News Editorial


Food, food, glorious food and its not so glorious waste


THE EMPHASIS in on grub in this week’s issue. What with Boris exhorting his minions to waste less of it, not to mention him overriding Merton residents’ objections and giving the green light to SITA UK’s South West London facility where they will process 40,000 tonnes of food waste, it’s not just in the capital that a ‘whole lotta’ food is thrown away in this country. I’ve been undergoing a little


experiment myself (nothing dodgy, I assure you) in that for the past 10 days I have been limiting myself to only eating food out of my freezer. Well, to be honest, I have two


small freezers. One is the bottom half of my fridge/freezer and the


other is a small standalone freezer. I have an absurd habit of stuffing both freezers to the gills with items


and then going grocery shopping two or three times a week and only eating the fresh stuff (not good, is it?). Consequently, I have items in my freezers that have been lurking in there for goodness knows how long. To cure myself of such wasteful habits, I decided to get the pickaxe


out and chip away at my three month old oven chips not to mention solidified petit pois and stone age pork and leek sausages. Well, I can report that my digestive system hasn’t suffered, my teeth are


still firmly anchored in my head (shame the same can’t be said about my brain) and my bank balance has definitely benefitted. Not permitting myself the indulgence of popping into the supermarket


on the way home and ending up spending £20-£30, when all I needed to buy was a pint of milk and a loaf of bread, has made a big difference. Will I manage to keep up such thriftiness? Provided I find tasty means of disposing of packets of frozen liver


(why on earth did I buy that?) and manage to empty my two freezers, I am ashamed to say I am already looking forward to using my empty freezers as an excuse to go food shopping again and to fill them with much yummier items than those I’ve been living off for the past 10 days.


Geraldine Faulkner


November 24 - November 30 Issue No. 778


Published by A&D Media Ltd, Jesses Farm, Snow Hill, Dinton, Wilts SP3 5HN Tel: 01722 716996 Editor: Geraldine Faulkner - geraldine@markallengroup.co.uk Advertising manager Jane Kennedy - 01722 717016 Graphic designers Carolyn Allen, Laura Spencer, Scott Godfrey Publishing director Jon Benson


Website: www.recyclingwasteworld.co.uk Twitter: @RWWMagazine Annual subscription rates for 2011 - UK: Cheque/credit card £92 Europe: €120


© A&D Media Ltd, 2011. All rights reserved. No part of Recycling & Waste World may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the managing director.


Recycling & Waste World is printed on recycled paper. The paper used is accredited with the Eugropa Recycled Mark.


Photo: Courtesy of BiogenGreenfi nch)


sponsored by:


City of London achieves zero to landfi ll status


FROM OCTOBER, the City of London Corporation has announced that 100% of non-recycling and composting (residual) waste collected from its residents and street cleansing operations will be processed at an energy from waste facility, rather than going directly to landfill. The facility, operated by Cory


Environmental’s subsidiary, Riverside Resource Recovery in Belvedere, is reported to have an average annual capacity of 585,000 tonnes. The plant is reported to generate a net of about 66MW of electricity, feeding into the National Grid with enough electricity to serve around 100,000 homes. The bottom ash residues from the


facility are transported by barge to a facility further along the Thames where the metals are recovered and the remaining residues recycled into aggregates. According to the City of London


Corporation, it made a pledge in its 2008 waste strategy to minimise the environmental impact that waste- transport has on the environment. A spokesperson said: “This is being achieved by transporting


Bottom ash residues are transported by barge to another facility along the Thames John Tomlinson, chairman of the


residual waste to the energy from waste facility by barge; a system which is also managed by Cory Environmental. The transfer of waste by barge saves some 12,000 lorry movements per year which both reduces the carbon footprint of the operation and helps reduce traffic congestion.”


City of London Corporation’s port health and environmental services committee, said: “Our waste strategy is designed to deliver services with maximum environmental efficiency and we will continue to incorporate these important considerations in future programmes.”


Johnson approves SITA UK’s South West London facility


SITA UK has been granted planning permission by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to build an anaerobic digestion facility and an extended materials recycling and waste transfer station in Mitcham, South West London. Once built, the Mitcham site is


expected to process over 160,000 tonnes of waste overall each year. The site will include an extended


The paper used within this publication is manufactured from 100% post-consumer recycled fibres. Fibres are sourced from within 175 miles of the chain-of-custody certified production site. This means the paper’s manufacturing process has been chronologically documented across the supply chain. The paper has also been awarded the EU Ecolabel, Blue Angel and National Association of Paper Merchants environmental certificates. All residuals from the production process are reused for cement production, fertiliser or district heating.


Give a compost bin at Xmas, suggests MWDA


DO YOU want to give a unique and useful gift this Christmas? A compost bin is a great green gift that allows you to do your bit for the environment, according to the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA). Chairperson of MWDA, Joe


DeAsha, said: “A home compost bin is an original gift idea and makes a great present for a keen gardener or anyone who has an interest in green issues or the environment. It’s definitely an improvement on socks or handkerchiefs.” Research has shown, continued


the MWDA, that a “staggering third of what goes in the average Merseyside bin could be composted, instead of ending up in landfill”. DeAsha added: “You can use a


2 November 24 2011


compost bin almost immediately by composting all the vegetable peelings from your Christmas dinner. “This will enable you to start


your new compost heap and next year you’ll have lovely free compost for your garden as a result. “Not only does it make a unique


Christmas gift, but it’s a positive way to start the New Year by helping to significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and combat climate change, while reaping the benefits for your garden.” Residents are invited to get their


special offer compost bin by visiting www.merseyside.getcomposting. com or by calling 0844 571 4444. Compost Bins start from £15


(plus £5.49 shipping). As an added


materials recycling facility, which would separate and process up to 80,000 tonnes per year; an anaerobic digestion facility, which would process up to 40,000 tonnes of food waste per year; a waste transfer station that would handle up to 40,000 tonnes per year and a new administration building and visitor centre. The decision to grant planning permission by the


mayor follows an earlier decision by Merton Council in October 2010 not to grant planning permission for the site. At the time, Merton Council and the local community expressed a number of concerns about the visual impact of the proposed facility on the surrounding areas. To address these concerns,


SITA UK made changes such as reducing the size and footprint of the proposed anaerobic digestion facility by more than half as well as decreasing the amount of material that the proposed anaerobic digestion facility can process from 100,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes per year. The decision by the mayor to


overrule Merton Council’s original decision is said to be the first time he will have used his new powers


to determine a waste facility planning application considered to be of strategic importance to London. SITA UK expect the development


of the site to start once all planning conditions have been met. The site also has the


technological potential to export heat to local users.


The plant will process over 160K tonnes Marine litter plan put forward


PLASTICS INDUSTRY representatives from across the world met in Dubai last week to create a global action plan for solutions on marine litter. The plan described actions to be taken and progress to be reported by signatories in 2012. Approximately 100 projects have been identified, which will be carried out in 32 countries; in addition to the global activities supported by all signatories. Recognising that solutions


It’s a positive way to start the New Year


bonus householders can also take advantage of the ‘buy one get one half price’ offer. Orders for Christmas delivery


should be received by December 5. www. r e c y c l i n gwa s t ewo r l d . c o . u k


to marine litter will require global cooperation, the plastics industry is inviting other interested stakeholders to join in these actions and others to prevent marine litter. Philip Watkins, president of


the British Plastics Federation, said the meeting was “a great


step forward by these plastics industry representatives through committing to the global action plan for solutions on marine litter. The global plastics industry is determined to play a constructive role in building new partnerships to shape solutions to the issue of marine litter.” So far, the Declaration for


Solutions on Marine Litter has been adopted by 54 plastics industry organisations. It outlines a six-point strategy for industry action and advocates “close cooperation with a broad range of stakeholders to shape solutions for the marine environment”. Initiatives include Vacances


Propres in France, Keep America Beautiful in the US and Cool Seas in the UK.


Recycling & WA S T E W O R L D


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12