AUSTRALIA
Introduction of national recycling roll-out
The Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) of the Australian Food and Grocery Council has put a new initiative into effect which encourages recycling, at Indooropilly Shopping Centre, Queensland. This is the first scheme of its kind in Australia and is the beginning of a national roll-out of recycling schemes in shopping centres.
"There are more than 1300 shopping centres in Australia, which attract more than 1.75 billion shopper visits per year. If we can capture the recyclable products from the waste disposed during each of these visits, we are going to make a significant difference to people"s behaviour," says the Packaging Stewardship Forum"s General Manager, Jenny Pickles.
"It is critical that we encourage the recycling of items such as bottles and cans by keeping it simple and making it easy for the public and for shopping centre staff to do the right thing. That"s what the bins and signage aim to achieve. We are promoting behavioural change amongst consumers."
An increase of 400% in recycling of bottles or cans is predicted. This means 210 tonnes of waste will be saved from landfill each year.
The recycling infrastructure and improved waste management systems, is a joint initiative of the PSF, the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM), National Packaging Covenant and Lend Lease managed shopping centres.
UK
MRF guidelines published
UK agency the Health & Safety Executive has published a set of guidelines for those involved in the process of developing and operating materials recycling facilities (MRFs). The seven-page document was written for designers, manufacturers, installers and users of MRFs and is meant to improve critical safety procedures and promote best practice.
UK
Large contract for C&I waste announced at RWM
Biffa and Stadler have announced their partnership in building a state-of-the-art Commercial & Industrial (C&I) waste treatment facility in Trafford Park, Manchester, UK.
The new £13.5 million recycling plant will be built by Stadler, owned by Biffa and comprise sorting systems provided by Titech UK. It will have the capacity to process 200,000 tonnes of C&I dry mixed recyclate annually and achieve recycling rates of more than 90%.
The three companies signed the deal in front of the waste management industry"s press at this year"s RWM in Birmingham, UK.
"The plant uses a unique combination of mechanical and optical sorting systems and has been designed to operate with very high levels of automation and efficiency, making it the most advanced plant in the UK. This is the first of a new generation of material recovery facilities that we will be building across the UK," says Dr John Casey, Director of Engineering & Quality at Biffa.
"We are delighted to be one of chosen partners for this exciting project and Titech applauds Biffa"s approach to this project which has been to closely consult with key suppliers from the very early stages of concept development. From Titech"s perspective, this has enabled us to conduct an extensive period of testing to ensure the best results were achieved. As a result, the plant will recover significant volumes of valuable, high-purity end fractions," says Jonathan Clarke, MD of Titech UK.
GLOBAL
Titech can separate insulated wire from waste
An innovative new machine by Titech called the Poly Finder is the first piece of sorting equipment to be able to separate fragments of wire covered in plastic casing. Among the other waste streams which can be separated by its NIR sensor and metal sensor, the Poly Finder can separate wire by using these two elements in tandem.
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When the dual sensor system is programmed for wire recovery it is able to recognize fine particles of metal using the highly-sensitive electromagnetic sensor and also identify polymer casings (PVC, PP, PE or rubber) with the high resolution NIR sensor. This allows the machine to locate these items and keep them separate from free metals and free plastics. In this way 95% of detectable wires can be recovered.
CANADA
New plastics-to-oil operation
Investment company 310 Holdings Inc. is developing a commercial-scale plastics-to-oil conversion plant near Niagara Falls, Ontario. It is expected to be operational by the end of October.
Waste plastic will be melted and converted into an oil similar to diesel fuel by a proprietary catalyst. A litre of oil will be produced for every kilogram of plastic and the plant will have the capacity to process 18 tonnes (20 tons) per day.
EUROPE
Mandatory collection targets get mixed response
The European Commission published draft proposals to revise the WEEE directive on 3 September, including a proposal to set mandatory collection targets for WEEE. This document, which proposes to change the current collection target from 4 kg per head of population to 65%, by 2016, has received a mixed response.
HP environmental compliance manager Dr Kirsty McIntyre said, "HP appreciate what the Commission is trying to achieve with the recast Directive. But we feel that they need to look at the whole picture not just a part of it. We feel that they should not place responsibility solely on the producers."
McIntyre also said that a large proportion of WEEE waste falls into the hands of scrap dealers, retailers, brokers and reuse firms, which makes it difficult for producers to achieve the target of 65%.
Repic chief executive Philip Morton said the WEEE collection target was challenging. He said, "A view presented recently by an industry group to EU delegates in Brussels suggested an alternative solution. There are two types of WEEE; that with a net overall cost to collect and treat, and that which has a net credit due to the value inherent in its reclaimed materials. The group believes that it is not practical or proper to impose a target on producers or producer schemes to collect a fixed percentage of WEEE without granting them free, full and complete physical access to it. Once this is the case, producers will finance 100% of what they are given, negating the need for a target. If economic operators were allowed to concurrently collect and treat WEEE (and make a profit from doing so), but required to abide by WEEE standards, this wouldn"t disrupt the existing economic models, it would simply bring all WEEE into the system."
CHINA
China is top of non-ferrous metals recycling
At a recent forum on metals recycling held in Fengcheng City, Jiangxi province, it was concluded that China is leading the world in the field of recycling non-ferrous metals and that rapid developments are still being made in this area.
China ranked the first in the world in the consumption of recycled copper in 2008, using approximately two million tonnes, or 30% of its total annual copper consumption. China also used three million tonnes of recycled aluminum, or 20% of its annual consumption; and nearly one million tonnes of recycled lead, 25% of consumption in 2008. The figures place China the second in the world in terms of annual consumption of recycled aluminum and lead.
INDIA
C&D plant in Delhi
Work on the first construction and demolition waste recycling plant in Delhi was planned to commence recently. The new plant, situated in the Burai area of north-west Delhi, is the pilot project for a large scheme by Delhi"s authorities to recycle 500 tonnes of waste daily.
Commissioner K S Mehra of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi said this will help in disposal and reuse of the huge amount of construction waste generated daily. Around 2000 tonnes of waste is generated every day in Delhi, and this public-private partnership aims to ease the effects of the problem.
"[The mobile crushing facilty] will save us from spending money on transport of debris to the sanitary landfill sites. The treated malba [waste] will be used for construction and other purposes," Mehra said.
If this is a success, three more plants will be set up in Bakarwala, Gumanhera and Narela-Bawana.
