LAWR

Energy from waste NEWS The month in resource management Expansion New Middlesbrough site for J&B KEEP ON RUNNING - Waste container services firm Fairport Containers is celebrating smashing its £20,000-charity fundraising target which was set to mark its 20th year in business. Staff members participated in a variety of events to raise money for charity including the London Marathon. The firm's team of runners, welder Lee Swales and long-time friend Max Halsall, drew sponsorship of almost £10,000 for Cancer Research UK by running their first ever marathon. (Pic L-R) Fairport Containers Halsall, Jenny Murgatroyd of Cancer Research UK and Swales. 6 Local Authority Waste & Recycling July 2014 Progress on ReFood Doncaster's anaerobic digestion plant is mov- ing forward, with construction 'well underway' on its two new digesters. Building work started on the expansion in April and is due to complete in late autumn. When finished, the facility will report- edly be the "largest food waste AD plant in the UK". The expansion was made pos- sible by a £6m investment from food waste recycler PDM, which allowed ReFood Doncaster to increase its food waste process- ing capacity from 45,000 tonnes to 160,000 tonnes. The expan- sion at Doncaster is also expect- ed to create a further 30 jobs. Packaging compliance scheme Pennine Pack has launched a new packaging compliance called Ethical Compliance. The scheme will source all of its packaging recovery notes exclusively from the UK. Ethical Compliance has been touted by Pennine Pack as the UK's first low carbon packaging compli- ance scheme. Packaging New compliance scheme unveiled Anaerobic digestion Doncaster AD plant expansion South Bank, to process commercial and industrial materials from customers across South Teesside and North Yorkshire. The new South Tees site has helped to create an additional six jobs at J & B Recycling and will improve efficiency by reducing journey times for deliveries by other waste carriers. Hilary Benn MP (pictured left) for Leeds Central and Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority councillor Neil Swannick (pictured right) officially opened Viridor's resource recovery facility in Sharston, Manchester last month. FCC Environment has wel- comed the announcement that construction is due to start on the 'EnviRecover' energy- from-waste (EFW) plant at the Hartlebury Trading Estate, near Kidderminster. The company says develop- ment of the 200,000 tonne facility is a key part of its long-term strat- egy to move away from landfill to maximising the value of waste. The EfW plant is the final part of an integrated plan to recover value from waste across Worcestershire and Herefordshire. FCC chief executive Paul Taylor said his firm was "leading the way" in EfW development. Move away from landfill begins Waste management firm J & B Recycling is expanding its operations across Teesside after acquiring an additional site in Middlesbrough. The firm has opened a waste transfer station at Dockside Road, Viridor has been awarded a two- year contract to process and sell dry recyclate materials for Kent County Council (KCC). Running until June 2016 (with the option of a further two-year extension, at the discretion of KCC), the contract will see dry recyclables (such as paper, card, plastic bottles, cans, foil and glass) collected from householders in Ashford, Dartford, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Swale and Tunbridge Wells taken to Viridor's Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Crayford. Viridor bid manager June Barlow said: "I'm delighted that the great team work shown in this bid process has produced this result for Viridor.We've success- fully shown Kent County Council how we're stronger in partnership with our customers." Waste management Kent and Viridor link up Law firm Eversheds has advised two UK councils (Herefordshire and Worcestershire) over a varia- tion being made in its £926 million Public Private Partnership (PPP) being used to fund the develop- ment of a 200,000 tonne waste to energy facility in Hartlebury. Waste PPP advice Legal NEWS July 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 7 Selfies and heroes A Facebook page in Tunisia is harnessing the power of the selfie to draw attention to piles of rubbish littering the nation's streets. A selfie is usually designed to portray its subject in a positive light - but Tunisian citizens are subverting that idea, according to the BBC. More than 12,000 people have "liked" a new Facebook page, "Selfi Poubella", set up on 16 May, and scores have sent in pictures of themselves on rubbish-strewn streets. "I wanted to show another image of Tunisia," Cheker Besbes, the journalist who started the page, told BBC Trending. Selfies have been widely used by the Tunisian government itself as part of its drive to connect with the public - in particular by the country's tourism minister, Amel Karboul. But Besbes argues the government images present a glossed-over and idealised image of the country. A new breed of super hero is set to inspire a green generation of chil- dren to save the world from climate change. (www.theecoheroes.com). Created by duo Dave Robinson and Stephen Parkinson, the Eco Heroes show how easy it is to become an Eco Hero and improve the environ- ment where you live. With their motto, "Who Cares? We Care!" the Eco Heroes inspire children to be like them and do more to look after the Earth. This includes recycling more and using less energy. After over two years of design and development, the Eco Heroes are now set to come to life in their very own computer game. In Animal Alert, the Eco Heroes save animals in danger from environmental disasters such as chemical and oil spills. And in a special twist, the game finale sees the Eco Heroes save the people of New York from storms and floods brought about by climate change. Designer and co-creator of the Eco Heroes Dave Robinson said: "Children will be affected by climate change more than anyone else and they hold the key to the future of our planet. Behaviour starts at a young age and the Eco Heroes have been designed to be fun, colourful and exciting so that children want to be and behave like an Eco Hero." A tortoise believed to have travelled almost 300 miles in the back of a lorry was found by Norfolk recycling plant workers moments before being pulped. The animal is thought to have been hibernating in paper sent for recycling at a depot in Silverton, in Devon, a BBC report stated. The paper was transported to a King's Lynn plant where workers found the tortoise while sorting the papers. Mid Devon Council is searching for the owner of the tortoise, which a spokesman described as "intrepid". "It would appear the tortoise must have been hibernating in a black box amongst paper put out for recycling," he said. Recycling Bits and Pieces The month in resource management KEEP ON RUNNING - Waste container services firm Fairport Containers is celebrating smashing its £20,000-charity fundraising target which was set to mark its 20th year in business. Staff members participated in a variety of events to raise money for charity including the London Marathon. The firm's team of runners, welder Lee Swales and long-time friend Max Halsall, drew sponsorship of almost £10,000 for Cancer Research UK by running their first ever marathon. (Pic L-R) Fairport Containers Halsall, Jenny Murgatroyd of Cancer Research UK and Swales. YOUR ROUND-UP OF THIS MONTH'S TOP STORIES ACROSS THE INDUSTRY The Skip Company is celebrating its first year in business with ambitious expansion plans, including launching a new waste management service and creating new recycling revenue Waste management Skip firm celebrates birthday opportunities for businesses across the UK. At a time when any business largely dependent on the fortunes of the construction industry might struggle, The Skip Company has experienced significant growth during the past 12 months, with turnover increasing steadily and expected to approach £1.55m since trading began, by the end of May. Managing director Matthew Davies is pictured below.

• Cover