There been a lot of activity around Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) this week. Of most note is WEEE producer compliance scheme Repic's decision to bring judicial review proceedings over what it calls the “the Government’s failure to close loopholes in the system designed to ensure that WEEE items are recycled”. Read the MRW news story here. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
Repic chief executive Philip Morton calls the WEEE rules "a model of bad regulation" and says they encourage profiteering rather than sound environmental practice. Is he right? And is this also an issue for other aspects of environmental legislation?
Andrea Height, deputy editor, MRW
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
An endearing bin bag?
Is it me, or does anyone else think the black bin bag in the Starve Your Bin television adverts is too cute?
It rifles through the recycling box like a pet dog and then begs Alistair to feed it some more cans. In fact I’m reminded of a dopey old pet that my family used to have and I think, yeah give the bag some more cans!
Surely this is not the response the campaign was after. But the real bin bag in my kitchen does not get cans, plastic bottles or anything else my councils deems fit to recycle. So perhaps I’m being a little harsh.
Yet when I compare it to the earlier poster campaign, I found the two dimensional bin bag character much easier to dislike and I wanted to deprive it of recyclates. Perhaps a creepier, Disney villain voice would’ve worked better on television.
But then this advert isn’t aimed at me is it. I recycle all ready. Maybe it does work on people who don’t. If you haven’t’ already seen it, watch and judge for yourself.
http://www.recycleforlondon.com/starve/tv/
Claire Churchard, senior reporter, MRW
It rifles through the recycling box like a pet dog and then begs Alistair to feed it some more cans. In fact I’m reminded of a dopey old pet that my family used to have and I think, yeah give the bag some more cans!
Surely this is not the response the campaign was after. But the real bin bag in my kitchen does not get cans, plastic bottles or anything else my councils deems fit to recycle. So perhaps I’m being a little harsh.
Yet when I compare it to the earlier poster campaign, I found the two dimensional bin bag character much easier to dislike and I wanted to deprive it of recyclates. Perhaps a creepier, Disney villain voice would’ve worked better on television.
But then this advert isn’t aimed at me is it. I recycle all ready. Maybe it does work on people who don’t. If you haven’t’ already seen it, watch and judge for yourself.
http://www.recycleforlondon.com/starve/tv/
Claire Churchard, senior reporter, MRW
I bought a new hoover....
I bought a new hoover from Curry's the other day. I asked the store assistant that served me if he could take my old one back under the WEEE rules. And he said: "We don't do WEEE take-backs at this store."
He explained that customers that have electrical items delivered by Currys can arrange for the old items to be collected at the same time. But only if they are delivered - you cannot take it back in-store (strange I thought in my mind). So they can recycle it if they deliver it but I can't take it back in-store!!!
I am sure that they launched a scheme in 2007 where you could take back your old electrical appliances at any store. I have to check this one out. The store assistant might have given me some wrong info - I am on a mission to find out!!
N.B. Thank you Brendan for your help. It was actually a Panasonic vacuum cleaner that I wanted to take back. Now, I know that I can take this back to the store I will just dump it inside. I thought I was right but obviously the store assistant did not know what he was talking about. Next time if in doubt speak to the manager!!!
He explained that customers that have electrical items delivered by Currys can arrange for the old items to be collected at the same time. But only if they are delivered - you cannot take it back in-store (strange I thought in my mind). So they can recycle it if they deliver it but I can't take it back in-store!!!
I am sure that they launched a scheme in 2007 where you could take back your old electrical appliances at any store. I have to check this one out. The store assistant might have given me some wrong info - I am on a mission to find out!!
N.B. Thank you Brendan for your help. It was actually a Panasonic vacuum cleaner that I wanted to take back. Now, I know that I can take this back to the store I will just dump it inside. I thought I was right but obviously the store assistant did not know what he was talking about. Next time if in doubt speak to the manager!!!
Monday, 9 March 2009
Inspiration and innovation
Sometimes you meet people who are brimming with so much enthusiasm it really is quite infectious and gives you back your zest for life. Last week I went along to Ecobuild, a trade exhibition for those involved with sustainable design and construction, and met a number of people who had seen an opportunity, had a vision and made it happen.
There was Simon Greer from Nulife Glass, who had spent about 13 years trying to find a method of taking the hazardous lead out of the cathode ray tube (CRT) glass that is found in old television screens and computer monitors. He was told it wasn't possible, but persevered and has now cracked the problem and proved his solution. This means both the lead and the glass can be reused as raw materials and the glass is no longer hazardous. The glass can go into applications as diverse as cufflinks, wall and floor tiles, kitchen worktops and high-grade aggregates.
Working with one of last year's National Recycling Award winners, GLASSeco, Simon has even used some of the glass he had separated out from old TV screens for making his own kitchen worktops.
Donald Crawley, one of GLASSeco's directors, had equally spent about 10 years of his life working out how he could find a better use for glass waste that was ending up in landfill. MRW magazine has previously covered the story of how he experimented with mixing waste glass with resin in his garden shed to create worktops. A chance break led to him making a worktop for an eco-house featured in Grand Designs and judging by the number of people at his stand at the exhibition, it's a product people are really interested in.
GLASSeco is now working with Chamois, who make kitchens using 100% recycled timber panels, so you can get a truly recycled kitchen.
And finally there was Les Owens, the managing director of BuilderScrap, a website designed to prevent construction waste from going to landfill. The free service acts like a match-maker for those wanting building materials and those with building materials to get rid of. A builder himself, Les knows how builders think and operate, so has made the website 'builder-friendly' and easy to upload photos and information from site.
It's built around the premise of why you would want to pay to have skips of perfectly usable material thrown away when you could give it to someone who wants it for free. Why indeed. All three were a really good example of thinking outide the box and finding innovative solutions. And they were a real inspiration.
Andrea Height, Deputy Editor, MRW
There was Simon Greer from Nulife Glass, who had spent about 13 years trying to find a method of taking the hazardous lead out of the cathode ray tube (CRT) glass that is found in old television screens and computer monitors. He was told it wasn't possible, but persevered and has now cracked the problem and proved his solution. This means both the lead and the glass can be reused as raw materials and the glass is no longer hazardous. The glass can go into applications as diverse as cufflinks, wall and floor tiles, kitchen worktops and high-grade aggregates.
Working with one of last year's National Recycling Award winners, GLASSeco, Simon has even used some of the glass he had separated out from old TV screens for making his own kitchen worktops.
Donald Crawley, one of GLASSeco's directors, had equally spent about 10 years of his life working out how he could find a better use for glass waste that was ending up in landfill. MRW magazine has previously covered the story of how he experimented with mixing waste glass with resin in his garden shed to create worktops. A chance break led to him making a worktop for an eco-house featured in Grand Designs and judging by the number of people at his stand at the exhibition, it's a product people are really interested in.
GLASSeco is now working with Chamois, who make kitchens using 100% recycled timber panels, so you can get a truly recycled kitchen.
And finally there was Les Owens, the managing director of BuilderScrap, a website designed to prevent construction waste from going to landfill. The free service acts like a match-maker for those wanting building materials and those with building materials to get rid of. A builder himself, Les knows how builders think and operate, so has made the website 'builder-friendly' and easy to upload photos and information from site.
It's built around the premise of why you would want to pay to have skips of perfectly usable material thrown away when you could give it to someone who wants it for free. Why indeed. All three were a really good example of thinking outide the box and finding innovative solutions. And they were a real inspiration.
Andrea Height, Deputy Editor, MRW
Friday, 6 March 2009
Low carbon future
There is a summit happening today on the low carbon future. Seems recycling isn't part of it as there is only mentions of energy policies from Lord Mandelson and Ed Miliband.
Who is shouting our to publicise the climate change mitigation impact of efficient waste management or recycling and waste minimisation? Or who should be?
Paul Sanderson, editor, MRW
Who is shouting our to publicise the climate change mitigation impact of efficient waste management or recycling and waste minimisation? Or who should be?
Paul Sanderson, editor, MRW
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
PFI funding can only be good news
We are reporting on MRW today that the Treasury is to put £3.5 billion into waste PFI projects.
Infrastructure is desperately needed in the recycling and waste sector and I am sure this will give a welcome boost when commercial funding is proving hard to come by.
My sources tell me Greater Manchester is on the brink of being signed - I'm holding my breath in anticipation! Once it is, and with this funding boost, we might actually see a great deal more on the horizon such as Merseyside and North London.
See the story in full on MRW.
Paul Sanderson, Editor, MRW (Materials Recycling Week)
Infrastructure is desperately needed in the recycling and waste sector and I am sure this will give a welcome boost when commercial funding is proving hard to come by.
My sources tell me Greater Manchester is on the brink of being signed - I'm holding my breath in anticipation! Once it is, and with this funding boost, we might actually see a great deal more on the horizon such as Merseyside and North London.
See the story in full on MRW.
Paul Sanderson, Editor, MRW (Materials Recycling Week)
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Revenge of the bin men
Did anyone watch that Channel 4 programme last night called Revenge of the bin men?
How funny was that! That programme was enough to put you off recycling for life. It seemed to exaggerate everybody's roles (it showed the extreme side of practically everyone). Did the Peterborough recycling officer Emma really have a recycling bin in her bedroom? I am sure I must have been dreaming! I think she went too far with that one.
The menacing music in the background just made for more entertaining TV. It really did sound like there was a war was going on.
The best bit of the show was the showdown between the Hertfordshire resident who wanted to keep the bigger wheelie bins and the councillor. And after all the effort that the Hertfordshire resident put into his campaign to save the bigger wheelie bins nobody backed his cause in the end!
I think the show should have put more emphasis on the fact that we are running out of landfill and councils face huge fines if we keep sending waste to landfill. I think if that message got across then it might have encouraged more people to recycle. I didn't get the overall message of the programme.
But showing enforcement/recycling officers penalising the public "is not a good look". It makes them look callous and calculating, especially when they claim that there is no word for recycling in Polish.
Liz Gyekye, reporter, MRW (Materials Recycling Week)
How funny was that! That programme was enough to put you off recycling for life. It seemed to exaggerate everybody's roles (it showed the extreme side of practically everyone). Did the Peterborough recycling officer Emma really have a recycling bin in her bedroom? I am sure I must have been dreaming! I think she went too far with that one.
The menacing music in the background just made for more entertaining TV. It really did sound like there was a war was going on.
The best bit of the show was the showdown between the Hertfordshire resident who wanted to keep the bigger wheelie bins and the councillor. And after all the effort that the Hertfordshire resident put into his campaign to save the bigger wheelie bins nobody backed his cause in the end!
I think the show should have put more emphasis on the fact that we are running out of landfill and councils face huge fines if we keep sending waste to landfill. I think if that message got across then it might have encouraged more people to recycle. I didn't get the overall message of the programme.
But showing enforcement/recycling officers penalising the public "is not a good look". It makes them look callous and calculating, especially when they claim that there is no word for recycling in Polish.
Liz Gyekye, reporter, MRW (Materials Recycling Week)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
