Thousands of residents across Barnsley are set to benefit from a local recycling scheme being expanded. Barnsley Council will be expanding its existing kerbside recycling scheme, which focuses mainly on plastic bottles, so that it includes an additional 36,000 households. As of September, ... Full Story

People who leave out additional rubbish in areas of North Devon won’t have it collected by local council binmen.Any excessive waste that is left in bags close to a household's bin is going to be left behind, as part of a trial run by  North Devon District Council.The authority said that from the 39,000 homes scattered across the district, around 30% leave extra bags out alongside their bin.Should the pilot scheme prove successful, it is going to be tried around the rest of the region.The council says that it wants ... Full Story

An additional NZ $1 million in government funding over the next two years is going to see new e-waste depots opening around New Zealand while a campaign is launched to get people making sure they recycle more. Although this might be so, the yearly e-Day collection in the Southern Hemisphere country won’t be going ahead, as confirmed by a government spokesman. New Zealand’s Environment Minister Nick Smith was in Wellington to announce the funding at the official opening of the new Wellington e-Cycle Recycling Facility located at Seaview, in the Lower Hutt area of the city. The facility, in addition others based in ... Full Story

Leicestershire scientists planning to revolutionise lavatories have had a £250,000 grant awarded to them by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is hoped by the Loughborough University team that the scheme is going to save lives while improving sanitation across the world. Professor Mohammed Sohail, the leader of the project, insists that a "stand alone system" will safely recycle human waste and turn it into energy - as opposed to simply disposing of it. The foundation says that around 2.6 billion people can't access safe toilets. The project, entitled Reinventing the Toilet, is part of a new multi-million pound strategy that aims ... Full Story

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A row has flamed up between local authorities across Surrey, in relation to controversial plans that will see the extension of a waste recycling plant. At present, SITA Surrey has been continuing its work, on behalf of SCC, Surrey County Council, which involves developing a disputed "eco park" on Shepperton's Charlton Lane. Last month, councillors from the mainly Tory-run council approved the plans. In opposition though, Spelthorne Borough Council, otherwise known as SBC, said that it would be greatly damaging for the area. The facility is going to feature a gasification chamber, capable of heating waste so that gas can be produced ... Full Story

Recycling figures in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire have reached an all-time high with 40 per cent of all household waste recycled for two months on the trot. The city's council claims that rates for both April and May became the highest ever achieved for one of northern England's largest metropolitan areas. April's recycling figures were 40.4 per cent, with May's figure reaching a just-as-impressive 40.1 per cent. By 2020, Leeds City Council wants a target of 50 per cent of the city's rubbish recycled as part of its reduce, reuse and recycle push. Every week, at least 500,000 bins are emptied ... Full Story

Controversial plans that will see the extension of a Surrey waste and recycling plant have been approved by local councillors. On the behalf of the SCC (Surrey County Council) SITA Surrey has been attempting to develop an 'eco park' on Charlton Lane in Shepperton. The facility is going to feature a gasification chamber, a device that heats waste in order to produce gas. Residents living nearby have repeatedly expressed fears that the extension will lead to increased amounts of pollution, as well as traffic problems. Last year, a 1,600-signature petition against its plans was handed to SCC. Local borough councillors in Spelthorne have ... Full Story

More homes in the town of St Helier will be able to recycle unwanted waste as a result of the ongoing kerbside recycling scheme has been extended. In July 2010, the recycling scheme was trialled in La Pouquelaye. Following success, it was then expanded to Mont Cochon on the 28th of February, before spreading to La Grande Route de St Jean, and Trinity Hill on the 18th of April. From Monday the scheme will start in Havre des Pas, selected areas of South Hill, and Mont Millais. Properties across these areas will receive coloured bags, as well as a leaflet that explains ... Full Story

  A small Canadian outfit is attempting to change the way plastic is recycled through a pilot plant prepared to test a new process of reusing the polystyrene that helps to make coffee cups, packing material, and food trays. Switchable Solutions Inc, which is a joint venture commercialising the new recycling method, says that its industrial-scale pilot will begin operation in around a year's time. It should be able to recycle at least 2,000 tonnes' worth of polystyrene per year in a complex process the firms says is considerably more environmentally-friendly than the existing methods practised at present. Very little ... Full Story

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Eighteen months after a highly divisive bin strike in the city of Leeds, the councillor charged with organising the service has returned back to the floor. Mark Dobson is currently responsible for running environmental services on Leeds city council's executive board and took over the responsibility under a fortnight ago when he decided to go out and do a full shift as one of the city's binners. Since then, Dobson has branded the experience "worthwhile", and explained that it gave him a clearer insight into how the service is operating at present. The 11-week dispute, that finally came to a close in ... Full Story