NEWS ARCHIVES
Recently Archived News from 2007 and even older articles below:
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15.09.07 |
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14.09.07 |
Community Composting Workshops - Come and Share your Experiences The Open University together with the Community Composting Network, London CRN and the New Economics Foundation are conducting an important Defra funded nationwide project about community composting. If you are a community based group or organisation involved in composting household or commercial waste we want to hear about your opinions and experiences.
The workshops are free and lunch will be provided. We appreciate your involvement and will pay your travel expenses and we can also offer a small attendance fee (if required and on request). Places are limited. |
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14.09.07 |
LOCAL FOOD PROJECT |
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17.08.07 |
SURVEY REPORT ON COMMUNITY COMPOSTING ACTIVITY |
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13.07.07 |
OPERATION MANAGER NEEDED AT BRADFORD COMPOST CO. |
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13.07.07 |
Defra are having a consultation on the meaning of 'municiple waste' - some local authorities are concerned by the apparent difference between the practical definition used in the Government’s guidance and the legal definition set down in the Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003. This consultation puts forward proposals to amend the definition of municipal waste to resolve the apparent tension with the Government’s interpretation. They are seeking views from interested parties in England (including the Community Waste Sector), particularly waste disposal authorities and their representative organisations. Responses should be received no later than Friday, 21 September 2007. Information and documents may be found on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/landfill-ats/index.htm
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05.07.07 |
JOBS AT BRADFORD COMPOST CO. |
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until |
SECOND CALL FOR COMMUNITY COMPOSTING DEMONSTRATION SITES |
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16.06.07 |
WASTE STRATEGY for England & Wales 2007 |
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23.05.07 |
THE MOST TRAVELLED COMPOST HEAP (probably) COULD BE YOURS |
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MAY |
CURRENT JOBS WITH CCN MEMBERS |
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12.05.07 |
NINE NEW HOME COMPOSTING WORKERS FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE WT |
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09.04.07 |
Food Waste Findings & Guidance Additionally, they have published a report by Dominic Hogg of Eunomia Research, on options for treatment of foodwaste in the UK, which highlights the use of Anaerobic Digestion. This can be viewed at: http://www.wrap.org.uk/applications/publications |
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30.03.07 |
Enviroment Agency Reassurance Following the launch of the Compost Quality Protocol the Environment Agency issued a statement regarding non-complience with the PAS100 standard (the accreditaion of which is currently the only means to prove your compost is not a waste. The following extract is taken from the 'Regulatory Position Statement' on the Compost Quality Protocol which is downloadable from the Environment Agency website at: "How we will treat community composting groups and compost clubs
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29.11.06 |
CCN's Response to the EPP consultation for England & Wales Responses to the consultation should be submitted by the 6th of December
2006 to: |
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29.11.06 |
CCN response to Planning and Pollution Control Consultation for England To download consultation documents go to: Responses should be submitted by 6th December to: |
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29.11.06 |
CCN response to Compost Quality Control Protocol Consultation for the UK The deadline for the consultation is 4 December, it is an on-line consultation to be found at: www.compostqp.dialoguebydesign.net |
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16.11.06 |
New Community Re-cycling Website |
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26.07.06 |
Could your project be a Demonstration Site? |
ARCHIVE : Previous news bulletins
News story headlines are listed under the date of the bulletin. To view a particular story just click on the headline.
11.11.04
- Regional development coordinators for the community waste sector
- CCN response to Defra Recycling Credit Consultation
30.09.04
- Getting Credit for your Compost
- Inner-city food waste compost scheme set for expansion
- UK 'to be hit by plague of flies' - composting could help
- Compost use set to grow in organic farming sector
- New Defra strategy for waste-related research - to inform policy on sustainable waste management
- SEPA's Position on Composting
- "Black Gold" Composting Initiative launched by National Trust
- UK Government urges people to recycle
- New small-scale or backyard composting website
- Germany - electronic "waste sheriffs' inspect organic waste bins
23.09.04
- DEFRA Community Sector Support Programme Consultation
- Gloucester Wildlife trust secure funding for Home Composting Project
- New Reduce & Recycle Guide for North East
- UK - reducing biodegradable waste: Government announces bidders for £30m research programme
- The UK's new rubbish dump: China
- Amid volatile oil prices OECD report calls for policy changes to promote biomass
NEWS ARTICLES
Regional development coordinators for the community waste sector
Following the announcement by Defra of a Community Sector Support Programme the CRN, FRN and CCN are developing regional sector infrastructure to support not-for-profit enterprises involved in waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting. As part of this we are recruiting for Regional development coordinators (£24,295 – £28,610)
Regional support centres will be established in the following provisional regions:
- South West (Bristol/Taunton)
- North West (Manchester, Liverpool)
- Eastern region (Cambridge)
- Yorkshire and the Humber (Leeds)
For details of the posts see our jobs section
CCN response to Defra Recycling Credit Consultation
The CCN response to the DEFRA consultation on Recycling Credits is now available as a word file from here. You can use this to form your own responses to the consultation. As ever with consultations it is vital that as many of you respond as possible so that they take notice of our needs. For once though, responding to this consultation might actually get you some money in the long term, if recycling credits are made more compulsory!
Consultation responses have to be in by Friday 22nd so you do not have long to act on this. Responses should be sent to: e-mail: LAWPP@defra.gsi.gov.uk fax: 020 7082 8764 post: Local Authority Waste Policy and Performance Team, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Zone 7/E14, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.
The consultation documents are available on the DEFRA website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/recycling-credits/index.htm
Getting Credit for your Compost
The recycling credit scheme was launched in 1990 through the Environmental Protection Act. It was designed as a financial instrument to incentivise the recycling and composting of waste by ensuring savings on the waste disposal charges met by waste disposal authorities are passed on to waste collection authorities and in some cases third parties. For community groups the key part has always been the more discretionary element of third party support. Some authorities pay and, as in counties such as Devon and Lancashire, they have a thriving community sector. In other areas, notably unitary authorities, groups have not been able to access credits, and have always had to struggle to raise grant funding to keep afloat. This inconsistent and problematic situation may be about to change.
DEFRA have issued a consultation on potential changes to the system of waste disposal authorities issuing recycling credits in England (Sorry Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). While much of the consultation focuses on how credits are passed from waste disposal to waste collection authorities there are a number of things within it that could have a massive positive impact on your ability to generate income for your project and therefore your long term financial viability.
Current Government (non-statutory) guidance states that local authorities should be "predisposed" to the payment of credits except where, for example, this would interfere with their own recycling programmes or where other contractual arrangements are already in place. It further states that it is within local authorities' discretion to decide on any other circumstance under which payments can reasonably be withheld. This means that while enlightened authorities pay up, there is nothing to make the others pay given they should only feel 'predisposed' towards doing so and ultimately it is at their discretion.
So the big question is how DEFRA are proposing to improve this situation. In the consultation they offer two alternatives. One is to make third party payments mandatory and the other is to update the criteria for recycling credits and make them binding. The latter would mean that they have some discretion to refuse making payments. In the consultation DEFRA state that they prefer the latter.
Of course compulsory credits would be great for the sector, but it seems unlikely that this will happen. The second option still makes it the right of the community group to ask for credits, but the devil is really in the detail. Unfortunately that detail is missing from the consultation. What would the updated criteria be? If the criteria are set around meeting recycling targets, a low performing local authority will not be forced to pay credits that take it above its low recycling targets. Similarly it does not say what a reasonable ground for refusal might be, and perhaps more importantly whether there might be any mechanism by which you might appeal a negative decision.
The second big question they ask relates to how the value of recycling credit is calculated. Given that the landfill tax is set to rise this puts the cost of disposal much higher. Is it really fair to expect a local authority to keep increasing the value of credits accordingly? The alternative is somehow cap the cost. DEFRA offer two options. One is to tie credits to the average cost of disposal, so lower incineration gate fees would be included in setting the credit level. The other would be to set a maximum payment based on the actual cost of collecting and recycling that material. This might lower the credit received by garden waste projects, but it should tie it to genuine operating costs, which is reasonable. It really depends on how the costs of recycling are assessed. Would trucking costs be factored into this, which would raise costs in more rural decentralised areas.
Another interesting conundrum is what to do if the cost of recycling is higher than that of disposal. Given the requirements of the ABPR kitchen waste composting is a costly business, and perhaps, higher at this point in time, than landfill costs for the same material. If groups don't get what it costs them to do the job, how will they afford to run a kitchen waste scheme? At the same time England is unlikely to meet the targets of the Landfill Directive for diverting organic waste form landfill. Any new statutory instrument designed to help England meet it's targets should account for this and should both fully tie credits to actual operating costs and specifically promote the collection and processing of kitchen waste, so that it is not forgotten in the rush to meet English recycling targets, which do not guarantee the meeting of Landfill Directive targets.
There is also some very good news in the consultation. At long last DEFRA seem to be looking positively at the idea of re-use credits. Although this might not mean much too many composters it will have a massive impact for our hardworking friends in the Furniture Re-use Network.
One of the most significant things comes at the end of the consultation. The consultation states that now may well be an appropriate time to issue waste minimisation credits. That would mean home composting promotion projects have the chance to claim credits for the materials they are diverting. Of course this would be extremely difficult to quantify, but community group Network Recycling are working with the Waste Resources Action Programme to develop a robust methodology for quantifying home composting schemes. If this gets the government thumbs up, the future is bright for home composting schemes.
This means the outcomes of the consultation could have a massive impact on the financial viability of community composting across England. As such it is vital that CCN members respond to the consultation, a draft CCN response will posted here soon. Responses have to be in by Friday October 22nd. They should be sent to:
e-mail: LAWPP@defra.gsi.gov.uk, fax: 020 7082 8764 post: Local Authority Waste Policy and Performance Team, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Zone 7/E14, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.
The consultation documents are available on the DEFRA website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/recycling-credits/index.htm
Inner-city food waste compost scheme set for expansion
An innovative inner-city food waste recycling project is set to expand to 5,000 houses in Hackney, East London, using a £300,000 grant. Food waste and cardboard, from residents on an estate in Hackney, has been collected by the East London Community Recycling Partnership since January this year. The project has been sub-contracted by the London Borough of Hackney council. More than 50% of the 375 households on the estate are recycling their kitchen and cardboard waste weekly. And nearly 85% of residents in the tower block dominating the estate are also recycling food waste and cardboard.
Now, with £300,000 from the Big Lottery Fund, the project is set to expand to include 2,500 households in the area by the end of this year and 5,000 by the end of 2005. Commenting on the grant, Cam Matheson, project manager at the Partnership said: "With the amount of participation at the moment, we estimate that on average we compost 35 tonnes a year, but with the expansion this will hopefully rise to about 700 tonnes." Residents collect the food waste a lockable bin and a biodegradable bin liner made of cornstarch, which breaks down in the process. They also receive a powder containing micro-organisms, bran and molasses to put on the waste to prevent food from releasing smells and gases and also to speed up decomposition.
Both the food waste, which was previously sent down a chute at the tower block, and the cardboard are collected loosely from the kerbside and from each flat in the tower block. Mr Matheson explained that removing food waste from the chute was a main driver for the project: "There was a big problem with rats on the estate, particularly in the tower block because of the chute system used to dispose of household waste. Rats were attracted to the smell, but now there is no sign of the rats at all."
After collection, both materials are then composted on-site by ELCRP staff using an aerobic process in a system known as the Rocket composter. This is supplied by Cheshire-based company Accelerated Compost. The machine is roughly the size of an office desk and is able to treat garden and cardboard waste from around 1,000 households. The system turns the waste at 60 degrees for around two weeks until it is pathogen-free and the compost is then used on green areas around the site. For a higher grade product, mainly used in residents' garden boxes, some of the compost is put through a wormery to produce a fertiliser. (letsrecycle.com)
UK - Compost use set to grow in organic farming sector
The use of compost in the UK's organic farming and growing industry could increase by more than 300 per cent over the next three years to around 120,000 tonnes per year and be worth nearly £1 million, according to a report published by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme).
WRAP commissioned the Organic Resource Agency Ltd, the Soil Association's Producer Services, Elm Farm Research Centre and the Henry Doubleday Research Association to undertake an assessment of the needs, scale and value of the markets for composted materials and competing products in the UK organic farming and horticulture sector.
The research showed that the main users of compost are currently organic producers of field vegetables, fruit and protected cropping and, to a lesser extent, container plant enterprises. "Compost is an excellent soil conditioner and has lifted our soil organic matter levels significantly. Crop yields have been consistently good and it is clear there is a high level of biological activity in the soil," said Dr Phil Morley, Company Agronomist at Wight Salads, Europe's largest independent producer of organic tomatoes, who have been buying in BSI quality assured compost from Island Waste Services and Hampshire Waste Services since 1998.
The underlying aim of the research was to obtain current, accurate and robust information to provide WRAP with better knowledge of market demand so that it can track progress towards increasing the use of recycled composted products in high value markets. Based on the experience of organic farmers and growers currently using compost and their predictions of future needs, the study revealed that this particular market for compost is set to grow 133 per cent by 2007, which would more than double its current value.
Current users and non-users of compost, however, both share concerns over compost quality and fear contamination from GM materials, heavy metals, weeds, pathogens and pesticides. WRAP is addressing these issues with work to support compost producers to become certified to the British Standard for compost (BSI PAS 100) and a range of R&D projects assessing product variation and the effect of composting on the presence of pathogens. If these issues are addressed, between 43 and 57 per cent of organic farmers surveyed said they would start to use or increase usage of compost. This could grow the compost market 303 per cent by 2007 - with 309 per cent growth among organic grass and field crop producers and 24 per cent growth within the organic container plant industry. The value of this compost market could reach £965,547 within three years.
The research was carried out between October 2003 and February 2004 using a comprehensive postal survey sent to the vast majority of licensed organic farmers and growers in the UK. The report is based on findings from 405 returned forms (14 per cent). Suppliers of composted products were also contacted for their views on the markets for composted products and competing products in the sector. (THE RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM)
UK 'to be hit by plague of flies' - composting could help
British skies may swarm with twice the current number of flies if temperatures carry on rising, experts warn. Scientists at the University of Southampton (a member of RRF) are predicting the fly population is to soar by 97%, posing a widespread risk to human health. Dr Dave Goulson led the four-year study at a dozen landfill sites, which were plagued by flies every summer. He told BBC News Online: "A small increase in temperature gives whopping great increases in fly numbers."
Dr Goulson, a biological scientist, warns that a bigger fly population may lead to spiralling cases of food poisoning in humans. Food poisoning, normally not seen in winter, could happen all year round. He says warmer weather will also lead to large rises in other insect pests, including some never before seen in the UK. The findings - based on research at landfill sites in Hampshire and the Midlands - come after UK wasp numbers rose to a 20-year high this summer. Dr Goulson told BBC News Online: "Some of the main food poisoning bugs are thought to be carried by flies, so more flies mean small epidemics could become much bigger. "Traditionally, the cold British winter killed off most insects and it took them until well into the spring to recover their numbers, but milder weather has seriously affected this cycle. "This means outbreaks of food poisoning, normally not seen in winter, could happen all year round.
Continental invasion - "We have already seen continental insects invading Britain, such as termites and a new species of wasp. If temperatures continue to rise, it is very likely that we will start to see insects like the Colorado potato beetle, which wipe out potato and bean crops on mainland Europe." Dr Goulson says fly numbers could be cut by composting waste like kitchen scraps and garden clippings, instead of sending it to landfill, where it provides rich food for flies. He added: "Unfortunately flies have become resistant to most insecticides, but simple old fashioned things like fly paper and keeping food covered still do the job." (RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM)
Compost use set to grow in organic farming sector
The use of compost in the UK's organic farming and growing industry could increase by more than 300 per cent over the next three years to around 120,000 tonnes per year and be worth nearly £1 million, according to a report published by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme). WRAP commissioned the Organic Resource Agency Ltd, the Soil Association's Producer Services, Elm Farm Research Centre and the Henry Doubleday Research Association to undertake an assessment of the needs, scale and value of the markets for composted materials and competing products in the UK organic farming and horticulture sector.
The research showed that the main users of compost are currently organic producers of field vegetables, fruit and protected cropping and, to a lesser extent, container plant enterprises. "Compost is an excellent soil conditioner and has lifted our soil organic matter levels significantly. Crop yields have been consistently good and it is clear there is a high level of biological activity in the soil," said Dr Phil Morley, Company Agronomist at Wight Salads, Europe's largest independent producer of organic tomatoes, who have been buying in BSI quality assured compost from Island Waste Services and Hampshire Waste Services since 1998.
The underlying aim of the research was to obtain current, accurate and robust information to provide WRAP with better knowledge of market demand so that it can track progress towards increasing the use of recycled composted products in high value markets.Based on the experience of organic farmers and growers currently using compost and their predictions of future needs, the study revealed that this particular market for compost is set to grow 133 per cent by 2007, which would more than double its current value.
Current users and non-users of compost, however, both share concerns over compost quality and fear contamination from GM materials, heavy metals, weeds, pathogens and pesticides. WRAP is addressing these issues with work to support compost producers to become certified to the British Standard for compost (BSI PAS 100) and a range of R&D projects assessing product variation and the effect of composting on the presence of pathogens.
If these issues are addressed, between 43 and 57 per cent of organic farmers surveyed said they would start to use or increase usage of compost. This could grow the compost market 303 per cent by 2007 - with 309 per cent growth among organic grass and field crop producers and 24 per cent growth within the organic container plant industry. The value of this compost market could reach £965,547 within three years. The research was carried out between October 2003 and February 2004 using a comprehensive postal survey sent to the vast majority of licensed organic farmers and growers in the UK. The report is based on findings from 405 returned forms (14 per cent). Suppliers of composted products were also contacted for their views on the markets for composted products and competing products in the sector. (THE RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM)
UK - new Defra strategy for waste-related research - to inform policy on sustainable waste management
The UK Government's Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra's) Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Howard Dalton, has announced the publication of the research strategy which aims to deliver better-informed sustainable waste management policy development, and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, at both national and local levels.
Professor Howard Dalton said: "This strategy represents a useful step forward in the Government's long-term progress towards finding sustainable ways of managing waste. With good management, we can achieve greater national resource productivity and a cleaner, better-protected environment. To achieve these goals we need a solid evidence base and this waste research strategy, with its strategic focus and plans for disseminating research results, should help us to get closer to this goal."
While placing a particular emphasis on encouraging research into cross-cutting issues, the strategy is based on eight key themes:
- sustainable resource consumption and management
- systems for resource recovery
- residual wastes management
- market development and intervention
- social dimensions,
- environment and health (risk assessment and impact management)
- economics
- decision tools
The 3-year costed strategy for Defra-funded research will help to secure an annual budget of around £5m, available initially through Defra's Waste Implementation Programme (WIP). First calls for proposals are likely to be made in November 2004. Further information can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/wip/research/index.htm Copies of the strategy document (0.3 MB) can be obtained from Defra's website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/wip/research/stakeholder_forum/rdstrategy.pdf (RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM)
SEPA's Position on Composting
SEPA have recently issued a position statement on composting. SEPA's current position is that compost which is being produced for a market, is able to meet the quality standards (for example BSI PAS100) before any blending of the compost with other wastes, materials, composts, products or additives, which has certainty of market and can be put to use without further recovery is likely to be taken to be fully recovered. Existing quality standards cannot be met if mixed waste is composted because the standards are specific to source segregated materials. SEPA and Scottish Executive still considers mixed waste derived composts to be waste and its further use is regarded as a recovery option and will require to be permitted.
The statement details guideline values for Composted material derived from mixed waste used in landfill restoration above the cap and an outline of issues to be considered for a site specific risk assessment. Generally it is expected that if the mixed waste compost meets the guideline values it is likely to be acceptable component of the restoration unless the site for restoration presents particular environmental risk. As restoration of old landfill sites and reclamation of contaminated land are recovery activities stated in the National Waste Plan where composted material is acceptable for these uses the material will be accepted as fully recovered in respect to the landfill directive diversion targets once it has been put to that use.
The full statement is available as a .pdf file at http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/guidance/waste/sepa_comp_position_sep04.pdf
"Black Gold" Composting Initiative launched by National Trust
An exciting new Black Gold Composting Initiative is to be launched at Anglesey Abbey, the magnificent 98 acre National Trust estate in Cambridgeshire, on October 2 2004 at 2pm. Sarah Betsworth, Regional Manager for the National Lottery1, will be present to award the property with a £119,804 cheque to move the project forward.
The project aims to reduce 300 tonnes of green household waste in six local communities in Cambridgeshire and cascade good waste recycling practice throughout both urban and rural communities. The funding will help towards the establishment of a mobile outreach unit, equipped with chipping and shredding capability, create two new jobs, provide twenty new volunteering roles with certified training and provide composting services to local communities in the Cambridgeshire area.
You don't have to venture far from Cambridge to see where the 25 million tonnes we produce each year ends up - in huge holes in the ground. Schemes like Anglesey Abbey's are among a number of initiatives being undertaken by the National Trust that aim to make a real contribution to a cleaner environment by increasing the amount of waste we recycle, diverting it away from landfill. In the first part of this year, Cambridgeshire recycled 39% of its waste compared to the national average of 14%. Although there is a national target to recycle 25% per cent by 2006, Cambridgeshire have been tasked to reach a 44% recycling rate. Waste growth in Cambridgeshire appears to be slowing down with only a 1.8% growth compared to the national average of 3%. Initiatives like 'Black Gold' will contribute to this by encouraging community composting and reduce the amount of garden waste entering the waste stream.
Head Gardener Richard Todd and his gardening team at Anglesey Abbey, have been successfully recycling over 90% of their garden waste for the past three years and recently identified an opportunity for the property to become a waste recycling resource centre. Richard explains, " "Waste is becoming a real problem and unless more of it is recycled where will it go when the land fill sites fill up? By launching the project on October 2 we are inviting the wider community to get involved and encouraging people to adopt similar schemes elsewhere so we can start making a real difference".
In addition to the launch of the Black Gold Composting Initiative on October 2, Anglesey Abbey will also be hosting the 'Choose2reuse' roadshow encouraging people to reuse items that would otherwise go to landfill. Lesley Thomas, a local artist will be making art sculptures from reusable materials and we welcome members of the public to come down and join in. The Cambridgeshire County Council's Recycling Bus will be present and visitors will also be given the opportunity to go on a tour with one of the gardening team to find out how recycling is tackled at Anglesey. Tours start at 11.30am and 2.30pm. If you are interested in volunteering, are a group that needs help recycling your waste products or you just want to find out more, come along on October 2 and get involved in spreading the 'Black Gold' message.
For more information contact: Katy Stephenson, 01284 770557/07966190467 or email katy.stephenson@nationaltrust.org.uk
UK Government urges people to recycle
A new campaign - Recycle Now - is the biggest ever to get England recycling and will be spearheaded by a £10 million multi-media advertising campaign. Defra have provided more than £30 million in funding to help get the word out. Four times Olympic champion Matthew Pinsent will be fronting the campaign and popular comedian and actor Eddie Izzard will be providing the voice-overs for the television adverts, which will feature metal cans, glass bottles and paper being transformed into everyday items through recycling. A new distinctive recycling icon has also been unveiled to provide a clear, generic public call to action.
Commenting on the new campaign, Elliot Morley said: "This is an excellent campaign and it will help to push the country's recycling effort to a higher level. "Recycling is easier then it has ever been before - and it is improving all the time. It's a way every individual can help the environment each day. Five years ago, kerbside collection schemes covered only 40% of homes. Today, more than 2 in 3 homes have kerbside collection schemes and there is an ever expanding network of 'bring' sites at your local supermarket and other convenient areas near your home.
"We need to reduce the amount of waste we generate. It is time to stop thinking of waste as rubbish. So much of the waste we generate could be reused, recycled and transformed from a problem into an asset." Recycling helps the environment in more than one way. A quarter of all of our emissions of methane - a major greenhouse gas, 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide - comes from landfill sites. Less reliance on landfill and more recycling will preserve resources for future generations and reduce environmental impacts. For example, every tonne of glass recycled saves more than a tonne of raw materials. That means less quarrying, less damage to the countryside, less pollution and global warming, and more energy savings.
Last month new figures published by the Environment Minister revealed that two years ago household recycling and composting had increased to its highest level ever of 14.5%. It is expected that England will meet its target to recycle 17% of household waste, the first time such a national target will have been met. However, with a target of a quarter of all household waste to be either composted or recycled by 2005/06 there are tough challenges ahead.
For more information, top tips on how to recycle and to find out where you can recycle see www.recyclenow.com, a new consumer website also launched.
Defra have provided £30 million in funding to assist WRAP in communications and awareness work directly focused on increasing participation in recycling and waste minimisation initiatives in England. Raising public awareness is essential if we are to harness the public's enthusiasm for the principle of recycling, and convert it into action. A significant proportion of the total budget has been allocate to supporting English local authorities in the delivery of local communications and awareness campaigns focused directly on increasing participation in recycling and waste minimisation initiatives. The funding will provide grants for over 100 campaigns being delivered this year and next year.
Key statistics from Defra's Municipal Waste Management Survey 2002/03 published in August are: How much waste are we producing?
- About 25.8 million tonnes of household waste were collected in 2002/03 - an average of 23.8 kilograms per household per week
- The average amount of waste collected via the regular household collection rounds per household was 15.2 kilograms per week (a fall from 15.5 kilograms in 2001/02)
How much waste are we recycling?
- In total, 14.5% (3.7 million tonnes) of household waste was collected for recycling in 2002/03, compared to 3.2 million tonnes (12.5%) in 2001/02 - an increase of 17%
- On average, householders recycled 3.4 kilograms of waste per week - 7% of the average householders weekly waste
What are we recycling?
- for the first time, compostable waste - such as garden and kitchen waste - was the most common material to be collected for recycling from households. 1.2 million tonnes (32% of all materials recycled) - up 24%
- paper and card (previously the most common materials recycled) increased to 1.1 million tonnes (30% of all materials recycled) - up 15%
- half a million tonnes of glass was recycled (13% of all materials recycled) - up 11%
- 0.4 million tonnes of scrap metal and white goods (11% of all materials recycled) were recycled by households
- 27,000 tonnes of tin cans were collected in 2002/03, around the same as in 2001/02. Although this only represents 1% of all recycled materials, they have a high energy recovery which means there are particularly strong environmental benefits in recycling them
- 270,000 tonnes (a 21% increase) of commingled waste was collected for recycling in 2002/03 - a mixture of paper/card, cans, plastic and textiles. The recycling rates for these materials therefore are likely to be even higher!
How are we recycling? in 2002/03 66% of all household recycling was collected by 'bring sites' and civic amenity sites and 34% was collected via kerbside recycling schemes. 'Bring sites' and 'civic amenity sites'
- 'Bring' sites are still the most popular option for recycling waste - although kerbside recycling schemes are becoming more popular
- about 2.5 million tonnes of material were collected at civic amenity and bring sites - a 12% increase over the 2.2 million tonnes collected in 2001/02
- 40% of the waste collected at civic amenity sites was compostable waste (kitchen and garden waste). The other main materials collected were paper and glass (18%), scrap metal and white goods (16%) and glass (15%)
- most of the glass (81%), compost (84%) and scrap metal (95%) collected for recycling were collected at civic amenity sites - very little was collected through kerbside collection schemes.
Kerbside collection schemes
- the proportion of households served by kerbside collection schemes has increased from 58% in 2001/02 to 67% in 2002/03
- the amount of waste collected for recycling through kerbside schemes has in turn increased by 29% to 1.3 million tonnes in 2002/03
- about a quarter of all local authorities introduced a new kerbside recycling scheme during 2002/03
- paper and card is collected from over half of all households, cans from a quarter of households and glass and compost is collected from 21% of homes
- the amount of paper and card collected in kerbside schemes has increased by 22% since 2001/02 whilst the amounts of compost and glass collected have both increased by 40% in a single year
Composting
- there was a 25% increase in the amount of household waste that is being composted - 1.2 million (or 4.6% of all household waste) was collected in 2002/03
- while the large majority of household waste collected for composting comes from civic amenity and bring sites - 84% in 2002/03 - this is slowly falling (from 86% in 2001/02) as kerbside collection schemes expand or are introduced to accept compostable waste
- an estimated 66% of all authorities distributed an estimated 250,000 bins to households for home composting in 2002/03, although only 9% did so free of charge. This is in addition to the 1.5 million bins that have already been distributed.
What's happening to the rest of our waste?
- in 2002/03 the majority (75%) of municipal waste in England was disposed of at a landfill - although this is a 2% decrease on 2002/03 (77%). The amount of waste going to landfill is now at a similar level to 1999/00
- some form of value was recovered from 25% (7.3 million tonnes) of all municipal waste - either through recycling, composting or energy recovery - up by 0.9 million tonnes from 2001/02
The full survey is available from the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/mwb0203/index. htm
New Small Scale and Back-yard Composting site
The Cornell Waste Management Institute has launched a new WWW site: http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/smallscalecomposting.htm The site provides information for both home composters and for educators seeking to promote home composting. Resources include a guide for developing Master Composter programs, information relevant to composting at schools, as well as fact sheets, videos and information on home compost demo sites in NYS.
Germany - electronic "waste sheriffs' inspect organic waste bins
In the Bavarian district of Deggendorf, the Donau-Wald waste management administration union (ZAW) have introduced an 'electronic sheriff' to reduce the amount of contaminants that find their way into the organic waste bin.
Passauer Neue Presse reports that using a detector that is attached to the refuse collection vehicle, it can be ascertained whether or not the bin only contains organic waste. The measuring device is able to detect whether stray materials such as metal bottle tops are present. As part of the pilot scheme, householders will be issued with green and yellow cards: the green card means that the contents of the bin are fine, while the yellow card denotes that there are materials in the bin that do not belong. From November, red cards will be issued to householders who persistently throw away non-organic waste in the green bin. In this case, the bin will not be emptied and the offender will have to find alternative means of disposal.
The pilot scheme is currently running in Deggendorf and the town of Passau. For years the ZAW has been reporting an increase in the amount of contaminants in the organic waste bin, from 1.65% in 1997 to 3.85% between January and May of this year. According to Karl-Heinz Kellermann, director of ZAW, the costs of dealing with contaminated organic waste last year were in the region of EUR150,000. If the new technology proves to be effective, then customers will benefit from the savings in the long run.
The 'electronic sheriff' costs EUR40,000 and has already been successfully employed in other regions. Once the test phase comes to an end, the ZAW will need to decide whether or not to adopt it permanently. (RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM)
23.09.04
DEFRA Community Sector Support Programme Consultation
This £4 million of funding was announced by Elliot Morley at the CRN conference. Consultation to discuss how it should be spent has recently closed. You can read the CCN's response here
The DEFRA consultation papers are available from: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wip-cssp/
Getting Credit for your Compost
The recycling credit scheme was launched in 1990 through the Environmental Protection Act. It was designed as a financial instrument to incentivise the recycling and composting of waste by ensuring savings on the waste disposal charges met by waste disposal authorities are passed on to waste collection authorities and in some cases third parties. For community groups the key part has always been the more discretionary element of third party support. Some authorities pay and, as in counties such as Devon and Lancashire, they have a thriving community sector. In other areas, notably unitary authorities, groups have not been able to access credits, and have always had to struggle to raise grant funding to keep afloat. This inconsistent and problematic situation may be about to change.
DEFRA have issued a consultation on potential changes to the system of waste disposal authorities issuing recycling credits in England (Sorry Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). While much of the consultation focuses on how credits are passed from waste disposal to waste collection authorities there are a number of things within it that could have a massive positive impact on your ability to generate income for your project and therefore your long term financial viability.
Current Government (non-statutory) guidance states that local authorities should be "predisposed" to the payment of credits except where, for example, this would interfere with their own recycling programmes or where other contractual arrangements are already in place. It further states that it is within local authorities' discretion to decide on any other circumstance under which payments can reasonably be withheld. This means that while enlightened authorities pay up, there is nothing to make the others pay given they should only feel 'predisposed' towards doing so and ultimately it is at their discretion.
So the big question is how DEFRA are proposing to improve this situation. In the consultation they offer two alternatives. One is to make third party payments mandatory and the other is to update the criteria for recycling credits and make them binding. The latter would mean that they have some discretion to refuse making payments. In the consultation DEFRA state that they prefer the latter.
Of course compulsory credits would be great for the sector, but it seems unlikely that this will happen. The second option still makes it the right of the community group to ask for credits, but the devil is really in the detail. Unfortunately that detail is missing from the consultation. What would the updated criteria be? If the criteria are set around meeting recycling targets, a low performing local authority will not be forced to pay credits that take it above its low recycling targets. Similarly it does not say what a reasonable ground for refusal might be, and perhaps more importantly whether there might be any mechanism by which you might appeal a negative decision.
The second big question they ask relates to how the value of recycling credit is calculated. Given that the landfill tax is set to rise this puts the cost of disposal much higher. Is it really fair to expect a local authority to keep increasing the value of credits accordingly? The alternative is somehow cap the cost. DEFRA offer two options. One is to tie credits to the average cost of disposal, so lower incineration gate fees would be included in setting the credit level. The other would be to set a maximum payment based on the actual cost of collecting and recycling that material. This might lower the credit received by garden waste projects, but it should tie it to genuine operating costs, which is reasonable. It really depends on how the costs of recycling are assessed. Would trucking costs be factored into this, which would raise costs in more rural decentralised areas.
Another interesting conundrum is what to do if the cost of recycling is higher than that of disposal. Given the requirements of the ABPR kitchen waste composting is a costly business, and perhaps, higher at this point in time, than landfill costs for the same material. If groups don't get what it costs them to do the job, how will they afford to run a kitchen waste scheme? At the same time England is unlikely to meet the targets of the Landfill Directive for diverting organic waste form landfill. Any new statutory instrument designed to help England meet it's targets should account for this and should both fully tie credits to actual operating costs and specifically promote the collection and processing of kitchen waste, so that it is not forgotten in the rush to meet English recycling targets, which do not guarantee the meeting of Landfill Directive targets.
There is also some very good news in the consultation. At long last DEFRA seem to be looking positively at the idea of re-use credits. Although this might not mean much too many composters it will have a massive impact for our hardworking friends in the Furniture Re-use Network.
One of the most significant things comes at the end of the consultation. The consultation states that now may well be an appropriate time to issue waste minimisation credits. That would mean home composting promotion projects have the chance to claim credits for the materials they are diverting. Of course this would be extremely difficult to quantify, but community group Network Recycling are working with the Waste Resources Action Programme to develop a robust methodology for quantifying home composting schemes. If this gets the government thumbs up, the future is bright for home composting schemes.
This means the outcomes of the consultation could have a massive impact on the financial viability of community composting across England. As such it is vital that CCN members respond to the consultation, a draft CCN response will posted here soon. Responses have to be in by Friday October 22nd. They should be sent to:
e-mail: LAWPP@defra.gsi.gov.uk, fax: 020 7082 8764 post: Local Authority Waste Policy and Performance Team, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Zone 7/E14, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.
The consultation documents are available on the DEFRA website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/recycling-credits/index.htm
New Reduce & Recycle Guide for North East
The latest Waste Minimisation and Recycling Guide - published by the Environment Agency - is available free of charge to the public, businesses and organisations who want to find out more about methods of reducing their rubbish or how to go about recycling it. Graeme Warren, Agency Northumbria Area Manager, said: "How many people simply throw away items in the bin and don't think about what happens to them. "Our rubbish has to go somewhere and the majority ends up in landfill sites which are filling up rapidly. People need to take a serious look at what they are throwing away and whether it can be reused, recycled or even prevented from being produced in the first place." The guide, sponsored by the Government Office for the North East and a number of local councils, includes a wealth of information and top tips. There are details of waste minimisation clubs and programmes for businesses and organisations, plus details of who can help in the battle against the build-up of rubbish.
Addresses of all the north east's household waste recycling centres, and what they take, are featured, along with facts about composting and organisations dealing with different types of waste. The guide is backed by the Byker and Newcastle Waste group (BAN Waste) - a city-wide community organisation working in partnership with Newcastle Council to look at the best waste strategy for the city.
Copies of the guide are available from: External Relations, Environment Agency, Tyneside House, Skinnerburn Road, Newcastle Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7AR or by telephoning 08708 506 506 and asking for the External Relations team at Tyneside House.
Gloucester Wildlife trust secure funding for Home Composting Project
The Don't Waste Wildlife project brought on board 275 composters in its first pilot year up to the end of last June. Of these, 162 were new composters. The new funding from the Community Recycling and Economic Development (CRED) Programme, which has come from the Big Lottery Fund, means the project starts again this autumn with even more resources than before. Further funding has come from Grundon Waste Management and the seven local authorities of Gloucestershire to realise the £180,000 project over the next two and a half years.
Don't Waste Wildlife is all about getting communities across Gloucestershire to choose compost as the wildlife friendly solution to reducing organic waste; shifting household lifestyle choices to reduce waste collected and disposed of by local authorities. There will be twelve areas targeted over the period of the project: Matson in Gloucester; Chalford and Wotton under Edge in Stroud; Churchdown in Tewkesbury; Charlton Kings and Springbank in Cheltenham; Lower Slaughter, Bourton on the Water and Watermoor (Cirencester) in the Cotswolds; Newent, Newnham and Blakeney in the Forest of Dean. In addition general composting information will be available for anyone interested.
Activities will include visiting communities to promote composting to householders, arranging weekend open events where families can get what they need to start composting, organising workshops, young people's projects and a high profile event for International Compost Awareness Week in May each year. The project will be run by Project Managers Rosalind Cookson and Alison Ensor who have been the pioneers for the initiative.
Rosalind Cookson, Project Manager said "We want to engage with all members of the community and help everyone to enjoy composting and the benefits that it brings to nature in their garden and local area. We want to show people that composting is an easy activity to integrate within the home and that the results (wonderfully fertile mulch) can provide hours of fun in the garden! "
Alison Ensor added "We have a number of key messages to promote because there is a lot of misunderstanding or lack of clarity on why composting is important and how people can easily get involved. The key one is that although everyone thinks of kitchen and garden compost as being biodegradable, what actually happens in landfill sites is quite different. Nasty gases are produced because there is no air getting into the enormous heaps of rubbish. Composting this element is a much better solution for organic waste where it can become part of a garden system which encourages wildlife. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust wants to play an important role in making people realise the connection between how we live our lives and the effect that has on the natural environment." The project's target is to get 6,000 households in Gloucestershire composting which, by the end of the project, will be saving a fantastic 800 tonnes of waste a year from landfill. Community groups will also be encouraged and helped to set up community composting schemes or community allotments/gardens; the pilot project was already working with five such groups.
Anyone wanting more information about Don't Waste Wildlife can email: compost@gloucswt.cix.co.uk or visit http://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk - Activities/Wildlife Gardening section, or phone the Trust on 01452 383333.
UK - reducing biodegradable waste: Government announces bidders for £30m research programme
Seven preferred bidders have been named by the UK Government's Environment Minister Elliot Morley in the first round of a programme which aims to fund pilot schemes of cutting-edge waste technologies to treat and divert biodegradable municipal waste (BMW), such as kitchen and garden waste, away from landfill.
The pilot schemes, which will be run in partnership with local authorities and industry, will help to establish the technical and commercial viability of emerging and near-market waste technologies, providing more confidence for industry and local authorities on the economic and environmental feasibility of these 'new' technologies.
The New Technologies Demonstrator Programme (NTDP) is one of two funding programmes which have been designed to help encourage the take up of new technologies in the treatment and diversion of BMW. In total, over £30 million funding will be delivered through the programme to encourage innovation in waste management technology to reduce and divert biological municipal waste.
The diversion of BMW from landfill is a key objective under the Landfill Directive. One tonne of biodegradable waste produces between 200 and 400m3 of landfill gas. Landfills released 25% of the UK's methane emissions in 2001, about 2% of UK total greenhouse gas emissions.
Preferred bids in this first round span a range of technologies including anaerobic digestion, aerobic digestion, mechanical biological treatment (MBT), pyrolysis, gasification, and in-vessel composting. They are:
- WasteGen UK Ltd - pyrolysis and/or gasification
- Devonshire County Council - pyrolysis and/or gasification
- Premier Waste Management Ltd - MBT/in-vessel composting
- Greenfinch Ltd - anaerobic digestion * Golder Associates - MBT/anaerobic digestion
- ADAS Consulting - MBT/in-vessel composting
- Fairport - material separation/complex material recycling facility/gasification
Five operational demonstration plants are planned for the end of 2005, with a further five by the end of 2006. All of the pilots will be regulated to strict environmental standards and are likely to run over two years. Ultimately, the facilities will be made available to local authorities and industry to help inform waste management decision making.
The New Technologies Programme is part of Defra's Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) launched in May this year to deliver the work outlined in the Government's response to the Government's Strategy Unit report 'Waste Not, Want Not'. The WIP has eight work streams, five to be delivered by Defra and three by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme).
The New Technologies work covers four key areas, including the two funding programmes announced in January 2004. Allocated around £2m, the Waste Research & Innovation Programme will address the current lack of funding for R&D projects into new technologies to deal with BMW. On a much larger scale, the Demonstrator Programme will provide around. £30m to help to establish new waste treatment technologies that require pilot plants to demonstrate their viability. It is designed to reduce the perceived risk of implementing new technologies that are unproven in the UK and provide accurate technical and economic data.
The other two work streams are a Data Centre that will bring together current data and research on new and emerging technologies, as well as the results of the R&D and Demonstrator projects selected for funding, and the Support Programme to disseminate the results to all the relevant stakeholders, particularly local authorities. Source: THE RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM
The UK's new rubbish dump: China
New government figures suggest that exports to China are running at 200,000 tonnes of plastic rubbish and 500,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard a year - a huge increase on just three years ago. Much of the plastic sent to China is packaging but a Guardian investigation has found that agents for Chinese companies are now buying up and exporting thousands of tonnes of unwashed bottles, containers, and other household waste.
"China is buying up everything it can. It is sucking in material from all over the world and it doesn't give two noodles what it takes," said one plastics recycler who asked not to be identified. "I know of 300 firms, mostly in China, offering to buy my plastics. I have three or four companies cold-calling me every day from China requesting material. They have very cheap labour to sort the material but the shame is that it is being done there and not here. They don't care about the quality, or the contamination. No one checks what is sent or what arrives."
The British plastics industry admits that the global trade is starving some local recycling initiatives of materials and putting established firms out of business or at risk. According to UK plastic recyclers, agents for Chinese companies areoffering £120 a tonne for mixed plastic bottles, far more than British companies can pay. "The industry here can only support £50 a tonne. We believe that 10-15,000 tonnes of old bottles are going to China. Yet only about 25,000 tonnes were collected last year", said Stephen Chase of Chase Plastics.
"The Chinese put me out of business," said Edward Clack, a plastics recycler who invested in two recycling plants in Britain. "Everyone has lost supplies to China. The local market is being starved of materials. Hundreds of brokers are buying up the plastic and shipping it out. It's cheaper to send a container to China than to Scotland."
China drives the global waste trade, importing more than 3m tonnes of waste plastic and 15m tonnes of paper and board a year. But the trade is being driven equally by tough EU legislation forcing local authorities and businesses to recycle more. Landfill charges are rising steeply, making it relatively cheaper to send the waste abroad. Meanwhile, major companies have moved in, offering to collect and dispose of large quantities. The trade is made possible by the vast numbers of shipping containers arriving in Britain with Chinese exports. One of Britain's largest freight forwarding companies confirmed that the return waste trade to China is accelerating rapidly.
"We are shipping a phenomenal amount of waste, maybe 15,000 tonnes a week to China," said a spokesman for Warrant freight forwarders of Liverpool. The current price for sending a standard 26-tonne container of waste plastic to China, he said, is about £500.
The Tanjin Songzi Import and Export Trade company based in the huge port of Tianjin Xingang is typical of the growing trade. "We are specilize [sic] in import the scrap plastic bottle, waste plastic, waste paper. Europe origin. Please show me your offer," says its advertisement on an international plastics exchange website brimming with traders wanting the raw material for the Chinese industrial revolution.
Most Chinese plastic waste importers want pictures of what they are buying, but some are are not fussy. "We buy all types, such as the mineral water bottles, pure water bottles and plastic bottles of other drink. Any specifications will be fine. If you can supply, please email," says Mr Lee of a Shanghai company on the same site. Western plastic companies are setting up in China, but some of the poorest people are employed to sort and recycle the plastic. "Plastic is now one of the biggest industries in Guangdong province, but much of the work is being done by migrant labour earning a pittance," said Martin Baker, of Greenpeace China.
"I would say that Britain is dumping its rubbish in the name of recycling. It is not responsible recycling that is being done. It is reprocessing, but the methods being used are still mostly rudimentary. There are some good factories, but on the whole it is small scale, done in backstreets with little environmental standards. People are burning plastic, sorting it by hand, the water gets polluted and it goes back into the rivers," he said.
UK supermarket chains, some of the largest generators of plastic packaging waste in Britain, are all getting their recycling done in China, said a spokesman for Sainsbury's. "We send 5,000 tonnes of plastic there a year. We used to send it to a firm in Nottinghamshire, but it has closed down," he said. "We looked for others in Britain but no one could match the Chinese option for quantity or price. We would love to see it being recycled here, but it's not possible at present." But Ian Bowles, a spokesman for Asda, said he did not know where the company's plastic recycling was being done. "UK companies pick it up. As far as we know it's being reprocessed here. It could be that excess quantities are going abroad." Other retailers known to be generating large quantities of plastic waste, including Tesco, did not respond to questions about where their recycling was being done.
No detailed studies have been done of the environmental costs of shipping vast quantities of waste from Britain to China, but environment groups and MPs were yesterday shocked at the scale of the trade. "Exporting lightweight packaging waste to China makes little sense environmentally," said Liberal Democrat MP Sue Doughty. "It is a failure of the UK recycling market which allows the UK to export plastic for recycling. We have no control over environmental standards in China. Instead of solving the problem we are exporting it. Much more needs to be done to stimulate the markets in the UK so that waste is handled as close as possible to the point of generation." Clare Wilton, wastes spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth, said: "People will be shocked that some of the newspapers and empty drinks bottles they put out for recycling can end up in China. It's an environmental disgrace. The solution is to expand the UK's own recycling industry. This would be good for the environment, create local jobs and help Britain become a leader in green technology."
Sending plastic bottles to China is "barmy", said Mike Croxford, manager of Newport Wastesavers, which collects 50 tonnes a month of plastic from 50,000 homes in south Wales. "We should be dealing with the stuff here, but the reality now is that most plastic in Britain is going abroad. I don't think the public knows where some of it goes. If they knew it was going right round the world, they might not encourage it."
But other recyclers said it was better to send rubbish to China to be recycled than to put it in landfill in Britain. Andrew Simmons of the Peterborough-based waste charity Recoup buys millions of plastic bottles from UK councils, bales them up, and sells them to a reprocessor who then sells them on to Europe or, increasingly, to China. He rejected claims that Britain was dumping its rubbish on China and said that the environmental cost of sending bottles thousands of miles was negligible compared with making "virgin" plastic bottles from oil. China is increasingly aware that countries are exporting their pollution to them and have imposed strict laws governing what can be exported. Large amounts of German household waste have been found and all waste exports from Japan have recently been halted after electronic and contaminated household waste was found. However, the Chinese authorities, plagued by corruption, are unable to check the contents of all the waste containers that arrive in Chinese ports every year.
British plastic bottles are mostly sent to Hong Kong where they are sorted and "flaked" before being sent to factories on the mainland. "One type of plastic bottle goes on to make soft furnishings and clothes, another is made into pellets which are sold back to European manufacturers to make things like plastic bags," said Mr Simmons.
This insatiable demand for the world's rubbish, he said, has actually boosted the British market for plastic recyclers, raising the price and making it far more worthwhile for councils to collect and not dump it in landfill. Partly because of this, more than half of all British local authorities now offer plastic recycling.
More and more British plastic is likely to go to China, said Tim Frier of Valpac, whose subsidiary, Valiant, collects waste from more than 5,000 businesses in Britain, including supermarkets, pubs and clubs, and sends up to 15,000 tonnes of plastic to China a year. Valpac has just opened an office in China. "We will be sending more there. But they have strict rules. The problem was that a lot of waste going to China was contaminated, and not being sorted properly. There were concerns about British waste, too," he said.
The government insists that companies have export licences but few if any checks are made in British ports. The Environment Agency admits that it is unable to check what is being exported. "There is a legitimate trade in waste exports for recovery involving materials such as paper, ferrous metals, plastics and card. These wastes are classed as 'green list' and are not subject to the same level of control as wastes classed as hazardous," said a spokesman. Source: the Guardian via Resource Recovery Forum
Amid volatile oil prices OECD report calls for policy changes to promote biomass
Plants and animal waste could become viable alternatives to fossil fuels in providing energy and materials if governments changed strategies, according to a new OECD report. Instead of offering financial incentives or subsidies to stimulate the use of such organic material, known as "biomass", governments should encourage technical innovation as a way of narrowing the price gap with oil and gas products. This would stimulate demand and boost the supply of bioproducts.
Indeed, the recent volatility in oil prices has underlined the potential increased cost competitiveness of energy and raw materials produced from biomass. The report considers that financial incentives for bioproducts, currently used in many countries, should be avoided as they distort markets and lead to a long term dependency on subsidies.
Agriculture as a whole is under pressure to reduce overall support levels and establish carefully targeted policies and market-based approaches. Similarly, the report argues against subsidies favouring the use of fossil fuels. According to the report, long-term strategies should be developed that recognise the potential of local resources and encourage the establishment of bio-refineries to recycle a range of farm by-products in addition to using grains, oilseeds and sugar.
Such complexes would be capable of producing both energy and materials derived not only from annual crops but also grass, short rotation trees, cereal straws and other by-products. The report, Biomass and agriculture: sustainability, markets and policies, comprising a series of papers presented by international experts, argues that a significant shift could take place this century from a fossil fuel to a biomass-based economy.
To aid this process it suggests creating carbon markets which would provide credits to biomass producers for displacing fossil fuels. The report also reveals that: The prices of some niche market bioproducts such as plastics derived from arable crops are already competitive with certain petroleum-based plastics. The car industry, for example, is making increasing use of bioplastics. Around 7% of heat generation and 1% of total electricity in OECD countries is provided by agricultural bioenergy. In developing countries an estimated 25% of total energy demand is met by biomass, principally in the form of firewood and animal dung. Because bioethanol, produced from sugar and grains, can be used in existing engines with little modification, it is easier to exploit than other alternative transportation fuels such as hydrogen.
The report calls for international standards and codes of practice to be established for biomass products to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and environmental benefits are maximised. A better assessment of costs and benefits taking into account economic, environmental and social aspects is therefore needed. It adds that clear lines of communication should be established between the suppliers, processors and potential users. Also, public education campaigns about the biomass sector should be developed.
The report itself (in printed format) is for sale through the normal outlets, but the separate papers which comprise the report are available online, free of charge from OECD's website at: http://webdomino1.oecd.org/comnet/agr/BiomassAg.nsf SOURCE: THE RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM
