News News in brief


Blue Group is Terex Fuchs’ UK distributor


WASTE PROCESSING equipment specialist, Blue Group is the new distributor of Terex Fuchs materials handing equipment in the UK and Ireland. This will take effect immediately. Blue Group said it will take over the staff and Bristol premises of Hydrex and will continue to operate the Hydrex Portishead office as the base for the Terex Fuchs dealership. Blue Group said it planned to integrate the existing premises and staff with its offices in Warring, London, Bristol and Stirling. According to the Blue Group: “The synergy between the two companies was immediately seen as mutually beneficial for both parties.”


May Gurney awards contract to Straight


STRAIGHT, SUPPLIER of waste and recycling containers, has won a new contract from May Gurney, the support services specialist. The contract for a new waste, recycling and street cleansing service in Bristol is worth more than £900,000 and will start before Christmas of this year. Implementation will continue until the end of the first quarter of 2012. The new contract will see May Gurney introduce a mixed plastic recycling scheme for which Straight will manufacture more than 200,000 kerbside recycling boxes.


Overton to manage Mitsubishi air con WEEE


MIDLANDS-BASED OVERTON Recycling has been appointed by Mitsubishi Electric to manage its end of life air conditioning and photovoltaic modules and ensure they are recovered and returned back to the supply chain. The end of life recycling programme includes free of charge collection of air con equipment from Mitsubishi Electric customers, subject to conditions.


School makes money out of used clothes


PUPILS FROMa Northumberland High School have started a fundraising venture with enviroclothes, a North East company which provides a free textile recycling service, to recycle their unwanted clothing to help raise funds for charity. St Benet Biscop Catholic High


School in Bedlington is a specialist enterprise and business school and is taking part in the Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year competition. The aim is to raise funds for


social care charity, St Cuthbert’s Care, through “creative business and fundraising schemes”. According to enviroclothes, this is also a way for people to recycle unwanted clothing and household textiles. The students collect unwanted


clothing and textiles and then receive cash from enviroclothes for every kilo they collect. The funds then go towards the


regional competition raising money for St Cuthbert’s Care. enviroclothes also provided the students with advice and support to increase their fundraising opportunities.


To help the students raise


more funds for the business venture friends, family and the local community can take their unwanted clothing and textiles to the enviroclothes drop off point in Ashington (Arch Centre for Enterprise) or to the Lodge - the new community hub in Bedlington and their items will be added to those collected by the school. David Symons, assistant head


teacher for business and enterprise said: “As a business and enterprise school we are always looking for ways to involve our students in real life business situations. “We are very keen to be involved


as this initiative not only raises funds for a worthy cause, but also provides a great business learning opportunity with the support of enviroclothes, and demonstrates the importance of recycling.” Debbie Reay of enviroclothes,


which has raised more than £15,000 for local charities and community groups, said: “It is great to see young people taking such an interest in running a business and great that we can help them achieve their goals.”


Industry opinion No longer fit for purpose


Nicola Guest from Alchemy Metals explains why the metals specialist supports changes to the Scrap Metals Dealers Act as well as greater police powers and a robust chargeable licensing scheme.


NATIONAL AND local media have the bit between their teeth and metal theft is an issue that is reported and debated frequently both on television and in print. Metal theft has soared to epidemic proportions costing UK industry an


estimated £1 billion annually. It is no great surprise that the media have such interest. Factor in deaths by electrocution, stolen war memorials, churches that


are uninsurable, entire communities without essential services and serious train delays, and you can see why this is a problem that will not go away in the short term. The increase in the value of metal and the ease with which scrap can be


disposed of has contributed greatly to the rise in metal theft. It is widely agreed that the current Scrap Metal Dealers Act is no longer fit


for purpose with the key issue being the complete lack of traceability. Changes are coming and possibly fairly quickly, the question is what will


those changes be. As a minimum, I would hope for greater police powers and full traceability along with a robust chargeable licensing scheme and full accountability for handling stolen goods. It is also looking possible that we will revert to a cashless model. The Metal Theft Prevention Bill passed safely through the House of


Commons on November 14, receiving cross party support, whether this particular bill reaches fruition or not, who knows at this stage; the percentages of private members bills that are passed are low, but some do make it through. The ‘no questions asked’ mentality of many UK merchants needs to


go – we must be accountable for our own actions. We have the choice of whether or not we buy stolen materials and the ‘we might as well buy it because if we don’t somebody else will’ attitude is shameful. Why do we as a UK merchant completely support changes to legislation?


Because the industry needs a complete overhaul in order to rid ourselves of the ‘Steptoe and Son’ image that we are all tarred with. This will allow legitimate and law abiding merchants the opportunity of


finally trading in an environment that is fair and equitable for all. Only by a complete reform of legislation governing the entire metal recycling trade can this be achieved.


• Alchemy Metals is a private family owned independent company based in Hertfordshire who specialises in factory only scrap metal


From left to right: enviroclothes’ fundraising coordinator Debbie Reay, Sophie Brown and Aimee Parr of St Benet Biscop Catholic High School


Crown Paints achieves zero waste to landfi ll goal


CROWN PAINTS has announced the company now recycles 100% of the waste from its main sites. According to the paint


specialist, the company has spent three years boosting recycling rates at its manufacturing hubs and decorating centres in the North of England. Now no waste from these sites is reportedly sent to landfill. Since 2008, Crown Paints said


it has encouraged all employees to reuse or recycle as much waste as possible. This led to recycling rates of 90% earlier this year. The company said it has


worked closely with its recycling contractor to pre-treat and segregate the remaining amount, which is composted or dealt with using technology including anaerobic digestion and cleaning. As a result, Crown Paints’


manufacturing sites in Darwen and Hull now recycle all waste, along with its 67 decorating centres in the northern network. Mark Lloyd, Crown Paints’


sustainability manager, said: “We set off on our journey to send no waste to landfill in 2008 and it has always enjoyed the full support of our senior management team. We think it is important to strive


to be a sustainable business. This achievement demonstrates that we practice what we preach.” Crown Paints’ mixing


systems plant in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, also recycles 100% of its waste. According to the company, the


remainder of the Crown decorating centres will make the switch before the end of 2011.


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