The investment includes the region’s first installation of state-of-the-art technology, which has made it possible for Peterborough residents to recycle glass bottles and jars through their household green bins since the beginning of March.

The new equipment includes rotating cylinders called ‘trommels’, powerful magnets and photo-spectrum scanners that automatically sort materials. These machines and a strict quality control procedure, which includes hand-picking to remove unsuitable items, ensure that the materials sent for re-processing meet industry standards.

“The materials recycling facility is at the core of the city council’s success in being the top recycler among the UK’s unitary authorities,” said Councillor Murphy.  “The support of local residents means we set a new record by recycling and composting more than 46 per cent of household materials in 2007/08. (more…)

The Crossgates waste depot run by Viridor in Redditch was initially closed while inquiries were being carried out.  Viridor said that it had informed customers of the difficult situation and provided alternative arrangements to minimise disruption to its waste and recycling services.  This included sending material to other Viridor operated material recycling facilities in the region, such as its facility in Ipswich.

A post-mortem examination on the body has proved inconclusive and further tests are now being carried out.  The identity, age and ethnicity of the man are not yet known and the death is currently being treated as “unexplained”. 

Collecting garbage and recyclables in California is about to get a lot cleaner, thanks to a joint venture between Linde North America and Waste Management that will create the world’s largest facility to convert landfill gas into clean vehicle fuel.

Waste Management, North America’s largest waste management company, and Linde North America – part of The Linde Group, a leading global gases and engineering company, today announced a joint venture to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, located at the Altamont Landfill near Livermore, California to convert landfill gas into a clean vehicle fuel. The project offers a unique opportunity to “close the loop” by fueling hundreds of collection trucks with clean fuel produced from garbage. (more…)

Acciona Energia, the leading wind power company, has announced a 500 million euros investment into 2 new solar thermal plants in Palma del Río, Cordoba, in southern Spain.  Each plant will have a capacity of 50 megawatts and together they should be able to power around 75,000 homes a year.  The solar energy plants should be operational by 2010. “The plants will cover the area of about 260 hectares, or 364 soccer fields, comprising 1,520 solar collectors and a truly mind boggling 364,800 mirrors which will focus the sun’s rays into the collectors. ”

Lord Smith will take up the position in July, and will be paid £102,000 a year (not bad for a three-day week).  Lord Smith was the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury in north London until 2005 and has been described as having “strong leadership experience” and a “long-term commitment” to green issues by Mr Benn.

Following the floods of last summer, around 8,000 people in East and South Yorkshire are still unable to return home due to their properties being too badly damaged to live in and are still being repaired.  This has led to the Environment Agency being warned to improve defences, which have been described as “confused and chaotic”. 

The 330ml bottle is 13mm shorter and 0.1mm wider than the original design.

All Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero glass bottles will be made in the lighter-weight format from now on.

The new redesigned bottle weighs in at 210g compared to the old 263g bottle, which was originally developed in 1916.

The firm said converting to the lighter packaging would cut its raw glass usage by an estimated 3,500 tonnes and CO2 emissions by 2,200 tonnes annually. (more…)

The campaign is being run by Recycle Now, and will encourage householders to recycle their old Christmas trees, compost their vegetable peelings and drop off recyclables at supermarkets and recycling centres.  Fridey Cordingley, head of Recycle Now, said:

“The amount of extra rubbish produced over Christmas is staggering but there are lots of different ways to help cut this down. (more…)

It is the first such meeting since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave warning that current evidence for global warming was “unequivocal”.  The annual meeting, organised by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is under pressure to deliver a new global agreement on how to cut rising greenhouse gas emissions.  (more…)

Ever wondered what to do with your old books?  A company called Rebound Designs has put them to good use by making them into these unique bags.  (more…)

VT Group will begin construction of new facilities and infrastructure in 2009, and in the meantime will take over the existing facilities, where it is expected to benefit from initial revenues following financial close some time in 2008. The company will subsequently manage the waste recycling sites for a 25 year period.

Wakefield has already secured government Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding of £33 million for the project, which is valued at £700 million. (more…)