4th March 2016
In order to achieve a circular and more resourceful future we, as individuals, need to challenge many of the small conventions present in our everyday lives. In my view, making the transition to a more circular society in easy-to-manage, ‘bite-sized’ chunks is essential and will ensure that everyone in society comes along for the ride. Take, for example, restaurant food
25th January 2016
The circular economy has been so extensively studied over recent years, at least at the level of principles and policies that coming up with fresh and novel angles is becoming increasingly difficult. For all the qualities we have come to expect – comprehensive, well written, full of interesting material flow and economic data difficult to obtain elsewhere – the latest
13th November 2015
The news that Defra is to face a budget reduction of 30 per cent over the next four years will not come as much of a surprise to most waste-watchers if that departmental cut is salami-sliced across to Rory Stewart’s waste and resources team. Given the low-key approach to waste management that Defra has taken over the past few years,
23rd October 2015
The news that Birmingham City Council (BCC) has not only missed its 2014/15 household waste recycling target of 35 per cent by six percentage points, but has also downgraded its 2015/16 target from 35 per cent to 30 per cent highlights many of the concerns SUEZ and others in the waste management sector have expressed to the new government. Firstly,
23rd October 2015
Clocks are changing, the weather turns and the new academic year is in a full swing. Universities and colleges are overflowing with a sea of ‘fresh’ faces, and this brings new challenges to everybody involved in managing activities on campus. SUEZ and NUS (the National Union of Students), conducted research into the recycling habits of students which highlighted actions to
23rd October 2015
New ways of tackling old problems One of London’s worst offenders on the fly-tipping block, Newham, is looking to mend its ways and encourage its residents to change their attitudes towards waste disposal. In the face of grim national statistics, which recorded approximately 852,000 incidents of fly-tipping in 2013/14, up 20 per cent from 2012/13, and over 70,000 call-outs to
16th September 2015
Over the last few weeks there have been many discussions in the trade media about the volumes of RDF being shipped overseas, exploring trends so far, whether this year will see more or less volumes than last, and which company will lead the league table. Although the conjecture and positioning is fascinating to watch, it does mask a number of
26th August 2015
The news that Wales has hit an overall recycling and composting rate of 56 per cent in 2014/15 with an increase of two per cent from the previous year comes as a welcome corrective to the gloomy news from England, which only managed an increase of 0.6 per cent to 44.8 per cent over the same period.
13th August 2015
December 2014 saw the launch of the report Triple Win: The Social, Economic and Environmental Case for Remanufacturing. It is generally forgotten that the target in Article 11 of the Waste Framework Directive requires the UK to achieve 50 per cent recycling and reuse of paper, glass, plastics and metals from households by 2020. But reuse, which broadly speaking includes
28th July 2015
With former Secretary of State Sir Eric Pickles out of DCLG and into his new post-election role of anti-corruption tsar, the brakes appear to be lifted off the previously taboo subject of waste collection frequency.
