Recycling Roundup 12th March

Recycling Roundup 12^th March

A recycling company based in Sussex has been fined after an explosion and fire at one of their sites. Portsmouth Crown Court heard how a huge explosion occurred at Ereco EMEA Corporation’s site in October after some printer toner that was being stored exploded. Five people were injured in the blast, and one worker was even put in an induced coma.

The Health and Safety Executive and Surrey Fire Service carried out a joint investigation and found that the company had failed to put a safe system of work in place for the storage of dangerous substances. The incident could have been avoided if adequate provision was made for fire risk assessment.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, and fire safety regulations, and they were fined £30,000 plus £30,000 costs.

The Health and Safety Executive said that the company are lucky that the accident wasn’t fatal.

Chiltern Railways has announced that they are going to be the first train operator in the UK to recycle coffee cups in an effort to reduce plastic waste. Only 1 out of every 400 disposable cups is recycled in the UK, and Chiltern want to do their bit to tackle the problem. They say that they hope to set a new standard for other train companies.

They are set to work in partnership with Simply Cups, a recycling scheme that is dedicated to the recycling of disposable cups.

There have been difficulties with the recycling of disposable cups so far, because they are fused with polyethylene to make them waterproof. This can’t be separated from other materials at recycling facilities.

Chiltern’s initiative will see new bins being installed at stations to encourage customers to separate the different parts of their cups; the lids, liquids, and cups. Collecting the cups at the point of use means there’s less chance of the recyclable parts being contaminated. The waste is collected by Simply Cups and taken to a recycling centre where it’s turn into new products like pens and paper. Chiltern also plans to use some of these as merchandise.

The initiative is part of Chiltern’s 2018 Continuous improvement Plan which involves money being invested at stations and onboard trains to improve the customer experience. They have spent £2 million on new ticket machines to date, and they plan to spend another £1.5 million improving stations and trains.

Beach clean ups in Portelet Bay in Jersey have been made instantly more effective after they gained the support of a company that turns waste into reusable materials and energy.

GRG, a waste to resource company, are going to help to sort and weigh any rubbish that is collected, and they’ll turn it into a reusable product, whether that’s material or fuel.

Waste was not adequately sorted following previous beach cleans, so it ended up in landfill. But now the waste will be processed correctly and the fact it’s weighed will help to provide useful information about what kind of waste is being washed up on the beaches. The information can then be used to develop strategies for the prevention and management of beach waste.