22nd May 2012
With 29 million tonnes of active waste still going to landfill in the UK, the concept of zero waste seems a long way off. Our industry estimates that the cost of transition to a more resource efficient future is between £10 and £20 billion. Any investment in this area relies heavily on the continued landfill tax increases imposed by the
1st March 2012
Scrap metal prices have risen dramatically and the regulatory system based around the outdated Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 is not fit for purpose. As a result, we have witnessed and endured a systematic attack on the UK’s infrastructure through the theft of metal over the past few years. The questionable tradition that the scrap metal industry can continue to
30th January 2012
For those who watched the new BBC series Toughest place to be a bin man, you could not escape the irony of the slogan proudly painted on the side of the Hammersmith and Fulham Council refuse collection vehicle. It stated, ‘Recycling is a duty not a choice’. Well yes, perhaps it is in the cosseted world of central London. However,
21st December 2011
As Christmas closes in at an alarming rate, shops burgeon with produce for us to consume. It makes you wonder, where has the Government’s message of zero waste to landfill disappeared to? Us British will get through an alarming rate of packaging and wrapping paper as consumption hits its annual high. Treated in the wrong manner this packaging is destined
18th August 2011
The shock waves are still reverberating around the financial markets following Standard & Poor’s financial downgrading of the US, which saw billions wiped off the stock values of companies in the US before spilling over into the Eurozone with equally devastating effects. In the aftermath, one can reflect that if a similar downgrading occurred in one of the many sustainability
1st June 2011
Front page news in the Telegraph at the weekend read “Government deal means councils will restore weekly bin days”. This is a personal preference of not only Eric Pickles but now David Cameron too.
17th May 2011
I read with interest Philip Johnston’s column in the Daily Telegraph last week where he previewed the new documentary “The street that cut everything”. The programme is hosted by the BBC’s Political Commentator Nick Robinson and centres on the idea of how local residents would cope if all their council services were cut for a six week period.
28th March 2011
Like many of us, I awaited what George Osborne was going to reveal in the 2011 Budget, hoping for creativity in the development of more sustainable energy and environmental solutions for the UK.
21st March 2011
I’m David Palmer-Jones, CEO of SITA UK, one of UK’s largest waste and recycling companies. Since I became SITA UK’s CEO in late 2008, I have been quite vocal in the press. This has been mainly to reflect my frustration at the lack of ability for our industry, due to the vagaries of local planning, to provide the essential new
