With news on: Viridor launches Beddington virtual visitor centre; Cost of EU green laws; Hubbub seeks applicants for ‘Cup Fund’; ETM Recycling opens Bristol MRF
Viridor launches Beddington virtual visitor centre
Viridor has launched a ‘virtual visitor centre’ for its Energy from Waste (EfW) facility in Beddington, south London.
The website, www.beddingtonerf.info, launches as the Beddington ERF ramps up to full operations.
The facility is set to be operational in ‘early spring/late summer’
The Virtual Visitor Centre is described by Viridor as a “web-based, public access, learning platform for people to learn more about the facility and what happens to their non-recyclable waste after it is collected by the South London Waste Partnership.”
The £205m site is nearing completion, and as part of Viridor’s commitment to “inform, educate and share information about its operations, information is provided on how the plant treats any emissions before they are released into the atmosphere via the flue stacks”
Mike Stafford, head of contracts for Viridor, said: “The Virtual Visitor Centre helps to give a unique insight into how non-recyclable black bag residual waste is treated once it is thrown in the bin. We recognise that there is a genuine interest in what happens at the ERF and this website forms part of our commitment to share operational updates and information about the facility.”
Not implementing EU environment law ‘costs £48 million’
A report published by the European Commission estimates that the cost to the EU of not implementing environmental laws in 2018 was around €55 billion (£48 million).
This is the result of EU Member States not fully achieving the targets set out by EU environmental legislations across seven policy areas: air, nature and biodiversity, water, waste, chemicals, industrial emissions and major accident hazards, and horizontal instruments.
The report said that not implementing EU environmental law ‘results in negative outcomes across all aspects of society’
Eunomia, which carried out the report, said that not implementing EU environmental law results in negative outcomes across all aspects of society, ranging from reduced biodiversity and increased illness from air and noise pollution to unrealised market opportunities
Eunomia’s lead author, Tanzir Chowdhury, said: “This report clearly shows how important it is to ensure that Member States are complying with environmental legislation: meeting the targets will result in stronger economies, better public health, and, of course, a diverse natural environment for our children to enjoy well into the future.”
Hubbub seeks applicants for ‘Cup Fund’
Environmental charity Hubbub has launched ‘The Cup Fund’, aimed at kick-starting coffee cup recycling programmes across the UK.
The Cup Fund is financed by Starbucks, which introduced a 5p charge on paper cups in 2018
The Cup Fund will support at least 10 large-scale recycling programmes, offering grants of between £50,000 and £100,000 based on the specific needs of each application to develop long term infrastructure and ensure cups are collected and sent for recycling.
The charity is now inviting applications from a range of organisations wanting to increase infrastructure but lacking funding, including local authorities, recycling companies, property owners and social enterprises to come forward.
Trewin Restorick, chief executive and founder of Hubbub, said: “. The launch of The Cup Fund with Starbucks means we will be able to collect cups in significant volumes in areas where there may not have been any drop off points before. We’re looking for ambitious, large-scale projects that will transform cup recycling in high footfall areas.”
ETM Recycling opens Bristol MRF
Bristol-based recycling company ETM Recycling has opened a MRF for commercial and construction waste.
The company said it invested £4million in the new Turmec facility, which it says is now “the most efficient and effective plant in the South West processing construction and commercial waste”.
A general view of the new machinery at the ETM site
Amy McCormack, director of ETM Recycling, said: “It seems like a long time ago when we put the wheels in motion for this, but since the build began at the start of the year it really gathered pace. To finally have it open and operational has been well worth the wait.”
The facility will double the amount of waste ETM have previously been able to handle and process at its Ashton Vale site to 150,000 tonnes and will process 80 tonnes per hour, an output that up until now ETM could only achieve in 24 hours.
Brian Thornton, chief executive of Turmec, added: “The configuration and layout is the most innovative that can be found anywhere in the South West of the UK.”
The post News in brief (12/04/2019) appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
