Materials Recycling World

The former director of Halifax-based BW Recycling has been ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work after an accident caused the instant amputation of an employees lower left leg. Daisy Ning Bai, of Ridge View Drive, Huddersfield, was also ordered to pay £5,843 in costs after pleading guilty to breaches of the Health & Safety at Work Act. The incident occurred on 26 November 2019 at BW’s Cinderhall Works site. Employee Nathan Bland, then aged 20, became trapped in a waste baler. He also lost the toes from his right foot. https://lnkd.in/gQd3YDDi

Plans for a £200m energy-from-waste facility on Teesside are being considered for ‘call in’ by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Stockton Council’s planning committee approved the Teesside Green Energy Park in Seal Sands, Billingham in April, in line with officer’s recommendations, subject to conditions. MHCLG will now determine whether the planning application should be considered for determination by the secretary of state. An MHCLG spokesman declined to say who made the call in request, but said that a decision will be made “in due course”. https://lnkd.in/gKy9Nuci

An Essex council has appealed for help in tackling London crime gangs who are illegally dumping waste. The rate of fly-tipping in Brentwood has dramatically increased this year, with 621 incidents recorded up May, double the whole of 2017/18. Fly-tips are usually carried out in quiet rural areas, with volumes ranging from hundreds of tyres to tipper loads of builders' rubble. The issue costs ratepayers more than £50,000 a year. https://lnkd.in/gSqB3qAJ

A commitment made by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has averted the prospect of country-wide industrial action by waste workers until discussions with the Scottish Government have taken place. Unite, GMB and Unison have rejected the latest 3.2% pay offer from Cosla, the employers’ body for Scotland’s 32 local authorities. Cosla has said that this offer is at the “absolute limit of affordability” for councils. Unite has warned that strikes would bring "mountains of rubbish" to Scotland. It has said that an offer of 5.2%, or £1,290, for the lowest paid workers could be enough to prevent industrial action. https://lnkd.in/gZWTZ6cF

America’s recycling industry has thrown its weight behind an initiative from President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris to fight plastics pollution. A White House document Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles and Priorities said the American government was “for the first time formally acknowledging the severity of the plastic pollution crisis and the scale of the response that will be required to effectively confront it”. It said combatting plastic pollution required the United States to take a comprehensive approach throughout the plastic lifecycle – from production to end of life - and that coordinated action would be needed from all levels of government. https://lnkd.in/gXJBE2A5

Essex councils plan to stop using landfill for residual waste by 2030 in a new strategy also aimed at halving production per person of this waste. This would mean diverting some 340,000 tonnes a year of residual waste from landfill sites to energy-from-waste plants. The strategy has been adopted by Essex County Council and decisions on it will be made over the summer by the county’s districts and the neighbouring unitary councils of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock, which together make up the Essex Waste Partnership. https://lnkd.in/gmCGQZiQ

Shell has reduced its commitment to use one million tonnes of plastic waste a year in its global chemical plants by 2025. In a little-noticed passage in its sustainability report the oil company said: “We have concluded that the scale of our ambition…is unfeasible due to lack of available plastic waste feedstock, slow technology development and regulatory uncertainty. “We continue to work with partners across the plastic waste value chain, such as the waste management industry and pyrolysis oil producers, to help develop a circular value chain globally.” https://lnkd.in/gtjJsu8i

Two unions are to call out refuse workers among strikers at Scotland’s councils after rejecting a revised pay offer. The Unite union threatened "mountains of rubbish" would appear across Scotland unless an improved offer was made. General secretary Sharon Graham said rubbish would begin to pile up unless the Scottish Government moved quickly to make an "acceptable offer". "The politicians have a choice, and one more chance, to resolve this pay dispute before strike action,” she said. https://lnkd.in/gdHg7qNS

The leader of Maidstone Council has met Suez Recycling and Recovery UK chief executive John Scanlon over concerns about service standards that could see penalties imposed. The council said it was working with Suez to improve the waste service and apologised for disruption in recent months, which had seen inconsistent service across parts of the borough since the contract began in March. Council leader Stuart Jeffery said: “We do know that improvements still need to be made to the service, however we are pleased that there has been a substantial improvement since the start of the service and that the vast majority of rounds are now being collected on time. “The council is working closely with our contractor Suez to rectify any remaining issues. However we will be implementing the penalty clause mechanism within the contract when their performance falls below the required level.” https://lnkd.in/ghiMAW35

Legislation to develop the UK’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector, as well as planning reform and an industrial strategy council, have been included in the Labour Government’s legislative agenda. The King’s Speech, given today at the state opening of parliament, outlines the Government’s legislative aims for the coming term. “A Bill will be introduced to support sustainable aviation fuel production,” the King told members assembled in the House of Lords. “My Government recognises the urgency of the global climate challenge and the new job opportunities that can come from leading the development of the technologies of the future. It is committed to a clean energy transition which will lower energy bills for consumers over time.” https://lnkd.in/gVS7eiRJ