As Recycle Week takes off on Monday, the theme for the campaign has been announced - 'Love your electricals'. Based on research compiled by Recycle Now, the national recycling scheme, examining people's attitudes towards small electrical devices, such as mobile handsets, MP3 players, and laptops, it was discovered that many hold onto such items long after they use them. Of the respondents, 40 per cent said it was too sad to part with such an item, even once it had been made redundant. Another 41 per cent felt the electronic may come in handy later, and 23 per cent thought the item ... Full Story

Planned actions to transform a Yateley industrial site with further expansions have been halted by councillors as it waits for an environmental assessment to be conducted. Developers had put in an application for Clark's Farm in Darby Green to become an indoor recycling facility on behalf of its owner M Collard Waste Management Services. The Hampshire County Council has requested an environmental assessment prior to granting the firm permission for the expansion. The waste management company seeks to expand upon the facility's current operations with the addition of recycling equipment within one of the site's main buildings. If given the green light ... Full Story

London’s city Waste and Recycling Board will launch a new service that will aim to help waste plant developers find the resources they need. The website will match developers with technology manufacturers that can help realise the facility. For example, the search engine on the site will help a developer with an idea for an anaerobic digestion plant meet up with someone who has the technology for AD processing. The waste brokerage service should be launched sometime in September, according to the London Waste & Recycling Board. The site will also feature interactive maps and technology to give site brokers and technology ... Full Story

According to a study presented last March 28 at a meeting held in Edinburgh for the Society for General Microbiology, microbes may be the best solution in breaking down plastics. Most people often consider plastics as disposables, but in fact, a plastic takes several thousands of years to decompose in nature. Thus, plastics represent the fastest growing contribution of mankind to water pollution, and are now becoming a serious problem. Latest statistics from studies show that plastic is the most common garbage found in seas and its quantity is fast increasing. The high concentration of plastics in the water surface is dangerous ... Full Story

Britvic had announced recently that its spring water brand ‘drench’ will soon be Britain’s first drinking water to use recycled plastic material. With its bottle made from a plastic called recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET), consumers will be able to enjoy drinking drench without even worrying about the environment. The new packaging of drench will be produced as part of a trial that will include a million of 500ml bottles that contain 10 per cent rPET. The plastic material will be sourced from Closed Loop Recycling, the world’s first PET and HDPE recycling plant based in London, in conjunction with Britvic’s bottle ... Full Story

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently organised a consultation with the hope of introducing landfill bans on nine waste materials – including paper, cards, food, textiles, metals, wood, electronic devices, glass and plastics. Entitled ‘Consultation on the Introduction of Restrictions on the Landfilling of Certain Wastes’, the meeting was held at the Baywaters’ Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in eastern London. Speaking to MRW interviewers, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said a ban on certain materials in landfills could fuel the development for more MRFs and anaerobic digestion plants. Benn informed that the sorting of rubbish would normally ... Full Story

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