must be wrapped in ... Full Story

In a new report from the British Retail Consortium, it was revealed that retailers are sending under 25 per cent of all waste to landfill. Formerly criticised for the amount of waste they send to landfill, the report finds that since 2005, retailers across the UK have been able to increase the amount of waste diverted from landfill to nearly 75 per cent. Today, fewer than one quarter of discarded packaging, food, bags and building materials generated by retailers are now being sent to landfill. This is compared with 50 per cent of items being sent to landfill in 2005. The move, ... Full Story

De Bortoli Wines, which imports and distributes wines throughout the UK, has been slapped with a fine of over £8,300 from the Environment Agency. After failing to comply with the Agency's waste packaging regulations, the wine company pled guilty to failing to recover, recycle and register its packaging waste. According to the Environment Agency, the firm, based in Farnham, had failed to provide the required certificate of compliance leading to the fine, which includes costs - £2,128 - and compensation - £1,686. UK manager for the wine importer, John Thorne said that the firm readily accepted their error and had paid the ... Full Story

Popular UK grocer, Waitrose is gearing up to roll out a brand new way of packaging its meat products that will help save the environment. Beginning next month, the food retailer will package all meat items in a way that could save up to 90 tonnes of plastic waste per year. The 'snip and slide' containers will hit shelves in October with its debut in minced and diced meat. The way it works is by allowing the package to simply be snipped open and the meat slides right into the pan. Waitrose has said that after the initial launch of the packaging ... Full Story

Welsh manufacturers could be poised to receive nearly  £50,000 to increase their recycled material use under a new scheme that was launched today by WRAP Cymru. According to research from WRAP, 78 per cent of manufacturing businesses in the small to medium enterprise sector believe that direct financial aid would help the initial costs of smaller firms transitioning to using recycled content. WRAP Cymru has responded by launching their own funding scheme. WRAP will now give away grants to funding applicants that can be used to equip existing facilities with new technology for recycled material use or be used to build new ... Full Story

A new scheme will be launched in Nuneaton and Bedworth as part of a larger initiative to boost household recycling rates in the area. With a particular focus on beverage cans and metal packaging materials, the scheme will incorporate a series of leaflets that will be sent door-to-door designed to explain to borough residents how the new programme will work. Lasting 6 weeks, the scheme will encompass the existing Red Box kerbside recycling scheme that the local council currently operates. ‘Metal Matters’, as the initiative has been dubbed, will see residents aim to increase the amount of metal packaging ... Full Story

A new scheme developed by a professor at the University of Central Florida will see that oil from the Gulf spill be cleaned up using specially treated waste from electric power facilities across the state. Prof. Sudipta Seal has been awarded a $67,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, which will help develop the waste material – known as flyash – into the appropriate cleaning agent. Prof. Seal will modify the refuse to make it more ... Full Story