2013-02-27

MRW: "Incinerator plan 'would breach law', report says"


Link to MRW web site

"A campaign group and council are locked in a war of words over claims that the case for an incinerator is unsound.

"Pressure group Glosvain is opposed to plans for the Javelin Park incinerator, near Gloucester, which Gloucestershire County Council’s intends to develop with Urbaser Balfour Beatty.

"Glosvain commissioned Rebecca Colley-Jones, of consultant Ynys Resources, who is also chair of the Chartered Institution of Waste Management in Wales, to carry out an independent investigation of the council’s case.

"She concluded that the incinerator would not comply with EU and UK law, that the council had seriously over-estimated future waste requirements and that the economic case for the installation had collapsed following the end of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS).

"Colley-Jones said the proposed incinerator would be so inefficient that it must be classified not as recovery but disposal, at the bottom of the waste hierarchy."

WLWA announces procurement timetable



"The West London Waste Authority (WLWA) has short-listed two bidders for the long-term West London Residual Waste Services contract covering the boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, and Richmond upon Thames.

"Two bidders:
  • a consortium of E.ON Energy from Waste AG with Tata Chemicals Europe Limited, and 
  • SITA UK Limited
are in the final stage of the competitive dialogue process.

"Final tenders are to be submitted by 28 February 2013. WLWA expects to be in a position to select its preferred bidder in April 2013 to enable the new services to start in April 2015, but WLWA is exploring with bidders the opportunity for an earlier start to begin diversion from landfill as soon as possible.

"The contract involves handling up to 300,000 tonnes of residual waste per year generated by a population of 1.4 million people, and covers all aspects of treatment including any necessary transport, the operation of transfer stations, and contracts for outputs such as energy, refuse-derived fuel, and recyclates.

"Bids were invited from 'single entity' companies, consortia, or joint ventures and WLWA offered its three waste transfer stations at Brentford, South Ruislip and Park Royal as part of the procurement but also welcomed proposals involving sites within bidders’ control or which they intend to acquire.

"West London already recycles or composts almost 40% of its household waste, more than any other sub region of London. The new contract will allow continued flexibility to increase recycling up to at least 50% by 2020 and WLWA will focus even more on waste minimisation schemes in the future."

28 February 
Final Tenders Submitted
28 February to 5 April 
Evaluation of Final Tenders
12 April 
Project Board Meeting
26 April 
Authority Meeting
29 April 2013 
Announcement of Preferred Bidder

"So far as the Authority’s Residual Waste Procurement is concerned, we are fortunate in that we have come to the market somewhat later than many other authorities. As a consequence we have been able to review similar previous procurements. This has permitted us to adopt the best practice principles that the more successful of these other procurements have identified.

"In addition, the Authority is utilising the WIDP-developed contractual documentation as the basis of the procurement. WIDP is by the Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programmes, which is a specialist department within DEFRA.

"This documentation has been developed from the experience gained on a number of large waste procurements. Additionally, the documentation has benefited from the input of HM Treasury on financial issues. This documentation is seen as a benchmark for well-managed procurements.

"Finally, the procurement process has also benefited from the experience of a WIDP transactor (a professional with experience upon a number of previous similar procurements) advising us. And of course, we also have a number of specialist consultants advising on legal, financial and technical issues.

"... The WLWA can confirm that the Authority has modelled various waste growth/reduction scenarios. These provided the basis upon which the waste arisings contained within the bidding process were calculated. All scenarios were based upon recycling achieving a level of 50% across the Authority area."

2013-02-26

"Row ignites as rubbish mounts"


Link to story in Uxbridge Gazette


"A PLAN that could send 300,000 tonnes of rubbish a year from London boroughs including Hillingdon to Cheshire for burning has sparked outrage.

"The West London Waste Authority (WLWA) has put out to tender a contract to treat waste, which cannot be recycled, from its member boroughs: Hillingdon, Ealing, Harrow, Brent, Hounslow and Richmond.

"One of the bids is a joint venture between Tata Chemicals Europe and E.ON Energy, under which an incinerator about the size of Wembley Stadium would be built close to the town of Northwich."

Link to opposition group web site

LocalGov: "Recycling: A very expensive backward step"


Link to web site

"Next week’s Judicial Review in Cardiff could spell the end for commingled dry recycling collections in England and Wales. That would be a very expensive and unnecessary backward step.

"If, at the end of the three day hearing on 28th February, Mr Justice Barton supports the action brought by the Campaign for Real Recycling (CRR), then hundreds of local authorities could collectively shudder at the thought of spending millions to change their commingled recycling collections to some form of kerbside-sort."

2013-02-23

South Wales Argus: "Could Newport pull out of South Wales waste scheme?"


Link to web site

"Newport council is due next Tuesday to approve a business case for Prosiect Gwyrdd, which will see non-recyclable rubbish burned in a Cardiff incineration plant.

"But one councillor in the ruling group, who did not want to be named, says the multi-million pound scheme has huge implications for Newport, which will be tied into a contract for a quarter of a century. 

"The councillor said:
"The length of the contract is an issue. We are being asked to look at a contract that is going to affect not just our children, but our children's children.

The amount of waste that would be feeding the incinerator has been in decline."

2013-02-20

Friends of the Earth: "Make It Better"


Link to Friends of the Earth
"The Make It Better campaign is all about improving the way that our products are made.

"We should all think about the impact the things we buy have on the world. But it should be up to the companies that make them to ensure they don't hurt people and the environment.

"With Make It Better we're calling for tough new rules to make companies come clean about the full impact of their production. This would be a huge step towards reducing the dangerous strain being placed upon our planet.

"We also want to celebrate the positive steps companies are taking, and how innovative design can reduce the environmental impact of our favourite items.

"We'd love you to join in, starting with one of today's most popular products: the smartphone. ..."

2013-02-03

"What a waste: Eric Pickles slams council's £3.8bn contract." (Wait a minute, isn't the West London Waste Authority...)


Link to Manchester Evening News

"Communites secretary Eric Pickles has attacked Manchester council for its part in a £3.8bn contract to manage the city’s waste.

The Tory cabinet minister claimed the 25-year deal between Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority and Viridor Laing was signed off at double the market rate.

Speaking at the New Local Government Annual Conference, Mr Pickles claimed ratepayers were being hit in the pocket by the ‘shoddy deal’ and said:
"In Manchester, their council tax this year is being forced up by a botched PFI deal signed by the unelected waste authority, a 25-year deal which means they are paying double the market rates to dispose of their residual waste. A shoddy deal by a shadowy, unelected body, with no-one taking responsibility, and local taxpayers left with service cuts and higher taxes."

2013-01-12

The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra



Source: "Green Thing":
"This is one the most heart-warming and inspiring videos we’ve seen this year. Or last year.

"It is the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra - a group of very talented kids from a slum in Paraguay, playing instruments made from rubbish dug from the landfill that they live on.

"You have to watch to see just how incredible these musical instruments and musical teenagers are. But prepare to be amazed at how beautiful the music sounds.

"If you want to donate to help get the film about these amazing children made, then click here."

2013-01-08

Evening Standard: "Councils are ignoring the Government by threatening to fine residents £1,000 if they don't recycle."


Link to Daily Telegraph

"Martin Hunt, Colchester Borough Council's waste boss, has applied for new powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The legislation allows him to order dust carts not to pick up rubbish from serial offenders' homes. He said:
"People are being put off recycling because they can see other people getting away with not doing it.

People are saying: 'why should I bother with recycling when my neighbour is putting 12 black sacks out?'

They feel they are paying for someone else not doing what they could be doing, but by me having these powers, it could put a stop to that."

2012-12-30

Sat 5 and Fri 11 Jan are "Give Days". Sun 13 Jan is "Take Day"


Link to web site
"Stuff for Free is a giant community reuse event – helping redistribute good quality stuff to a new home where it will be valued. 

"This weekend it’s brought to you by Healthy Planet and West London Waste Authority to encourage reuse and reduce landfill so you’ll be helping the environment and helping yourself."

Give Days:
Saturday 5th January 2013, from 10am – 2pm,
Friday 11th January, from 8am – 2pm.

The Take Day:

when you can get useful items for free is Sunday 13th January.

Location:
The Vision, Warehouse 15, Kendal Avenue, Acton, W3 0AF

Warehouse 15 is in the section near the mini roundabout by the John Lewis depot. Parking is available, please make sure you park sensibly and do not block in other vehicles or block the exit.  (More details)

2012-12-20

Overpackaging: The alternative


"It sells everything you could ever need for a great meal.
There's only one catch – 
it won't give you anything to take it all home in."
Link to The Independent

"If you ever find yourself eyeing the kitchen bin guiltily, with its vast mound of plastic packets, cardboard containers and wrappers, you might be interested to know there's a whole movement that aims to go one better than even recycling: precycling, or cutting out packaging in the first place.

"Among those at the forefront of this consumer revolution is Unpackaged, a first-of-its-kind shop that eschews all packaging and invites customers to bring in their own containers and Tupperware to stock up on essentials such as flour, cereals, nuts, pasta, rice, lentils and so on. Bring bottles for oils, apple juice, wine and even gin. Simply weigh your container when you arrive so it can be deducted from the overall weight and then get filling. 

"Not only will you save money but by foregoing packaging you'll reduce the amount of material waste being either sent to landfills or incinerated."


Why Packaging?
"It’s hard to visit a landfill site without being struck by the craziness of taking very valuable minerals and resources out of the ground, using a lot of energy, turning them into short-life products and then just dumping them back into the ground. It’s an absolutely monumental waste of energy and resources. As someone from the fashion industry might say, its just so last century."
(Michael Pawlyn, The Guardian, November 21 2005)

The Problem with Packaging
Whilst some packaging is necessary in our modern industrialised food chain, unnecessary packaging is a waste:  
  • Cost: It increases the price of the goods you buy. You are charged twice – first when you buy overpackaged products and then through council tax for disposing of your rubbish.
  • Waste: It wastes resources at every level: production, storage, transport and disposal.
  • Pollution: Landfill and incineration are the two main ways of dealing with un-recyclable packaging waste. These are major pollutants for people and the environment as they release greenhouse gases.
"What about recycling? While some packaging is recycled, most ends up in landfill sites and some packaging is difficult and impossible to recycle. Recycling is certainly part of the solution, but it will only work if we use less packaging and adopt more ‘reusable’ ways of doing things – Unpackaged is based on this ethos. Remember:
  • Reduce by only buying what you need
  • Reuse by bringing your containers for a refill
  • Recycle what you can’t reuse.
"And… if you can’t reuse or recycle it, then don’t buy it!"

2012-12-02

New Year, New North London Waste Plan



"Work on developing a new North London Waste Plan is scheduled to start in the New Year after a planning inspector ruled the existing document was unsuitable.

"The new North London Waste Plan (NLWP) will be drawn up by Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest Councils.

"It will set out how much waste the seven boroughs need to process, explain how planning applications for waste facilities in the boroughs will be decided and identify enough sites for waste management.

"A spokesperson for the NLWP, said:
“We have listened to the decision of the planning inspector and while we are disappointed with his decision, we believe the most appropriate way forward is to not adopt the current plan and start work on a new one as early as possible in the New Year.

We need to deal with more of our own rubbish and we’re determined to produce a plan that meets the needs of North London and identifies how the waste management facilities we need can be provided.

We’ll take the information we gathered in producing the original plan and use that as the basis for the new version, while taking into account the comments made by the planning inspector, so the work we’ve done to date will not be wasted. It's worth bearing in mind that the original plan was produced before the duty to co-operate was introduced.”
"Planning Inspector Andrew Mead was appointed to examine the NLWP but on the first day of the hearing in June he only heard evidence over whether the seven boroughs had failed to comply with the new Duty to Co-operate with local authorities who receive waste for landfill from North London.


"In August the Inspector decided the NLWP was not legally compliant because it did not meet the duty to co-operate and as result the examination into the soundness of the plan could not continue.

"To formally end the examination of the old NLWP the boroughs will now ask the Inspector to write his report which will recommend that the plan is not adopted and to start on a new version of the plan.

"This will formally call a halt to the old plan and enable work to start on the new plan.

"The boroughs will be writing to partners in the New Year to tell them about the new plan and how they can get involved.

Greens: London Councils Guilty of 'Greenwash'


Link to businessGreen

" 'Lambeth recycling rate soars!' screamed the headline on Lambeth's website. But the figures unraveled further down the page. The council explained the surge in recycling came from a switch from sending waste to landfill to sending compostoble or recyclable waste to an 'energy from waste (EfW)' plant in Bexley, rather than a recycling plant.

"The council had also counted bottom ash from the incinerator and other debris that is being used for road building as recycled waste, providing a boost to its recycling rates.

"Wandsworth, a borough of the Western Riverside Waste Authority and user of the Bexley EfW plant for 'residual waste' provided the same explanation for its imrpved recycling figures. Significantly, Wandsworth has revised its recycling figure from 45.9 to 43.8 per cent in the last few days on its council webpage.

"I really don't think it is right for councils to publish inflated recycling figures on their websites, and presumably in its literature to residents, when in fact it does not reflect official data.

2012-11-22

The Independent: "A lesson in packaging myths: Is shrink-wrap on a cucumber really mindless waste?"


Link to web site
"It's easy to picture the 10 million tonnes of packaging we get through in Britain each year as a towering, dirty mountain of pollution and doom. Or, if it's more useful, imagine the equivalent weight of 35 jumbo jets a day or a quarter of the contents of your bins.

"However you do the maths, packaging is bad news for the planet, and as Christmas consumption reaches a peak, those mountains, planes and bins only look dirtier.

"But packaging is not necessarily evil, as veterans of the industry point out in a new book. In Why Shrink-wrap a Cucumber? The Complete Guide to Environmental Packaging, Stephen Aldridge and Laurel Miller unpack various myths to show how, done well, packaging can please the planet as much as it can producers, retailers and consumers."

2012-11-19

Resource: "London authorities tender textile recycling banks"


Link to web site

"Lewisham Council is leading a procurement process for a single-provider framework to ‘significantly and cost-effectively’ increase the amount of textiles collected for reuse and recycling at several London council bring sites.

The London initiative, led by Lewisham and including the boroughs of Hounslow, Ealing, Harrow, Barnet, Sutton and Camden, was set up in response to a recently published WRAP report, ‘Valuing our Clothes’, which found that textiles – most of which are recyclable – make up three per cent of household waste per year. The report also found that in the UK over 30 per cent of clothing is still being discarded at costly landfill sites.

2012-11-09

"Councils resort to burning millions of tons of household rubbish as amount recycled by families stalls"


Link to Daily Mail web site

"Millions of tons of household rubbish was burned instead of recycled by councils last year, new figures revealed yesterday.

"The amount sent to incinerators shot up by almost a quarter - while the amount sent for recycling went up by barely a single percentage point.

"The burning boom means millions of families who have been forced to cope with fortnightly collections, rubbish rationing and wheelie bin fines in the name of saving the environment now have to live with the pollution risks of incinerators.

"A report from the Environment Department admitted the amount of rubbish being recycled by town halls is ‘levelling off’ and that the amount of rubbish kept out of landfill is still far short of targets set by the European Union."

2012-10-20

Sat 10 Nov: Zero Waste Community Action Conference



Zero Waste Alliance UK Conference and AGM
11.00- 3pm Saturday 10 November 2012
Greenpeace, Canonbury Villas, Islington, London N1 2PN

The conference will be followed by our AGM to which all are welcome.
Delicious vegan lunch, donations requested.

Breaking the Barriers to Zero Waste:
Community Action
Where can the community make most difference?
What works?
How we can make more impact by working together?

Speakers include:
  • Morgan Phillips Waste Watch on Our Common Place Initiative
  • Jonathan Essex Bioregional on the need for policy change
  • Karen Cannard on taking the Rubbish Diet into the community with Transition Town Shrewsbury
  • Rick Anthony Zero Waste International Alliance with an update on the Zero Waste movement across the globe
Workshops on:
  • changing behaviour in our communities
  • designing waste out of our world
  • campaigning for policy and local authority service change.
Reserve your free place on zerowasteallianceuk.eventbrite.co.uk/

2012-10-10

Posting on 'Wembley Matters' web site: "Harlesden residents left out in the cold over new 'energy recovery centre' neighbour "


Link to Wembley Matters

"Harlesden residents got a shock last night at the 'Harlesden Connects' forum when they heard of plans to build an 'energy recovery centre' (is this a controversy avoiding term for an incinerator?) at Willesden Junction.

It is in Ealing borough, but but very close to Brent residents. Apparently Ealing's notification to Brent Council was 'mislaid', so hardly anyone who might be affected had a chance to comment, before the conusltation closed last week. [Just a few] addresses in Ealing and handful of streets in Harlesden received a notification letter. 





http://www.pam.ealing.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet?PKID=152202

2012-08-22

"There’s gold in them thar landfills - £650m of valuable materials being thrown every year"


Link to Evening Standard

"At least £650 million worth of valuable materials are being thrown into landfill or burned in the UK each year, despite rising costs of natural resources, campaigners warned today.

"A coalition of business groups and environmentalists said products ranging from steel, wheat and rubber to 'rare earth' metals necessary for making goods such as mobile phones will become increasingly costly, threatening UK productivity.

"The coalition, which includes the manufacturers' organisation EEF and Friends of the Earth, is demanding the Government develop an urgent action plan to preserve valuable resources, including policies to improve recycling and a ban on reusable materials going into landfill."

2012-05-31

'Planning': Will there be too many waste plants?

Link to 'Planning' (registration may be required)

"Britain could soon end up with more residual waste treatment capacity than it needs if all schemes with planning permission go ahead, according to a research consultancy.

"... If all currently consented facilities, which have a total capacity of 18.2 million tonnes, go ahead, the current shortfall would turn into an oversupply of 4.7 million tonnes’ capacity by 2015/16, according to Eunomia."



"Eunomia has modelled the quantity of residual waste generated against existing and forthcoming treatment infrastructure, to determine where capacity gaps exist across Great Britain.

"The research shows that, in most regions, there may be an over-supply of treatment infrastructure by 2015/16."


A free 'High-Level Residual Waste Infrastructure Review' can be downloaded from the company's web site. An earlier, November 2011 version is available here.

2012-05-28

Let's Recycle: "Brent Council raises air quality concern over waste sites"

Link to Let's Recycle

"A London council is calling for the government to have greater consideration for air quality when issuing licences for waste sites.

"Brent council has said that the regulatory and enforcement regime used to licence operators of waste sites are ineffective when it comes to ensuring commercial operators upgrade their environmental controls."

Link to London Brorough of Brent

2012-05-26

The Independent: "Britain's waste: Now it's coming back to haunt us"


"A £300m criminal trade that smuggled rubbish out of the UK is so toxic that the trash is being sent home. Cahal Milmo saw it finish its journey from Jakarta to Felixstowe" 

Link to The Independent

"Nearly 90 containers, each weighing more than 30 tonnes, have arrived back in the bustling Suffolk dockyard of Felixstowe in the past fortnight. Their journey began last November when they left scrapyards in southern England for Indonesia, labelled as 'recyclable' material with a value of $500,000 (£318,000).

"... Four UK companies are now being investigated by the Environment Agency (EA) to see if they sent contaminated and potentially toxic waste to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, in contravention of laws designed to combat a global epidemic of cross-border dumping."

2012-04-18

'Re-ward Club' in west London


"Re-ward Club gives you rewards when you have items repaired, hire a household item, shop in a charity shop, buy second-hand or buy recycled products. Anything, in fact, that gives a new lease of life to something you already own or that someone else has owned and loved."

Link to Re-ward Club web site

Re-ward has been set up by the West London Waste Authority and is being run in partnership with the London Borough of Brent and London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The initial set up costs have been funded through a Defra grant from the Waste Review 2011 Reward and Recognition Fund.

West London Waste Authority (WLWA)

West London Waste Authority (WLWA) is running the Re-ward Club to incentivise increased spending by residents in local shops and charity outlets that sell re-used items or repair items to extend their lifetime and prevent them being thrown away. WLWA is a local authority similar to your local council.

We provide a waste disposal service to your local council. The WLWA is financed by charges made to the councils we serve. As a public body the WLWA is not a profit making organisation. Any income that WLWA receives is used to reduce the charges to the councils and ultimately reduces the council tax bills of west London residents.

The WLWA is in the process of implementing an action plan to reduce the amount of waste collected and disposed of. This plan includes a number of actions targeting five specific materials – food, furniture, electricals, textiles and nappies.

What Re-ward Club wants to achieve

Almost 700,000 tonnes of waste is thrown in the bin every year by residents of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond. This includes many items could still be used by others. Re-ward Club is a loyalty card scheme, in many ways similar to those run by supermarkets and coffee shops. It rewards residents who take actions to reuse items or extend the lifespan of items they already own, therefore reducing the need to purchase new items or dispose of something which could still have a use.

Re-ward clubs want to do 4 things
    1. Make it easy to reuse and repair
      There are a lot of local places where you can get items repaired or buy second hand items but they’re not always easy to find.  We want to shout their locations from the rooftops to show just how many places there are and help you find these locations – where you can save money and pick up a bargain. If you know where they are it’s easier for you to use them.
    2. Help you reuse and repair more frequently
      It’s not always possible to get something repaired or buy it second hand but you might be surprised by what’s out there!  It doesn’t hurt to ask and now you know where all these shops are there’s no limit on how often you could use them.
    3. Show you how great second hand, repaired and recycled products really are
      You might think you know what you’re going to find in a charity shop or second hand stores but you might be pleasantly surprised at how good quality some of the things you can buy really are.  It doesn’t hurt to look once and see what’s out there.  Especially when you find the Christmas decorations made from CD’s or belt from old fire hoses.
    4. Support local shops
      Sometimes you don’t really think about the shop down the road when you’re on your way to wherever you need to be but if they provide you with a great service or product that can save you money and need your needs why not give it a try. Tell us about them and we’ll try to encourage them to sign up so you can get Re-ward Club tokens when you shop there.

Barnet, north London: Recycling video



"Follow your recycling on the journey it takes after it leaves your doorstep, by watching our short film."

2012-04-04

BBC Wales: "Carrier bag charge: Supermarkets say use in Wales cut up to 90%"

Link to BBC Wales

"Supermarkets say the charge on single use carrier bags introduced in Wales has coincided with a reduction in their use of up to 90%.

"Six months since a minimum 5p charge per bag was introduced, several major supermarkets have released provisional figures to BBC Wales.

"Sainsbury's saw a 90% fall, the Co-op reported 86% and Morrisons 60%."