LAWR

July 2015 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 19 COMPOSTING ontamination is an issue in every waste stream, but in green waste it is now at "unacceptable levels", according to the Organics Recycling Group (ORG). Highlighting the issue in a recent episode of Countryfile on the BBC, the ORG said education needed to be improved up and down the supply chain. The organisation said this starts with householders and "robust" policing by local authorities and ended with the processing facility and composter. The BBC's report focused on fields in Somerset that had been part of a five-year archaeological survey. The sites were contaminated with all sorts of materials following treatment with green waste – plastic bottles, tins and even a shoe. The presenter, Tom Heap, suggested it was akin to having rubbish fly-tipped on the fields. The compost applied had been licensed by the Environment Agency. Also interviewed as part of the report, the EA's deputy director for agriculture and land management Christine Tuckett said staff would "absolutely pursue" a case of this severity. "I don't believe it is a huge problem [at this stage]," she explained, but promised more resources would be invested in the issue this year. The UK generates about six million tonnes of green waste every year, from business and households. Some councils have removed free collections of garden waste in recent years, moving Compost contamination "unacceptable" BOa: The green way of recycling! energy savings? BOa ecOline Impress baler Our impress baler's, M and D Series, can be delivered with steel wire tying and PP twine tying, combined on one machine. Boa Recycling Program We develop and deliver among other: • Balers (Impress®, Continette, Baseline) • Bag openers • Shredders • reel Splitters • conveyors The BOA BAler Type ecOline cAn reduce pOwer cOnsumpTiOn By up TO 60%. BOa recycling equiPMenT BV T +31 (0) 534 300 300 e infO@BOarecycling.nl www.BoaRecyclIng.com C to paid-for services in order to protect other frontline services as budgets are squeezed. Communication campaigns have, unsurprisingly, also been hit hard. The BBC's report seemed to lay the blame at the door of commercial composters, with Heap quizzing the ORG about the number of "cowboys" involved in the sector. Technical director Jeremy Jacobs admitted some sites hadn't got to the same level as the best. A statement on the ORG's website noted that "whilst most compost sites do have measures in place to remove material that should not be there, this is a time consuming and costly process". Blame game. The BBC suggested 'cowboys' were at work in the green waste sector. We manufacture bespoke Shredders for Shredding... \Clinical Waste \Tyres \Metal \Mobile Shredding \Plastics \Confidential Documents \WEEE \Electronic Media Storage Devices \Textiles \Organic Waste \Fuel Large, coarse, superfine and everything in between at Ulster Shredders. Cogry Works, 65 Creagh Rd, Castledawson Magherafelt. BT45 8EW T. +44 28 7965 0050 F. +44 28 7965 0025 Want to find out more about our range of Industrial Shredders? Email us at info@ulstershredders.com or visit our website. ulstershredders.com

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