On February 1 new laws will be launched which will require battery manufacturers as well as retailers to offer their customers free battery recycling and in some cases free collections.  Retailers who sell more than thirty two kilograms of batteries annually will be required to offer free recycling in their stores, and manufacturers of industrial and automotive batteries will not only be required to recycled them for free, but will also be responsible for pickup as well.  These new laws hope to put the responsibility back on the people who are making the product and lessening the burden on the ... Full Story

TerraCycle, the global leader in 'up-cycling' operations, where waste materials considered difficult to recycle are converted into environmentally friendly products, has chosen London as the launching pad for its expansion into UK and Europe. In contrast with regular recycling, where materials are broken down and converted into other products, the up-cycling process involves using waste materials in their existing form to create new products. Waste is simply cleaned, and then shaped, sewn or fused into useable products. Founded in 2001, TerraCycle has been widely recognised in the US for making affordable, eco-friendly products from waste materials. The firms first partnership in the ... Full Story

Norfolk County’s first recycling machine that crushes household waste is about to be installed at a supermarket in Norwich. Tesco, the supermarket giant, is currently trialling a TOMRA recycling machine that recycles most common household waste, such as aluminium, glass, plastic and steel. The machine compacts the material to be recycled, which saves on carbon emissions involved in the collection of waste, as fewer trips to empty the machines are required. Customers are awarded Clubcard points when using the machines, which are meant to help communities recycle increased amounts of household waste. Tesco has installed the machines at many of its stores in other ... Full Story

Remanufacturers do serve a valuable purpose in the world of recycling and environment, yet it doesn't seem that they always get the respect they deserve. Remanufacturing is a simple process to understand. A worker replaces the worn out of broken part of an item and makes sure it's ready to be used once again. It's an important part of the "reduce - reuse - recycle" campaign so prevalent in the world today. In addition to conserving valuable resources and diverting waste from landfills, it's simply an economically sound process since it's much cheaper to repair than build from scratch. Think of ... Full Story

A proposal by the Environment Agency and Waste and Resources Action Plan to determine precisely when anaerobic digestate stops being put in the category of waste and thus not being subject to regulation has been published. A composting standard applicable to quality digestate that has been granted approval and which is referred to as PAS 100 is set to be introduced under the quality protocol. Advice on the most suitable practice for the utilisation of digestate is also being sought under the quality protocol. Anyone or any organisation wishing to express interest is welcome to answer twenty five questions which have to ... Full Story

Council bosses have rushed to the defence of their recycling policy after being heavily criticised for their recycling policy which excludes some homes from kerbside collections. Councillor James Alexander criticised the recycling policy in the city saying that it left out many on the fringes of the city and even those residing in the centre of the city. A study on terraced properties conducted recently by Labour councillors revealed that a lot of households don’t get any recycling service, but Councillor Alexander was of the view that the problem was being witnessed beyond the confines of the city centre. He is quoted as ... Full Story

The newest council to join the bandwagon of local authorities demanding that the money spent on landfill tax be put back to recycling is the Bradford Council. Kicking off the campaign earlier in the year was the Local Government Association (LGA) which begun the campaign in advance of this year’s Budget to pressurise the Government to refund the cash to councils in order to enhance local recycling. Bradford Council at the moment forks out thirty two pounds a tonne in tax for waste that ends up in landfills. In two years time the amount of tax is expected to be increased to ... Full Story

The electronics industry is holding the world’s largest trade for consumer electonics in Las Vegas starting this Monday, and industry insiders claim consumer pressure for ‘green’ electronics is having its effect. "Everything I've heard from folks out there is that there is going to be a lot of emphasis on green this year," stated Scot Case, a vice president at consultancy TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc. Some of the products feature at the show will be a laptop made from corn and a silver-zinc battery for computers. Fujitsu Ltd. of Japan will be featuring a laptop made from corn products rather than petroleum products. ... Full Story