news

If you are a member and have some news about your project or something to inform the whole network of, pleaseplease create a website account by clicking on the link on the left hand side of this page. After you have logged in you can directly submit a story to this page by using the user menu.

Review of Waste Policies - Call for Evidence

Thursday, 26 August 2010 13:21

Threats and Opportunities
Consultation closes on 10th October

DEFRA is holding a consultation on waste policy and delivery in England. The review aims to look at all aspects of waste policy and delivery in England in the context of creating a “zero waste economy”.

They are holding an online debate looking at their overall approach and the five tiers of the waste hierarchy “prevention, re-use, recycling, energy recovery and disposal”. This general discussion can be accessed from the DEFRA website http://engage.defra.gov.uk/waste-review/ and closes on 9 September 2010. There is also an online survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/waste-review closing on the same date.

As part of the “Call for Evidence”, which allows the public to submit more detailed responses to the review, CCN will be sending our response to DEFRA separately. The Call for Evidence closes on 7 October 2010 and we would like your help in representing the view of the Community Composting Sector.

Friday, 20 August 2010 14:51
The final deadline for all consultation responses is 10th September. A few weeks ago we informed you about some possible changes which would mean community composting (which doesn't meet the PAS-100 quality protocol) would no longer be classed as recycling. Potentially this could be a major blow for many community composting groups, especially those who rely on recycling credits, or who have contracts with their local authorities. These potential changes are coming about due to the transposition of the revised Waste Framework Directive (rWFD) into English and Welsh law - in addition to new targets for waste recycling, the rWFD introduces the "waste hierarchy". In a nutshell, the waste hierarchy classifies waste management strategies according to their desirability - Prevention, Preparing for re-use, Recycling, Other recovery and Disposal. In future the waste hierarchy will need to be considered by everyone (except householders) producing waste. The proposed changes would mean non-PAS 100 compost would be considered "recovery" and not "recycling", and thus only one stage above "disposal".
Read more...

CCN Annual Conference 2011- Save the Date

Friday, 20 August 2010 09:58

The next CCN conference/AGM will be held on Saturday 5th March 2011 (with an opportunity for dinner/socialising on the Friday night) at the Discovery Centre, Green Estates, Sheffield. Last years AGM was a rather serious affair but we want this event to be as fun, interesting and informative as possible. The programme will be announced at a later date and suggestions on what you'd like the day to include are strongly encouraged. Please join in the discussion on our shiny new forum or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Consultation: revised waste framework directive

Friday, 16 July 2010 14:51
Defra has launched a consultation on how to implement the revised EU Waste Framework Directive in England and Wales, and your views are being sought. The consultation closes on 16 September 2010 and can be found here. We've had a read through the consultation document and noticed one area of concern for Community Composters. DEFRA are proposing that the definition of recycling (as it relates to Article 11(2)(a) : Household Waste Recycling Targets) only includes compost which meets national end-of-waste criteria for compost and digestate (PAS100 and PAS111). Any composting which isn't PAS100 will instead be classified as recovery (this is further down the waste hierarchy and will not count towards recycling targets) even though DEFRA acknowledge that such compost can be used on land for beneficial purposes.
Read more...

Your Freedom to Compost

Friday, 16 July 2010 14:50

The Your Freedom website was launched on 1 July by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. The website gives you an opportunity to suggest ideas on repealing unnecessary laws and stripping away excessive regulation on businesses and third sector/civil society organisations. Here at CCN we have put together a suggestion under the "Cutting business and third sector regulations: Which regulations do you think should be removed or changed to make running your business or organisation as simple as possible?" category that restrictions on composting food waste by community groups should be relaxed.

We are sure that all CCN members would agree with that! We don't know if government will really listen to the publics suggestions but we felt it was important to represent our members. You can read our suggestion here: Please be sure to vote and leave comments to show your support!

Third Sector Capacity Building Programme

Tuesday, 01 June 2010 14:37

Free Support to help your organisation grow

Does your organisation help to reuse, recycle or compost materials or resources?
Are you looking to improve, extend or grow the services that you provide?
If so then we may be able to help you.

The Third Sector Capacity Building Programme is run by WRAP and REalliance to help community organisations and social enterprises reach their full potential and in doing so to help the communities they serve and have a positive effect on the environment.