The deal will see used plastic bottles collected on the Underground taken to the firm’s processing facility to be transformed into material suitable for new food and drink packaging for retailers including Marks & Spencer and Britvic.

Closed Loop Recycling managing director Chris Dow said:

“This is not only fantastic news for Closed Loop ahead of our planned expansion, it’s great news for Londoners who will now be able to see their used bottles being recycled virtually on their doorstep into brand new packaging by some of the UK’s biggest brands. It’s a big boost for British recycling.”

Mayor of London environment director Kulveer Ranger said:

“The Mayor’s vision of putting the ‘village’ back into the city is all about creating a cleaner and greener capital. It is great news that plastic bottles placed in bins on the tube are being recycled within the capital, contributing towards London’s economy and job market.”

For more information please visit the Closed Loop Recycling website: http://www.closedlooprecycling.co.uk/

Many of the poorer neighbourhoods in Manila feature iron-roofed homes that do not contain any windows for natural light, depriving many families of light entirely given the expense of purchasing electricity for light bulbs. However, a new programme called Litre of Light has sought to address this problem by filling used plastic bottles with water and inserting them into holes in the roofs, enabling the bottles to refract sunshine into the room below and providing the equivalent of 55 watts of light.

This innovative approach is estimated to have a life span of five years, and would enable families to make significant electricity savings that could be spent on other areas of the household budget. A video illustrating how these bottles are being used can be viewed below.

Peter Davis of the Plastics 2020 Challenge said:

“We welcome the clear fact that government has listened carefully to what industry has been saying for the last 12 months and has outlined some sensible actions for going forward.

“The Plastics 2020 Challenge welcomes the government’s commitment to continue to develop and provide loans to fund sorting and reprocessing capacity for non-bottle plastics. The government has correctly identified the current major impediment to achieving increased rates of plastic packaging recycling.

“But our analysis shows that there needs to be further investment beyond WRAP’s current 3 year Mixed Plastics Loan Fund. Major investment to provide the commercial sorting and reprocessing infrastructure is the key to delivering a much wider range of mixed plastics collections from local authorities.

“Without access to more sorting and reprocessing plants – to deal with food trays, margarine tubs, yogurt pots, bags and films – the steady improvements made with plastics recycling collections in recent years will stall and future targets won’t be met.

“The Plastics 2020 Challenge also welcomes the intentions of the government to provide more guidance on energy from waste and to clarify the evidence on the absence of health risk for the public. We look forward to the further development of energy from waste as a valuable resource. This has a vital role to help address the looming UK energy deficit and helping keep energy costs down.

“We welcome government’s endorsement of the Love Where You Live campaign, in which the Plastics 2020 Challenge has played a formative role alongside Defra, Keep Britain Tidy and major companies. This new initiative has an important role to play in encouraging consumers to effectively participate in recycling ‘on the go’ and binning their waste rather than needlessly throwing it away.”

Under the agreement, the plastic found in used packets of Johnson’s Baby Wipes will used to create new brand products such as mouse mats and bibs, reducing the amount of virgin materials extracted from natural resource.

By registering on Johnson’s new Wipe Out Waste website, consumers can download a pre-paid label and send off their used packets to TerraCycle, with 2p being donated to a charity or school of the collector’s choice for every package sent.

A spokesperson for TerraCycle said:

“Johnson’s Baby is the first baby wipes manufacturer to take the lead to upcycle its packaging and the Wipe out Waste scheme is the first TerraCycle initiative in Ireland.”

For more information, visit: www.wipeoutwaste.co.uk.

The milestone comes only six months after the company’s storage and sorting facilities in Hemswell were re-opened following a fire at the facility in August 2009 which caused significant damage.

Eco Plastics has heralded the event as an opportunity to invest in new equipment, optimise the flow of plastics around the site, and increase its sorting capacity to 100,00 tonnes of plastics per year. The business also signed a landmark agreement with Coca Cola which will see the firm create a dedicated facility to reprocess the soft drink manufacturer’s used bottles.

Jonathan Short, managing director of Eco Plastics, said:

“It would be easy to describe this milestone as proof that its business as usual, but that’s not the case. We’ve gone far beyond the point where we were at before the fire, to the extent that the plant is now a flag-ship for the entire European industry.”

The packaging, called Longspacs, has been developed over two years by B&Q and logistics specialist Ceva, is used to transport components such as plinths, pelmets and cornices from B&Q’s showroom fulfilment centre in Branston, Staffordshire. The 3m long box covered in a woven polypropylene fabric is fitted with handles, can be opened at both ends, is rain proof, rugged and easy to handle.

The switch over will save 435 tonnes of cardboard and cut costs by around £80,000 a year.

B&Q stockless manager Matt Woolley said:

“The introduction of this multi-trip packaging meets our aims of excellent corporate social responsibility, exceptional product care, and reduced costs.

“Our customers are thrilled, too: they see Longspacs as very visible evidence of our values and no longer have to deal with a substantial amount of cardboard waste following their delivery. Well done to Ceva for this excellent success.”

Responding to the report, Jan-Erik Johansson of the Plastics 2020 Challenge said:

“We are very concerned about finding plastics in scampi and other marine organisms. This is why we have supported a study together with other parties with Ghent university to study the uptake of plastics in mussels and lugworms. It is however important to emphasise that there are to date no scientific facts that waste plastics represent a direct threat to human health as a result of ingestion by marine organisms. This research is being conducted with the UK Marine Conservation Society as one contributor and the results will be available in September 2011.

“More needs to be done to increase the level of scientific knowledge on uptake of plastics so actions can be taken based on sound science-based facts. The plastics industry is in discussions with other parties to define the next steps.

“This follows the recent declaration on solutions for marine litter, launched at the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference in Hawaii, by the global plastics industry aimed at addressing the situation with practical actions. The declaration took a firm stance against waste plastic ending up in the marine environment and stated a will to working with NGOs, governments, researchers, utilities and other industries to finding new ways to prevent litter from ending up in the marine environment.”

Notes
1. The global plastics industry’s Joint Declaration on Marine Litter can be viewed at http://www.plasticseurope.org/plastics-sustainability/marine-litter.aspx.
2. For further information please contact Paul Kelly on 07500 841 459.

The move will see 16 recycling collections distributed around the airport’s terminal, enabling passengers to recycle a range of every day materials, including plastic bottles. A similar scheme has already been in place at Manchester Airport.

The zones have proven popular in other areas of the UK, with more than four tonnes of recyclable material being collected throughout London’s West End every day.

Patrick McGuirk, Coca-Cola Europe’s recycling director, said:

“We are committed to reducing the impact of our packaging, and increasing public options for recycling is key for this. We know that many of our products are consumed ‘on-the-go’, and so our goal is to provide convenient recycling solutions to make the process easier for consumers.”

To find your nearest Recycle Zone, or to suggest potential locations, please visit the website www.recycle-zone.co.uk.

The scheme, a partnership with Leeds-based Barkston Plastics, will allow members of the public to make better use of the 30,000 acre estate.

Jo Dell, marketing manager with £8m turnover Barkston Plastics, said:

“The opportunity to work with Bolton Abbey seemed perfect considering The Devonshire Group’s commitment to the environment. What better way to go green than with unique picnic tables that have not only resolved a visitor problem, but are made out of the country’s very own recycled plastic.”

The Global Declaration for Solutions on Marine Litter, unveiled at the 5th International Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, has been signed by representatives from 47 plastic organisations, and outlines areas for global cooperation and partnership going forward.

Inadequate waste management infrastructure, insufficient recycling, and littering are among the root causes of this worldwide problem. Plastic and plastic product producers from around the globe will use the declaration as a framework for action as they engage with world governments, NGOs, researchers, and other stakeholders on this critical issue.

Jacques van Rijckevorsel, President of PlasticsEurope, said:

“This joint global declaration on marine litter is aiming at taking part in shaping a solution to this complex societal issue. Plastics should not be part of the oceans, and marine litter is not acceptable. We take this issue very seriously.”

The declaration can be viewed in detail here

The facility, built by Greenstar WES and funded by WRAP, will open in April at Redcar, and will be capable of processing mixed household plastic packaging, including margarine tubs and yogurt pots, which cannot currently by recycled in the country.

Biffa, who own the facility, estimate that the facility will sort, wash and process up to 15,000 of mixed plastic packaging every year, increasing to 20,000 tonnes a year in 2012.

Lord Henley, Environment Minister, said:

“Biffa’s innovative technology will make life easier for families who’ve puzzled over recycling their yoghurt tubs and food trays.”

Marcus Glover, Managing Director at WRAP, said:

“Recycling mixed plastics adds value to the UK economy by transforming a waste into a usable, commercial product, retaining the value rather than allowing it to end up in landfill.”

The facility, which will be completed in 2012, will result in a doubling of the number of bottles recycled in the UK from its current level of 35,000 tonnes to 75,000 tonnes, and will enable Coca-Cola to meet its target of 25% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in all its plastic packaging in Britain by 2012.

Simon Baldry, Great Britain Managing Director of Coca-Cola Enterprises:

“Our investment in this project with ECO Plastics will start to address the recycling challenges in this country. British PET bottles will be recycled for re-use in packaging that will be sold from the shelves of British retailers.”

Oliver Williams of ECO Plastics said:

“This will bring recycling in Great Britain full circle, as used British packaging will be recycled in Lincolnshire for re-use in packaging that will then be sold in Britain.

The Infini bottle, produced after a two-year development programme costing £1m, has an octagonal structure that facilitates thinner walls for the bottle. The average weight saving as a result of the redesign is 15% across the one-, two-, four- and six-pint and two-litre formats, with potential savings of 21% on the six-pint bottle.

James Crick, business development director at Nampak, said:

“A 10% recycled HDPE content in the bottles already gives a 7% carbon reduction. The lighter weight of Infini adds another 12% carbon reduction to that, which will allow retailers to compensate for some other areas where the target reduction may be harder.”

Nampak expect that all bottles produced by the company will be of the Infini design within three years. The first wave of production will see the four-pint format released in the summer.

The publication of the paper follows reports in the national press over the weekend that the EA had held back the report, which was completed in 2008, on the grounds that it was still awaiting peer-reviewed approval.

The aim of the report was to identify which of seven types of bag have the lowest environmental impact across several criteria, including extraction of raw materials, production, transportation and disposal.
It found that an HDPE plastic bag would have a baseline global warming potential of 1.57 kg Co2 equivalent, falling to 1.4 kg Co2e if re-used once, the same as a paper bag used four times (1.38 kg Co2e). In contrast, A cotton bag would have to be re-used 171 times to emit a similar level, 1.57 kg Co2e.

The report is now available on the Environment Agency’s website here.

The paper, which was commissioned in 2005 and scheduled for publication in 2007, shows that HDPE bags are nearly 200 times less damaging to the climate than cotton hold-alls, and have less than one third of the CO2 emissions than paper bags.

The aim of the report was to identify which of seven types of bag have the lowest environmental impact across several criteria, including extraction of raw materials, production, transportation and disposal.

It found that an HDPE plastic bag would have a baseline global warming potential of 1.57 kg Co2 equivalent, falling to 1.4 kg Co2e if re-used once, the same as a paper bag used four times (1.38 kg Co2e). In contrast, A cotton bag would have to be re-used 171 times to emit a similar level, 1.57 kg Co2e.

The report concluded:

“The HDPE bag had the lowest environmental impacts of the single use options in nine of the 10 impact categories. The bag performed well because it was the lightest single use bag considered.”

Barry Turner, chief executive of the Packaging and Films Association, said:

“This [report] has dragged on and on. It was a report that could have been done relatively quickly, probably within 12 months but it has gone on for years.

“If these are the conclusions that have arrived at it wouldn’t really surprise me. It was buried because it didn’t give the right answers. It doesn’t support the political thrust at the moment.”

For more information on the findings of the Environment Agency’s report, please visit the following publications:

- The Independent on Sunday (Sunday 20 February 2011)
- The Daily Telegraph (Monday 21 February 2011)
- The Daily Mail (Monday 21 February 2011)

The coalition is calling on the Coalition Government to adopt energy from waste (EfW) technology as a cost-effective means of diverting non-recyclable waste materials away from landfill. By recovering energy from these materials, EfW can also make a significant contribution to the UK’s energy supply, reducing its dependency on imported fossil fuels. The launch of the coalition follows recently published reports by the Confederation of British Industries and Institution of Civil Engineers, which also advocate greater use of EfW technology.

Speaking at the coalition’s launch event, Dr Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, said:

“I applaud this initiative today. It will, I am sure, focus our minds on why waste is a resource to be used, not a past to be buried. And believe me we will need that kind of low carbon, renewable, secure resource sooner than we think.”

The founding principles of Energy from Waste UK can be found in the coalition’s Joint Statement, available to view here: www.energy-from-waste-uk.co.uk.

The latest data from Waste DataFlow, the Government’s database on recycling, indicates that the overall year-on-year recycling rate has increased from 38.3% to 40.1%.

For more information, please visit the Waste DataFlow website here: www.wastedataflow.org.

Joyce Russell, author of the Polytunnel Book, writes in the newspaper:

“More and more people are discovering the delights of growing fruit and vegetables. Even a small garden can produce a surprising amount of food – but, if you want to raise the stakes and grow better crops all year round – you should consider buying a polytunnel.

A polytunnel is a cheap, quick way of covering a growing space. Once you get one, you will never look back: tomatoes are easy to grow, peppers are a pleasure and salad through the winter isn’t difficult at all..”

The full article can be found here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/8293920/Polytunnel-superpower-for-your-veg.html.

The reported, published today, highlights the enormous value waiting to be unlocked in the UK through investment in infrastructure.

Peter Davis of the Plastics 2020 Challenge said:

“The State of the Nation report highlights a number of practical steps that business, central and local government can take to manage our waste resources more efficiently and make a real contribution to the UK’s energy security at the same time.

“While recent governments have used recycling targets as a blunt instrument for raising the volume of waste materials we recover and recycle, this report clearly highlights the need for a more flexible regime that focuses on quality as well as quantity.

“If we are smarter about how we collect and sort valuable waste materials for recycling, we can considerably enhance the quality of the recycled materials we produce. While some progress has been made on this front in recent years, significant investment in infrastructure and greater co-operation at local level is still sorely needed.

“Proven waste technologies that recover energy from materials which cannot currently be recycled have enormous potential to provide a secure and sustainable energy source for the UK, helping to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels, some of which is imported. However, as this report shows, the route for waste infrastructure through the planning process needs to simplified and greater investment secured from central government if this opportunity is to be realised.”

The State of the Nation: Waste and Resource Management report can be viewed here: www.ice.org.uk/stateofthenation.

By carefully placing waste inlets at various points around the 30-acre site, Envac UK’s underground vacuum system will suck waste through up to 2km long tubes to a central waste station. The diverting valves the waste passes through on the way will ensure that different types of waste will be separated and directed into individual containers, which when full are placed on refuse vehicles and removed by the local council.

As well as generating energy for the community through a partnership with nearby power plant SELCHP, the system will help Lewisham to achieve recycling levels higher than 40 per cent, and reduce carbon emissions from refuse vehicles.

Julian Gaylor, Envac UK’s Managing Director, said:

“The Surrey Canal scheme is a high profile project and Envac,s involvement will help provide a safe, clean and sustainable environment across a significant area of Lewisham. Using the Envac system to generate energy from waste is an extremely compelling feature and takes sustainable waste management to the next level”.

Envac UK expects more developments to incorporate its system in the months ahead to help meet waste targets. For more information, visit Envac’s website www.envacgroup.com.

The United Nations Environment Programme has published its report recommending on the role of the waste management sector in addressing climate change.

The report, Waste and Climate Change: Global trends and strategy framework, identifies three main areas in which carbon emission savings can be made in the waste sector:

- Reducing the amount of primary materials used in manufacturing through waste avoidance and material recovery through recycling (avoiding the GHG emissions from the energy used to extract or produce the primary materials)

- Producing energy from waste to replace energy from fossil fuels

- Storing carbon in landfills and through the application of compost to soils

To the read the report and its recommendations in full, visit the UNEP website here.

Latest figures show an almost 80% increase in the number of councils collecting ‘mixed plastics’ from local people, up 78% on the previous year. Over 6.5 million households were able to recycle plastic food trays, pots and tubs in addition to plastic bottles.

This included 5.5 million homes covered by kerbside collections with almost another million homes within reach of local bring banks accepting the food trays, pots and tubs.

Welcoming the figures reported in the latest Recoup annual survey, Barry Turner from the Plastics 2020 Challenge said:

“This proves that the recycling of the majority of routine household plastic waste is now a reality for over 6.5 million households and this can grow steadily as we enter the next decade if the sorting and reprocessing infrastructure is allowed to continue to expand.

“We welcome the fact that many councils are enabling their voters to participate in this local recycling revolution, which our research shows they have a great desire to do when it is made easy and simple.

“This trend must continue next year but still has a very long way to go to reach the 23 million homes now putting out plastic bottles for kerbside collection. This shows what can be achieved when the system joins up to deliver environmental benefits for all.”

Notes

1. The Recoup report “UK Household Plastics Packaging Collection Survey” can be downloaded from http://www.recoup.org/business/default.asp

2. There was a 78% increase in local authorities saying they had a local service to collect mixed plastics including rigid food trays, tubs and pots in 2009/10 compared to 2008/09. Approximately 40,000 tonnes of mixed plastics were collected by councils in the past year, up from 22,000 tonnes in 2008/09.

3. 45% of all plastic bottles in the UK are now being collected locally for recycling, up 7% on last year, now bringing in 263,000 tonnes of plastic bottles annually.

Mr Lamkin lists a number of sectors where businesses are moving towards more sustainable practices by re-introducing plastic into their supply chain, including:

- Textiles and fabrics
- Building materials
- Solar energy concentrators

To read more, visit the article on the Triple Pundit website here.

The video visualises the lifecycle of an M&S plastic milk bottle. Launched today, the film takes the viewer on a journey through all the different stages of the recycling process as it travels via the shop shelf, refuse collection vehicle, materials recovery and reprocessing facilities before returning to the M&S store.