O.Kay awarded MRF contract
William M Briers & Son has already purchased a site with a 30,000 sq ft building in Tamworth and intends to name the facility ‘The Sort' upon completion later in the spring. The MRF is expected to sort industrial, commercial and trade waste collected by the company, as well as domestic household waste, including materials such as glass. The plant is intended to be flexible in its ability to process multiple types of waste.
Edwin Briers, managing director of William M Briers, said: “I was very pleased with the quality of workmanship of the conveyor system and the support offered by O.Kay Engineering representatives before, during and after completion of the project.”
Blue Peter presenter visits Verdant
Shown at 4.35pm on Tuesday (March 24), the episode saw Blue Peter presenter Andy Akinwolere joined a Verdant recycling collection crew as it undertook its collections in Stratford-upon-Avon district council and then followed the collected materials to Greenstar's 300,000 tonnes-a-year capacity materials recycling facility at Aldridge near Birmingham for them to be sorted.
The footage is available to view on the BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.
Yorwaste invests £1.2m in recycling capacity
North Yorkshire-based waste management company Yorwaste has completed a £1.2 million investment to increase the recycling capacity at two of its sites.
The company has extended its facilities at Seamer Carr, Scarborough, and Tancred, near Catterick, to enable it to recycle a total of more than 100,000 tonnes of extra waste per year. At Seamer Carr, Yorwaste has completed a new 1,500 square metre facility to handle construction and demolition waste as well as general recyclable material, while at Tancred, a new 600 square metre facility is set to handle only general recyclable materials.
Tim Reay, Yorwaste divisional director for North Yorkshire, said: “This is a major investment for us. The increased capacity that these new facilities provide is a demonstration of our confidence in the long-term market for recycled materials.”
Fife signs up to construction waste pledge
Joining construction firm Laing O'Rourke and Hamilton Waste Recycling, Fife intends to help deliver the voluntary commitment to reduce the amount of waste in the Scottish construction industry by 50% by 2012. The involvement of Fife council in the scheme, which is supported by the Scottish Government, means that the third largest local authority in Scotland intends to become a leading green council in the country. Having been launched in October 2008, so far over 60 organisations have signed up to the voluntary agreement from various sectors producing waste.
Iain Gulland, director for WRAP Scotland, said: “We are delighted to see Fife Council sign up to the commitment and they have demonstrated a proactive position on reducing their waste with both financial and environmental benefits. We look forward to seeing many more Scottish councils and organisations sign up in the future.”
Welsh reuse scheme awarded £25,000
A furniture reuse initiative in Rhondda Cynon Taf has received a £25,000 cash grant to buy a new van for collections and deliveries.
The ‘Toogoodtowaste' scheme, which has been operating in the county borough for more than 13 years, collects pre-owned household goods for reuse in the local community. The money was awarded by the Welsh Assembly-led regeneration project the Heads of the Valleys Programme, which plans to distribute £140 million to projects over the next 15 years.
Lynda Davies, chief executive of Toogoodtowaste, said: “This new vehicle will allow us to go out further into the local community to pick up donated items, this will increase our stock levels and income generated from sales and finally into creating a paid employment opportunity.”
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