A common sight in a UK household fridge - the half opened tin of baked beans - could now be a thing of the past as Heinz moves to bring about plastic 'fridge packs' to cutback on waste. Developed by the popular food wholesaler, the new screw-top jar of baked beans may help to cut back on tin can waste in households across the country. The 'fridge pack' is able to hold the equivalent of a little over two standard tin cans and features a clear level meter so that servings can be appropriately proportionate each time. Baked bean eaters will now ... Full Story

  A UK flooring company, which exports across the globe, has been fined for failing to show it had recycled its packaging. Worcester-based Karndean International Limited has been fined £29,700 after admitting nine charges of not recovering and recycling packaging waste between 2006 and 2008.   The case against the firm was brought to Worcester magistrates’ court by the Environmental Agency (EA) under regulations aimed at cutting the amount of commercial ... Full Story

  A pioneering Scottish eco-packaging company have launched the world’s first compostable cutlery that can withstand high temperatures. Start-up enterprise Vegware, which makes products for the catering industry out of plant matter, are moving to bigger premises in order to cope with the increased demand.   The company was first established in 2006 by Edinburgh-based entrepreneur Joe Frankel. His vision was to create alternatives to plastic disposables for the catering industry. ... Full Story

A wide-ranging government review of waste management and recycling has a perceived excess of wheelie bins in its sights. Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman reckons some people have too many wheelie bins and there needs to be a review of whether this clutter should and can be reduced. Details of the review were presented in a report in the Daily Telegraph. Other points being considered in the government waste review include packaging, council bin collection frequencies, and how to incentivise Britons to recycling. It has already emerged that some homes seem to have an inordinate number of wheelie bins. Many households have ... 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

UK firm Dairy Crest is expanding the availability of its more environmentally-friendly milk in bags. Dairy Crest recently announced sales figures that illustrate the success the milk producer has already demonstrated in trials of the new format of bagged milk. The format has proved popular with both consumers and several national retail chains. Dairy Crest offers a unique, patented bagged milk product called Jugit. Jugit features a reusable, easy-to-pour jug into which Jugit pouched milk (milk in a special bag) is inserted. The design requires substantially less packaging material for retail handling and delivery of the milk to the customer, whilst ... 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

Campaigners in a Scottish community have set up their own recycling company in a bid to prove their town does not need an incinerator. A protest group from Invergordon, Ross-Shire, have set up a community company to look for new ideas on tackling the area’s waste and advancing recycling.   The group, known as ‘Invergordon Incinerator No to Waste’, has been campaigning against plans for a £43m waste incinerator which were launched by Combined Power and ... Full Story

An entrepreneur, who tamed the intimidating investors on Dragons’ Den, has won a major national recycling award. Rachel Watkyn, who owns a recycled packaging business in Horsted Keynes, has been given the title of ‘Small Business of the Year’ at the National Recycling Awards.   Miss Watkyn’s Tiny Box Company, which three years ago was given a £60,000 cash injection after hardnosed investors Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis backed her idea on the popular BBC show ... Full Story

  Plastic recycling in the UK is to be boosted with a massive £2m loan from WRAP. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is to support the reprocessing of the UK’s plastic food trays, margarine tubs and yoghurt pots with what is being called the Mixed Plastics Loan Fund (MPLF).   The aim of the MPLF is to aid potential investment in the recycling of mixed plastics, 90 per cent ... Full Story

The world is in full swing striving to find ways to reduce waste as the environment moves to the forefront of global politics. Despite rampant improvements in resource saving and recycling, still way too much waste ends up in landfill for the planet to remain sustainable. In a new move to do its part, Kraft Foods employees have reduced the net waste and its manufacturing plants by nearly 30 per cent from levels in 2005. Exceeding the company's corporate goal of 15 per cent reduced by 2011, the employees have consistently improved the firm's waste handling for the massive reduction in ... Full Story

Scarborough ratepayers will incur the cost of hauling away tonnes of unrecyclable chip cartons left behind by holidaymakers this summer. During busy weekends and at the peak of summer holiday time, Scarborough Council has disallowed the collection of seafront bins every hour. Harry Briggs, the council's head of recycling, said in the Scarborough evening news, that  collection crews spend all day traveling up and down Sandside and Foreshore Road emptying bins. He added that the authority has looked at alternative methods, including self-compacting bins that use solar energy, but the cost, at £3,500 each, is too high. Mr Briggs added further that ... Full Story