Middlesbrough partners TetraPak in carton recycling.
Tetra Pak and AVE UK (Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment) are continuing their push to develop the recycling infrastructure for paper based beverage containers in the north east, as they partner Middlesbrough Council.
The Council has launched a new beverage carton recycling scheme in the town which will give residents the opportunity to recycle this type of packaging.
The new scheme means that used cardboard cartons, for example for milk and fruit juices, can now be recycled through special collection bins at five Recycling Bring Sites.
Once collected they are taken to a recycling mill where they can be recycled into a number of different products, ranging from plasterboard liner to high-strength paper bags and envelopes.
Councillor Pervaz Khan, executive member for Streetscene services said:
“Middlesbrough residents have always responded well to the different recycling schemes we’ve implemented, but we’ve still got some tough targets to meet, both as a council and as a nation.
"We’re delighted that Tetra Pak and the carton industry is supporting us to help increase the number of cartons recycled in Middlesbrough and if the initial six-month trial is successful, we’d like to see the project rolled out further.”
Each year, UK beverage carton manufacturers produce approximately 55,000 tonnes of paper-based cartons for milk, juice, sauces and other liquid foods/drinks. This equates to around 2.3kg of cartons per household per year which could be recycled instead of thrown in the rubbish bin and disposed.
Richard Hands, Environment Manager at Tetra Pak Ltd and Chairman of ACE UK, added:
“Whilst cartons have been successfully recycled in large volumes for many years throughout Europe, the UK has a long way to go.
"It’s therefore fantastic news that Middlesbrough is taking a lead by adding cartons to the list of materials collected for recycling. We very much hope that the initiative is successful.
"We and our industry partners are committed to increasing the level of carton recycling in the UK with the aim of reaching a national network of carton collection by the end of 2008. Our work with Middlesbrough takes us and households in the area one step closer to achieving that.”
Since April last year, the UK carton industry has made £1.5million available to help local authorities interested in starting up carton collection schemes in their area.
There are already approximately 100 district areas collecting cartons, which will result in a national network of coverage during the next 18 months. The carton industry continues to work with new paper mills to trial carton recycling to ensure the industry can cater for this increase in carton recycling, as more areas come on board.
Further information
For further information see http://www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk/ .
WRAP Appoints New Director of Communications
Nick Gammage to spearhead drive to tackle climate change through recycling and waste prevention, according to WRAP.
Nick has been appointed as the new Director of Communications at WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme), replacing Gareth Lloyd who left earlier in the year to join the BBC.
Nick brings broad communications experience from the public and private sectors to the WRAP Executive team. Having begun his career as a newspaper journalist, he held several senior communications posts in Whitehall before becoming Director of Communications at the telecoms regulator OFTEL.
Nick has previously served as Director of Communications for the Consumers’ Association, the London Stock Exchange, and most recently in the City for Lloyd’s insurance market, where he set up a communications operation in the United States and helped steer the market through the aftermath of the worst hurricane season on record which led to record claims.
Ireland issues consultation on Registration of waste brokers and dealers
Mr. John Gormley T.D., Irish Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, has announced that he has approved the publication for public consultation of draft Waste Management (Registration of Brokers and Dealers) 2007.
The primary aim of these regulations is to provide a registration system of waste brokers and dealers who arrange shipments of waste. This will allow the authorities to certify those involved in the business but also to remove those found to have breached the rules.
The Minister said that waste shipments were very significant, with 83% of recyclable waste in Ireland going abroad. We need to have maximum information available on this waste and the proposed registration system will assist this, he said.
For more information see
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/SIspost1707/FileDownLoad,15211,en.doc