Friday 27 February 2009

How aware of WEEE are we?

It's the end of another week and here at MRW we are wrapping up the feature pages that will be in next week's issue of the magazine. We'll be focusing on WEEE (waste electronic and electrical equipment) and, given the recent national spotlight thrown on the UK's WEEE system by Sky News and Greenpeace, it is timely.

While introducing new legislation is never going to be easy, some of the WEEE recyclers who comment in the upcoming issue of MRW raise some interesting points that must be addressed if the industry is to free itself from some of the negative publicity it gets.

Does everyone involved in the WEEE chain really know exactly what happens to the WEEE they have handled? Are they sure it is being treated in a way that meets the environmental aims of the directive? Is there enough enforcement of the regulations to ensure that rogue operators are shut down and those that have invested in environmentally sound operations flourish?

Also, do the public even know about the need to recycle their e-waste? A much-awaited WEEE publicity campaign was announced by BERR and WRAP last December - although MRW didn't see anything other than the initial press release.

We decided to ask WRAP what had happened to this to be told a "pilot project" would be run in "a number of localised areas" throughout the month of March and that the PR activity ahead of Christmas was a "precursor to the main pilot campaign". That wasn't made clear in the initial release but wouldn't it be easier to run a blanket national WEEE awareness campaign? Do we really need a pilot and precursor to a main pilot? Having run campaigns to increase the recycling of materials such as paper, glass and cans, shouldn't we know how to run a recycling publicity campaign by now?

Anyway, MRW is pleased to note that the North London Waste Authority will be running this WEEE campaign in Camden where the MRW office is based - so we will be keeping our eye out for it! In the meantime, if you spot the WEEE campaign where you are let us know!

Andrea Height, Deputy Editor, MRW

Thursday 26 February 2009

Recycling, waste of time?

Sadly, the furore over whether recycling is a waste of time or not continues. The cover story on the Guardian’s G2 seems to question the veracity of recycling as a green way to deal with waste.

It references recent reports of Nigeria receiving old TVs from the UK in the guise of reuse and the apparent “collapse” in demand for recyclates. It also looks at the option of energy-from-waste (or incineration as the report inaccurately identifies it) as if it is an either or situation. A holistic solution encompasses both.

But wait, the article also gives materials recycling facility operators the chance to discuss their businesses and “bust some myths”.

But there is a certain disdain in tone used by the reporter, with talk of “the stench” and “a loud confusion” of machinery. The article also claims there is a “crisis of confidence” in recycling. Yet this crisis is very much the product of a history of unbalanced media based debate, led in the main by a certain tabloid.

If the article aimed to set the record straight and give a balanced view, then this aim is undermined by the implied negativity in the cover title: “Is recycling a complete waste of time?”
And unfortunately, not everyone will read to the end of the article’s five pages, especially with such unflattering pictures to focus on.

To read the article online go to:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/26/recycling-waste-environment

Claire Churchard, senior reporter, MRW

Wednesday 25 February 2009

Easter egg packaging

Apparently some Easter egg manufacturers have managed to reduce the amount of packaging on their products by about 50%! Well done! Read about reduced Easter egg packaging here.

Easter egg packaging is never going to be a huge proportion of the waste stream as it is seasonal in nature and therefore volumes aren't high. But it is hugely symbolic of wasteful packaging where most of it is for sales impact rather than protection of the product.

The most environmentally friendly option would probably be to buy a bar of chocolate, but that wouldn't be much fun would it?

Paul Sanderson, Editor, MRW and http://www.mrw.co.uk/

First post

Hello,

This is the first post for the MRW editorial blog.

More to follow....