Swiss-based firm Citron SA, one of the largest battery recycling firms across Europe, has joined forces with Hampshire-based firm Loddon Recycling. Together, the companies will make battery recycling a simpler and more convenient process. Loddon chose to partner with Citron after executives saw the recycling facility first hand. They were also impressed by Citron's claims of 100% efficiency. The partnership will help the UK comply more easily with the EU Battery Directive, promoting the collection of portable batteries. The scheme, known as Citron Recycle, will promote a "UK-wide collection network" developed by Loddon. Under the scheme, batteries will be transported to the ... Full Story

Everyone wants to help the environment. Many of us do that by recycling our old ink cartridges, to be responsible, make a profit or help an organisation raise funds. A recent report shows that recycling our inks may not be enough. Although progress has been made in this area, inkjet prints cannot be recycled because they are not "deinkable". What does this mean, exactly? Well, even if you're doing the right thing with your inks, papers printed with inkjets cannot be recycled. The paper simply absorbs too much ink and it cannot be removed through the recycling process. This doesn't affect ... Full Story

Peterborough City Council has decided to investigate to uncover the best method for recycling food waste. The council hopes to raise its current 46% recycling rate to more than 65%. Part of that investigation involved Peterborough council launching a consultancy to determine if using in-vessel composting (IVC) or anaerobic digestion (AD) is best way to treat the city's food waste. The council also wants to make sure the policy can assist in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. This is especially important since food waste is currently not recycled in Peterborough. The two food waste recycling options are currently under ... Full Story

Two recent studies that have been released will help establish the "cornerstone" of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency's policy on the thermal treatment of waste. Both reports advocate the use of combined heat and power. The studies, published by SEPA, closely follow the Scottish Government's opposition to larger Energy from Waste facilities. The government views these processes (including anaerobic digestion) as "inefficient" and recommends utilising small-scale rather than large-scale facilities. The studies have also provided research which is currently being used to revise SEPA's Thermal Treatment Guidelines, set to be published in September 2008. The reports have also been referred to as ... Full Story

The ecoparc, scheduled to open soon at Derwenthaugh, will be the world’s largest steam autoclave recycling plant, capable of processing 420,000 tonnes of municipal and commercial waste annually. Developed by Graphite Resources, the project has cost nearly £50 million and will use cutting edge technology as the first of a new breed of merchant waste facilities. It will be able to reduce the volume of waste by 80 per cent, before it becomes recycled or re-processed. William Thompson, director of Graphite Resources, said, “Environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternatives to landfill and incineration are urgently needed. “This facility, which we believe will be the first ... Full Story

Worcestershire is scheduled to open a new recycling facility next year and one environmental group is already pushing County Hall to recycle more household waste as a result. Robert Wilkins of the One Planet Worcester group said it is important for residents to be able to recycle as many items from their household as possibly in order to fully take advantage of the multi-million dollar plant scheduled to open in September 2009. He suggested items such as yogurt pots, Tetra packs, margarine tubs and thick cardboard be allowed into local green bins and sent to the Norton plant. The new facility should have ... Full Story

On May 18th, residents came out into the streets to celebrate their victory over the proposed recycling plant which would have been constructed in their neighborhood. The celebration was held in the centre of Rhuddlan where the after Denbighshire County Council decided earlier in the week to scrap a controversial recycling plant plan. Many residents took part in a victory march to the castle where the recycling plant would have been built. Environmental groups joined the march, saying that they were “ecstatic” that the multi-million pound waste centre proposal had been withdrawn. Instead of a recycling plant, Denbigshire has promised to restore ... Full Story

Residents of the City of York are rallying together to demand that the City of York Council use money from an unpopular landfill tax in order to develop local recycling facilities The Liberal Democrat group in York feels that the funds from the landfill are “owed to the city” and is pressuring Whitehall to return the funds for local use. The York Council and 80 other local authority leaders have signed a letter to Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, urging him to honour a pledge made in 2003. The Secretary pledged to return the profits from landfill tax to locals at that ... Full Story

After being gutted by a fire which wiped out nearly ninety per cent of its buildings, a battery sorting and recycling firm has embarked on plans to rebuild. The Managing Director of G and P Batteries, Michael Green revealed that the battery sorting and recycling firm would start reconstructing the building in Darlaston which was rendered unsuitable for use following a serious blaze. The Managing Director added that due to the state of the structure it will have to be knocked down and the construction started from scratch. Michael Green further revealed that they had no idea what state the batteries ... Full Story

The Welsh minister for the environment, sustainability and housing, Ms Jane Davidson has officially launched a materials recycling facility plant in North Pembrokeshire. The latest AJ Recycling plant is situated adjacent to its existing operations at Boncath, close to Cardigan. The plant has the capacity to process up to twenty five thousand tonnes of waste annually. The materials recycling facility will deal with paper, cardboard boxes, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastic and glass. It will also process household waste as well as commercial waste. In a deal with Pembrokeshire county council the plant will be getting a percentage of the authority's commingled kerbside ... Full Story

Intercontinental Recycling Ltd has said that the demand for modern plastics sorting facilities in the United Kingdom will rise as manufacturers are forced to turn to using more recycled materials. This was said during the official opening ceremony of a new IRL plastics recycling plant in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. The Skelmersdale plant went through a number of trials before its opening and was built in response to worries about the amount of plastic being sent to landfill sites or exported. The plant will handle waste materials from bring schemes, kerbside collections as well as municipal and commercial collections throughout the United Kingdom. Ravi ... Full Story

A fine has been slapped on two firms after a member of staff lost the tips of two fingers at a paper recycling plant located in Greenwich. This was at the City of London Magistrates’ court. The incident occurred on the twenty third of July in 2004 at SCA Recycling UK Ltd's site in Herringham Road, Greenwich, where James Adams had gone to repair a waste-paper recycling machine. Although the technicians were able to fill their company's risk assessment form prior to starting the repair work, they only knew how to fill the form but not how to assess the risks. When the ... Full Story