BBC: "Britain's e-waste illegally leaking into West Africa"

Link to BBC web site

"In Britain each year, we throw away a million tonnes of electronic waste - enough to fill Wembley Stadium six times over. So what happens to our broken TVs and computers – our e-waste – once we have dumped it? Raphael Rowe reports from Ghana.

"The campaign group 'Environmental Investigation Agency', which has attempted to track e-waste from the UK to West Africa, said:

"There needs to be a lot more enforcement, but there also needs to be a shake-up of how we handle electronic waste in the UK and our waste needs to be much more closely monitored than it ever has been."

Click for BBC iPlayer

Harrow Times: "Harrow Council approves plans to bring [more] recycling to flats, as rates hit 50 per cent"

Link to web site

"RECYCLING rates in Harrow have hit 50 per cent, as plans to bring the service to flats are approved.

"A grant of almost £400,000 will pay for blue bins for 8,000 flats previously left out, and Harrow Council hopes all homes will be included by the end of March next year."

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[The North London Waste Authority is only planning for 50% recycling by 2020. Yet Scotland expects 70% by 2025, on the way to "Zero Waste" by 2050.]

LB Lambeth: "Earn rewards for recycling with Recyclebank"

Click for Lambeth web site

"Lambeth residents are the first in London to be able to participate in the Recyclebank scheme, which has been introduced by the council to boost recycling levels and reduce the amount the borough spends disposing of waste.

"Residents who sign up earn points every time they recycle. The points can then be used for a fantastic selection of rewards."

BBC: "Thirsk waste firm fire 'was spontaneous combustion' "

Link to BBC web site

"A fire at a waste management depot in North Yorkshire was the result of spontaneous combustion, the fire service has said.

"Peter Hudson, from the fire service, said:

"Basically you get the breaking down of organic materials by the bacteria, that creates the heat, and if there's a bit of insulation... that will burn and you end up with spontaneous combustion, and a small fire starts which leads to a bigger fire."

Recycling Tragedy

LocalGov: "Recycling incentive schemes questioned by new report"

Link to LocalGov (and to the report)

"Financial incentive schemes to boost recycling in London could undermine waste prevention messages promoted by borough councils, a new report has warned.

"The London Assembly environment committee has called for a more comprehensive evidence base to determine long-term benefits of the popular schemes,which enjoy the backing of both government ministers and the mayor, Boris Johnson."

Daily Telegraph: "Ben Fogle swims through plastic to save oceans"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"The television presenter has joined forces with Sir David Attenborough to help make a new film about the growing threat of plastic to the wildlife of the ocean and ultimately the human food chain.

"The explorer, who first became interested in marine pollution after rowing across the Atlantic, travelled to Sri Lanka to see blue whales in the wild."

Saturday 21 May: Willesden Green Fair

BBC: "Climate e-mail reviews 'leave science sound'."

Link to BBC web site

"Reviews, headed by Lord Oxburgh and Sir Muir Russell, found that the [University of East Anglia] episode did raise questions about the conduct of climate science, and about universities' compliance with Freedom of Information Act legislation.

"But, they said, individual researchers had not tried to subvert the scientific process, and the fundamental picture of a planet warming under the impact of fossil-fuel burning was basically unchallenged.

"The government agrees, saying: 'we find no evidence to question the scientific basis of human influence on the climate'."

Euro-plea for better targets

"At least 500,000 new jobs would be created in Europe if countries recycled 70% of their waste, says a study 'More Jobs, Less Waste', produced by Friends of the Earth. This is the recycling rate already achieved by Flanders in Belgium.

"The EU current recycling target of 50% by 2020 will mean no overall increase in jobs, according to the research, as a reduction in waste levels is predicted by 2020.

"The report also shows that recycling creates around ten times more jobs, per tonne, than sending rubbish to landfill or incineration.

"Previous research for Friends of the Earth [here] showed that the EU currently buries or burns at least €5.25-billion of recyclable materials every year. Recycling that waste would save the equivalent of 148 million tonnes of climate changing emissions, equivalent to taking 47 million cars off the road.

"Friends of the Earth Europe’s resources campaigner, Dr Michael Warhurst said:

"Our research shows that a 70% recycling target would create more than half a million new jobs by 2020, a significant contribution towards the 3 million green jobs that President of the European Commission José Manue Barroso has called for by 2020."

"Despite the economic, environmental and employment benefits of recycling more, the European Commission has up until now failed to set high enough recycling targets for Europe. European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik has stated that resource efficiency is one of his priorities, so now he must not waste the opportunity to make it a reality.

"Europe must stop throwing valuable resources - and the potential jobs that come with them - in holes in the ground or sending them up in smoke in expensive incinerators."

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The report comes as the European Commission is reviewing its approach to waste and recycling.
(Click image for details.)

Friends of the Earth Europe is proposing that the EU adopts higher recycling targets, and stops landfilling and incinerating materials that can be recycled.
(Click image for Powerpoint file from last year.)

“Creating an EU recycling society: It’s not (just) implementation”:
talk given in June 2010
www.foeeurope.org/activities/waste_management/Warhurst-IGBE-Jun10.ppt

26 May 2011: Mayfair Conference Centre (funny, it's in Bayswater)

Link to 'Recycling and Waste World'
(as with WesternWorld, MedievalWorld, and RomanWorld,
but it was cut from the finished film)

"The potential of anaerobic digestion (AD) is unquestionable – estimates suggest that 18% of the UK’s total gas demands could be met by renewable gas, and up to 48% of its residential gas demands. The hope is that the new announcements on the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) at 6.5p/kWh for biomethane injection into the grid, guaranteed for 20 years, will further encourage investment into this sector.

"The industry now needs to look at working together to encourage the best use of biogas for meeting the UK’s targets, including the huge increase in energy from waste through anaerobic digestion, which the foundling coalition government promised [definition: 'a deserted or abandoned child of unknown parentage'].

"Support for this growing industry has never been better, so now is the time to get involved. This important conference [aren't they all?] addresses the issues surrounding Developing UK Biogas, and aims to provide the information, direct experience and industry knowledge to enable delegates to move their business plans forward.

"For example:

• Optimum methods for waste collection to ensure constant and consistant feedstock
• Understanding government support mechanisms – FITs, ROCs and the RHI – and their implications
• Permitting and planning – getting it right to ensure positive acceptance
• The emerging AD framework and what this will mean for the industry
• Developing funding mechanisms appropriate for a developing sector
• Encouragement of digestate markets
• Gas to grid injection and vehicle fuel production
• The impact of localism and what this will mean for decentralised energy.

"Developing UK Biogas features top speakers and industry experts who will be examining these and other key issues, in the light of the government’s on-going waste strategy review and AD framework plans. To ensure you are up to date with the latest developments in the increasingly important AD industry, ensure you are at the industry’s longest established and leading conference."