11th February 2013
On 01 February 2013 Defra launched a Consultation on the draft Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) Regulations, which are designed to control and monitor recyclate output quality. Already, opposing camps are sharpening their arguments. The waste management sector has welcomed the proposals, which are based on a voluntary scheme running since 2007, while reprocessors and recyclers want a tougher inspection regime
1st February 2013
Recent news of Ellen MacArthur’s presence at the World Economic Forum in Davos to recruit “100 CEOs into joining forces with her to take the circular economy to scale” is to be welcomed. The concept of the circular economy is not new. China adopted a Circular Economy Law as the basis for its national economic planning back in 2008, while
28th January 2013
The news that schools are abandoning vocational training courses that do not contribute to their GCSE performance ranking has been greeted with dismay by commentators. The move follows the decision by the Department for Education to reduce from 3,100 to 70 (125 in 2014) the number of vocational qualifications that would count as equivalent to mainstream core subjects, in the
25th January 2013
Councils and private sector waste management service providers are watching anxiously as the row over whether they should be compelled to collect recyclates separately will be tested in the Courts in late February. The Waste Directive says that Councils must introduce ‘separate’ collections for paper, metal, glass and plastics by 2015. The question is whether this literally means collecting these
15th January 2013
Given the parlous state of the economy one would imagine there were more important things for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to worry about, but elevating the seemingly innocuous weekly bin collection to the exalted status of a “fundamental” (or “basic” or even “human”, depending on the passion of the moment) right has meant that the issue
