Investigations are ongoing after the discovery of fly-tipped building waste that has been identified as containing asbestos. Elmbridge Borough Council has removed the rubbish, which was dumped overnight, after the item - a red door - was discovered to contain asbestos. The waste was left along a 328ft strip fo road in Claygate and according to the council caused a potential deadly obstruction for passing drivers. Dumped on 25 August, the council is now appealing to anyone that may know who dumped the distinctive red door and has taken to publish a photo of the item in the hopes to glean more ... Full Story

Just as California was poised to push through a statewide ban on plastic bag use, the legislation was shot down in a 21-14 vote within the state senate yesterday. Environmental groups have come forward to express disappointment over the failure of the bill, which had even gained support from local retail bodies like the California Grocers Association. Despite the motion being quashed on the Senate floor, however, California still continues to lead the US with many local authorities banning single-use plastic bags around the state. The US, in comparison to other world powers, is behind the curve in stopping plastic pollution. So ... Full Story

Residents in Dudley have been advised that changes to bin and waste collections will be taking place over the next few weeks. Each household in the borough will be receiving a 26 bin bag-roll along with a series of leaflets detailing the upcoming changes. In early December, householders will receive a further 52 bin bags, roughly the equivalent of one bag a week, in which they will have to use for the remainder of the year. Residents who run out of bin bags before the one year time frame will be required to purchase new bin bags with their own money. After ... Full Story

A RINGWOOD motel company has been fined £2,700 for failing to remove potentially toxic fridges, televisions and other rubbish that had been buried at the premises.  The owner of the New Forest Motel, however, failed to appear before the New Forest Magistrates and was issued an official caution after it was revealed to the court that John Hancock, the owner, a former Army major, was too ill to fly back from Brazil where he resides on his war pension. In addition to fining the company, Matchams Lodge Ltd, an additional fine of £750 for non-compliance with the Environment Agency was also ... Full Story

The EPA’s chief administrator, Lisa Jackson, has announced that the governing body would amp up efforts to prevent e-waste and move towards a more sustainable approach to the growing issue of electronic debris. The move comes as part of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s top six global priorities that were recently announced. The others include carbon emissions, improving water quality, reducing toxic exposures, improving air quality and building stronger institutional framework. Ms Jackson’s comments were given when she spoke at the public reception launching the 17th Session of the Commission on Environmental Co-operation. Jim Puckett, executive director for the Basel Action Network, said ... Full Story

A container filled with e-waste has been seized within the Southern Indian city of Chennai after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence dubbed it ‘e-waste dumping’. The Indian media reported yesterday that the shipment had been confiscated after DRI investigators deemed the shipment an illegal dump sent over from Brunei. The container, which arrived marked for Venus Metals located in the Chennai suburbs, had been marked ‘switch board scrap’. However, when authorities opened it, they found 166 computer monitors, circuit boards, loose electrical motor parts, 89 control panels and several broken computer accessories. C. Rajan, the Additional Director General for DRI, said ... Full Story

Environment authorities in Brazil are outraged after it was discovered that contaminated household waste had arrived in a shipment from Germany. Falsely declared as safe items for recycling, the cargo had been illegally shipped from the port of Hamburg. Totally 22 tonnes of hazardous household waste, the refuse was immediately shipped back to its origin. Brazilian officials seized the waste after it was found arriving into the port of Rio Grande last week. The shipment arrived labeled as plastics arriving from the Czech Republic for recycling and resale in South America. Officials opened the cargo to instead find used diapers, ... Full Story

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A major corporation found guilty of breaking waste dumping laws has had its fines increased by nearly 11 times the original amount. Announced yesterday by the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, the Doonin plant will have to pay £90,000 for illegally dumping waste between Blantyre and Cambuslang, Lanakshire. According to Lord Clarke, the company's actions were a blatant disregard to the firm's responsibilities in waste management practices. Originally, the firm was to be fined £8000, after it came to light that the company had broken several environmental laws by dumping the rubbish illegally at Bardykes. However, judges ruled that the fine ... Full Story

A council chairman in Rochford District Council has warned the UK government to avoid meddling with its impeccable recycling initiative, which the councillor hails as the best in the country. The Government announced that it would seek to cut down on the number of wheelie bins allocated to each household across the country. The hopes is to prevent excessive amounts of containers from clogging up streets and sidewalks. Announced by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, the government said that the removal would aim to make rubbish disposal easier for householders. However, Rochford District Council, which remains number one in the nation in terms ... Full Story

  A man from Essex could become the first in his area to be prosecuted for not recycling properly. According to local newspaper The Echo, Basildon Council is drawing up a case against a resident who has refused to pay a fixed penalty notice of £75 that was handed to him for not recycling properly.   The Noak Bridge resident was apparently given two previous warnings by the council before receiving the ... 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