News Editorial
When waste comes in different manifestations
It’s not always easy to be ‘green’, is it? Plus, waste comes in many different forms. TheMark Allen Group, the publishing group who among many other publications, owns RWW has two offices; one in Wiltshire (which is RWW’s picturesque HQ in the heart of the countryside) and one in South London. To attend meetings in the ‘other’ office, it can take anything from two to four hours to travel one way between the two sites; whether it is by car or by train. You would think, especially
in today’s sophisticated world where communications are - allegedly - available at the touch
of a digital button, there would be no need to waste time, money and energy travelling between the two locations, but thanks to BT’s supreme ineptitude when it comes to installing the necessary accoutrements to enable video conferencing, resulting in pixelated images and poor quality sound, employees are still obliged to trek between the two offices. This led me to ponder over the conundrum of how some large
corporations are rubbish at delivering services while smaller companies seem to be so much better at looking after their customers. Napoleon Bonaparte got it right when he said: “England is a nation
of shopkeepers”; which I feel can read as ‘small businesses’. Small businesses, charities and voluntary initiatives, whether they comprise retail or waste management, should be nurtured and encouraged. With the government turning off the tap in terms of supporting the
waste sector, could this incentivise innovation in recycling and waste? I hope so and, while we’re at it, I wonder what could incentivise BT into sorting out RWW’s video conferencing problems?
Committee unveils new enquiry into plastic bags
THE ENVIRONMENTAL Audit Committee has launched an inquiry into the sustainability of measures to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags. In September 2013 the
government announced that in 2015 it would introduce a levy of 5p on single-use plastic carrier bags in England. The government has also
suggested that it may incentivise the use of biodegradable plastic bags, which might be exempt from the tax. A 5p charge is already levied in Northern Ireland and Wales, and a similar charge will be introduced in Scotland in October 2014.
Geraldine Faulkner
Published by MA Business & Leisure Ltd, Jesses Farm, Snow Hill, Dinton, Wilts SP3 5HN Tel: 01722 716996 Editor Geraldine Faulkner -
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November 28 - December 4 Issue No. 869 MA Business & Leisure Ltd
is part of the Mark Allen Group The European Commission has
tabled proposals for member states to reduce their use of ‘lightweight plastic bags’, by introducing measures including taxes and levies, national reduction targets or an outright ban (a change to the existing packaging directive would be needed to allow a ban). If accepted, member states would
have two years to implement the proposals. The committee intends to
examine, among other things, the environmental impacts of the proposed 5p charge in England, including the likely change in the number of bags discarded and any
benefits for biodiversity and the environment, the likely change in the volume of plastic film produced. It will also look at the impact
of a reduced demand for the oil production by-product used to make bags as well as the impact on the use of biodegradable bags and the impact on plastics recycling. The committee will take oral
evidence on 18 December 2013 and is inviting written evidence on these issues byMonday, 9 December 2013.
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http://www.parliament. uk/business/committees/ committees-a-z/commons-select/ environmental-audit-committee/
Canford plant gets green light
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WASTE TREATMENT and renewable energy specialist New Earth Solutions Group has been granted planning permission to develop its energy recovery capability at its Canford waste facility near Poole in Dorset. The company, which already
operates a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility on the site, plans to build a 10MWenergy recovery facility (ERF). The ERF will be powered by refuse derived fuel (RDF) created from residual waste which cannot be recycled. “Primarily treating domestic
‘black bag’ waste, the CanfordMBT offers second-chance recycling for metals and plastics, composts the fine, biodegradable fraction and turns the remaining waste into RDF. This is currently transported off-site to the continent for use in a
Homes of the future will be bin-less, predicts report
A REPORT published recently by Veolia Environnement and the London School of Economics envisages the home of the future with nanoscopic robots sorting materials, self-cleaning bathrooms and ultrasonic baths. However, it also contains stark warnings with two contrasting visions of urban living in 2050. Imagine 2050 was developed
by Veolia Environnement in partnership with the LSE. Under both scenarios,
environmental technology is predicted to transform the home of the future - one in the context of a circular economy, the other in the context of a linear economy. The report describes one future city
2 November 28 2013
in which system-level planning has created a dense, resource- efficient society characterised by collaborative consumption, shared ownership and local self-reliance. Alongside this, it models a
scenario in which disparate and unregulated development has led to a resource-hungry urban sprawl where private consumption and ownership is prioritised over long- term communal thinking. According to the report, the 2050
home includes a kitchen where waste is sorted by nanoscopic robots and food packaging that is designed to degrade in line with sell-by dates. In the more efficient city,
emissions have been reduced by 80% (since 1990), compared to 40%
in the contrasting scenario. Water consumption is almost a third less - 100 litres per person per day instead of 130 litres. Estelle Brachlianoff fromVeolia
Environnement said: “By 2050 it’s estimated that 70% of the world’s population will live in cities. We need to start thinking now about how to lock urban lifestyles into more sustainable pathways.”
www. r e c y c l i n gwa s t ewo r l d . c o . u k
combined heat and power facility. The new renewable energy plant at Canford would reduce the need to export RDF and instead use it on-site as a resource to create renewable electricity,” said a New Earth spokesperson. The Canford ERF is expected
to use New Earth’s patented NEAT (New Earth Advanced Thermal) technology.
This technology is the basis of
the company’s Avonmouth ERF near Bristol, which is reportedly the first of its kind in the UK. The commercial-scale plant in Avonmouth began exporting power to the grid inMay this year. New Earth expects to begin
construction of the ERF at Canford in 2014; enabling operations to begin in 2015.
Glasgow man given community order
A SENTENCE of 135 hours of unpaid work in the community was handed out at Glasgow Sheriff Court earlier this month for waste offences to John Baird, director of Oaktay Limited. Baird pleaded guilty in October
to depositing controlled waste at Hamilton Road, Glasgow. The case followed an investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and subsequent report to the procurator fiscal. SEPA received a complaint,
passed on by Glasgow City Council on 4 October 2010, of illegal waste disposal on land to the rear of tenement flats at Hamilton Road, Glasgow. It was alleged that
Baird of Oaktay Limited, who was constructing flats on an adjacent site, had deposited the waste. When officers visited the land they confirmed that controlled waste, such as soil and glass, was present. Following statements from
witnesses who had observed the illegal waste deposits, a final warning letter was issued to Baird giving him 21 days to remove the waste from the land. In February 2011 SEPA officers again visited and found that no work had been carried out to remove any of the waste. Ed Turner at SEPA said: “This
prosecution should send out a strong message that this will not be tolerated.”
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