With news on: Repic and Scottish council’s WEEE initiative; Mersey community groups receive environmental funding; Helistrat receives ISO accreditations; WCRS’ ‘Recycling Angels’; and, Biogen recognised in business report.
Repic WEEE campaign launched in Argyll and Bute
Community groups, schools and social causes across Argyll and Bute are being offered the chance to win £500 worth of electrical goods vouchers as part of a campaign designed to promote responsible recycling.
The Powering Communities, which is being funded by the WEEE producer compliance scheme Repic campaign has a total prize pot of £5,000, and is being run in conjunction with a number of local authorities across the country.
Jim Smith, the council’s head of roads and amenity services, said: “We’ve worked in partnership with Repic for over 10 years and in that time the partnership has provided opportunities for residents across Argyll and Bute to recycle their waste electrical appliances and materials through our community recycling sites.
“This initiative is a great opportunity to bring further benefit to communities and to encourage responsible recycling.
Mark Burrows-Smith, chief executive of Repic, said: “We’re proud to have collected and treated over two million tonnes of WEEE to date and hope that the Powering Communities campaign will encourage people to think about responsibly recycling their old electricals, particularly when they purchase new ones.”
The scheme is open to local groups, schools and good causes such as registered charities and not-for-profit organisations. The awards are £500 of vouchers towards the purchase of new electrical products.
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Mersey community groups receive £115,000 from environment fund
Twelve community groups from Merseyside and Halton have received a funding boost to help make the region a “cleaner and greener” place.
The Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and Veolia Community Fund 2017/18, which has been running annually since 2006, has provided the £115,000 funding.
Community groups from Merseyside and Halton have received a funding to help make the region “cleaner and greener”
With the financial support, the groups will help to reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource re-use, and prevent carbon emissions.
Funded projects include the development of a shop in Wirral to sell used clothes; the repair and re-use of unused furniture for redistribution to the local community in Halton; and, cookery skills clubs to help reduce food waste across Merseyside and Halton.
Successful applicants have been awarded up to £25,000 for schemes which operate across Merseyside and Halton, and up to £8,000 for projects which work solely at local authority level.
Graham Morgan, chairperson of MRWA, said: “Giving groups the opportunity to get involved in looking after their environment can only bring benefits to all and can help us appreciate items as valuable resources rather than something which otherwise might be just thrown away.
According to MRWA, the impact of the 2015/16 Fund saw 680 tonnes of waste material diverted from landfill and £68,000 of equivalent landfill costs avoided. Projects included providing young adults with cookery skills, delivering workshops on textiles and clothes repair and training people to make furniture from waste.
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Helistrat receives ISO accreditations
Environmental consultancy and contract manager Helistrat, has been awarded its ISO accreditation for the seventh year running.
The ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) certifies companies on a set of requirements that an organisation must fulfil in order to demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of its management systems.
Helistrat, has been awarded its ISO accreditation for the seventh year running
Helistrat has achieved the revised ISO 9001:2015 (Standards of Quality Management Systems) – the new version puts a greater emphasis on leadership engagement and helps address organisational risks and opportunities in a structured manner.
Helistrat also achieved the new ISO 14001:2015 (Standards of Environmental Management) which shows an increased prominence of environmental management within the organisation’s strategic planning processes. Finally, Helistrat maintains its accreditation of OHSAS 18001:2007 (Standards of Occupational Health & Safety Management).
Commenting on the accreditation success, Ben Richardson, trading director at Helistrat, said:
“Here at Helistrat we work diligently at being a customer-centric company, embracing a culture of excellence and accountability. This hard work has been consistently recognised by both the ISO and the OHSAS and we feel very proud that these standards have been achieved so seamlessly this year.”
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WCRS launches Cheltenham waste scheme
Waste services firm WCRS has introduced the ‘Recycling Angels’ initiative in partnership with The Jockey Club, to recover as much recyclable material as possible from events including the Cheltenham Festival and the Randox Health Grand National.
According to WCRS, the aim of the Recycling Angels is to maximise recycling at large-scale events by minimising contamination at the point of segregation and by helping to streamline waste management operations.
The Angels provide a dedicated resource for monitoring recycling levels and assisting cleaners and catering managers in segregating recyclable materials at source.
Marcus Sanders, marketing director at WCRS, said: “Recycling levels at The Cheltenham Festival increased from 60% the previous year to 64% this year, a further increase of 4% which is testament to the hard work and commitment from all catering and cleaning teams on site together with our dedicated team of Angels. WCRS prides itself on delivering a truly tailored service and we congratulate The Jockey Club on their success.”
According to WCRS, the Recycling Angels were trialled at both the Cheltenham Festival in March and The Grand National in April and out-performed all initial expectations.
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Biogen recognised in ‘inspirational’ business report
Food waste processor Biogen has been recognised in the fourth edition of London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report, which identifies fast growing SMEs across the UK.
According to Biogen, the company’s seven anaerobic digestion plants recycle a quarter of a million tonnes of food waste annually from supermarkets, food manufacturers, the hospitality industry and local authorities to produce 13MW of renewable energy and a nutrient-rich biofertiliser.
Biogen operates seven AD facilities across the UK
Adam Feneley, managing director of Biogen, said: “We are delighted to be acknowledged in the #1000companies report by the London Stock Exchange Group.
“We hope the story of our business journey as an operator of just one food waste AD plant 11 years ago to now having a network of seven plants across the UK will also inspire other SMEs to pursue their business goals. Our plants are making a valuable contribution to the UK’s renewable energy requirements and to the UK economy – these are exciting times for Biogen.”
Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Group commented: “LSEG’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report continues to highlight the dynamic, entrepreneurial and ambitious businesses across the country that are boosting UK productivity, driving economic growth and creating jobs.
These companies are the very heart of an ‘anti-fragile’ economy: more robust; more flexible and less prone to boom and bust. We must ensure we continue doing all we can to support high growth potential businesses like these.”
The post News in Brief (15/05/2017) appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
