Opportunities to recycle beverage cartons in the UK continue to increase, as the proportion of local authorities collecting them from the kerbside has reached 50%, according to the latest figures from the Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment (ACE) UK.

This milestone represents a 12-fold increase on 2006 levels and follows sustained, close co-operation between ACE UK and its members – Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc – and local authorities and consumer groups. When ACE UK’s own bring-bank system is included, 89% of local authorities collect cartons for recycling.

Ceredigion County Council has become the 203rd local authority, out of 406 nationally, to make it easier for residents to recycle cartons by adding them to its kerbside collection scheme.

A further boost is expected later this year with the opening of the UK’s only beverage carton reprocessing facility at the Sonoco Alcore paper mill near Halifax, West Yorkshire. Capable of recycling 25,000 tonnes of cartons sorted from household and commercial waste streams, the facility will offer a range of benefits to local authorities and their waste management contractors – not least the assurance of a non-export market for this material stream. In fact, cartons collected in 187 local authority areas are already set to come to the new plant for recycling.

“In the year that the UK’s only dedicated recycling facility for cartons is scheduled to open, we are extremely pleased that our strategy to increase kerbside collection and make it easier for residents to recycle cartons is also paying dividends”, says Richard Hands, Chief Executive of ACE UK.

He adds: “In addition to Ceredigion County Council, we would also like to praise the 11 Northern Ireland councils which form the arc21 waste management group. All have now introduced kerbside collection of cartons and plan to send them to the new Sonoco Alcore plant for recycling.”

Each year, approximately 60,000 tonnes of paper-based cartons are used in the UK to package milk, fruit juice and an increasingly wide range of food products, including soup, chopped tomatoes and pulses. This equates to around 2.3kg of cartons per household  which could be recycled instead of being thrown away as waste. 

Beverage cartons are easily recycled using a simple pulping process, where the paperboard and non-fibre layers are separated and turned into new materials. The wood fibres can be used to produce new high-strength paper products, such as cores and tubes for consumer and industrial applications, while the polymer and foil layers can be recycled or used for energy recovery.

ACE UK has a dedicated recycling team which offers advice and support to local authorities and community recycling networks wishing to collect cartons.

VinylPlus, the European PVC industry sustainable development programme, had a record 362,076 tonnes of PVC recycled last year, keeping it on track to meet the challenge of recycling 800,000 tonnes per year by 2020. A more comprehensive and wider scope for what constitutes ’recycled PVC’ has been adopted to include post-consumer and limited types of post-industrial PVC, as well as some of the regulated waste streams in the EU.

Innovative technologies to recycle difficult-to-treat PVC waste are under currently evaluation and significant efforts were made to address the ‘legacy additives’ issue related to the presence of restricted chemicals in recycled PVC.

According to VinylPlus Chairman Filipe Constant, the industry “is effectively moving from a model of resource consumption that follows a ‘take-make-use-throw away’ linear pattern into a truly circular economy model which puts end-of-life materials back into the production stream extending the added-value of PVC’s inherent durability and versatility.”

In 2012 VinylPlus registered a decrease of 76.37% in lead stabiliser consumption in the EU-27 compared to 2007 levels, well on track to complete the substitution by the end of 2015. The new audit on the ‘PVC Industry Charters’ showed a 96% full compliance.

A number of VinylPlus taskforces are fully operational, studying how to incorporate renewable energy and raw materials, the sustainable use of additives and the environmental footprint of PVC production. A VinylPlus product label concept for PVC products has been developed in collaboration with The Natural Step – an NGO providing input and guidance for the development of the VinylPlus programme – and the UK expert certification body BRE.

The rx3 team ‘cleaned up’ at the recent National Green Awards by taking home the Green Public Sector Award. RPS, engineering consultants based in Dublin, manage rx3, a Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government (DECLG) programme. Rx3 is designed to promote the development of new markets for waste resources similar to the ‘WRAP’ initiative in the UK.

‘Rx3’ – Rethink, Recycle, Remake was set up in 2008 and fundamentally refocused our national waste management approach towards ‘resource efficiency’. To encourage prevention, reuse and recycling, a new front end ‘Rethink’ was introduced to embed resource conservation principles and a new back end ‘Remake’ to show that recycling had not been achieved until a new product was made from the waste material.

Over the past five years ‘rx3’ has grown in national stature with major stakeholders in the waste and material resource area – NCAD for industrial design, Science Gallery for exhibiting the ‘Trash to Cash’ competition and has assisted many start-up companies in the household and agricultural sectors.

Rx3 has also developed and obtained NSAI accreditation for a new national compost standard and are currently conducting compost trials in partnership with agricultural research institutes.

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Pictured are: Louise Connolly, Olivier Gaillot, Department of Environment rx3 Steering Group, Chairperson Margaret Daly, PJ Rudden, Brenda Mc Evoy and Conor McGovern.

Waste figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show that Ireland’s municipal solid waste generation has decreased by 17% since it peaked in 2007, largely as the result of the recession and a decline in personal consumption. Ireland now produces less household waste per capita than the EU average and is recycling 40% of its municipal waste. Ireland is also achieving all its EU waste recovery targets with the exception of End of Life Vehicle recovery.

The main findings of the report showed that in 2011:

* Municipal solid waste generation inIrelandhas decreased by 17% since it peaked in 2007.

* There was a 5% increase in municipal waste recovery since 2010, to 47%.

* The recycling rate for municipal waste is now equivalent to the EU norms, at (40%).

* The bulk of municipal waste recovered, 73%, is exported for recovery.

* The majority of municipal waste, 53%, is disposed of to landfill – though this continues to decrease year on year.

* The tonnage of refuse derived fuel (RDF) used as a fuel at cement kilns and incinerators in Ireland and abroad increased by 68%.

*Ireland has surpassed the 2011 EU packaging recovery target of 60%, with a 79% recovery rate in 2011.

* Household WEEE collection amounted to 7.6 kg per person, almost double the 4 kg per person EU target.

* There was an 83% decrease in construction and demolition waste collected since 2007.

* There was a 21% increase in household organic waste collected since 2010.

Dr Jonathan Derham of EPA comments: “Ireland is well advanced towards achievement of all of its EU obligations across a broad range of waste legislation, in particular in relation to recovery and recycling. In fact, a recent European Environment Agency report showed thatIrelandwas one of the countries inEuropewith the fastest growing recycling rates. However, Ireland continues to show a substantial reliance on recovery of municipal waste abroad.”

Indeed, some future targets remain at risk of not being met. Ireland’s continued reliance on landfill means that we are at risk of not reaching strict biodegradable waste diversion targets by 2016. Furthermore, with higher End of Life Vehicle (ELV) targets coming into effect from January 2015, urgent action is needed to increase reuse, recovery and recycling of ELV materials.

Dr Derham continues: “We have to decouple waste generation from economic growth through ensuring that waste prevention and resource efficiency remains at the core of targeted national policy and measures, so that when economic recovery happens there is not an associated increase in waste to be managed. Householders, communities and businesses all need to play their part by engaging more in resource efficient behaviours. The EPA has a range of support services for businesses and consumers to help them improve competitiveness and save money through waste prevention and resource efficiency.”

Irish-owned CEMS-Dalian Industry Company (CEMS-D) is to develop an environmentally safe centre for ship dismantling and recycling at a new facility to be opened in Zhuanghe near Dalian, which is one of the busiest ports in the world, located north-east of Beijing. All manner of ship dismantling waste, including hazardous materials, will be recycled or disposed of to the highest standards of environmental safety.

“We have formed a strategic alliance with a private Chinese company to design, develop and operate a state-of-the-art ship dismantling and recycling facility with the latest technology,” explains John Cronin, Founder and Chairman, CEMS-D.  “We aim to make this facility a global centre of excellence for ship dismantling and recycling and have received excellent support from the local and national Chinese governments”. 

Shipping experts predict that 3.3% of the world’s 89,000 vessel shipping fleet (about 3,000 vessels) should be scrapped or recycled each year. It has been projected that by 2014, 32 million tonnes should be scrapped annually. However only 1,000 ships a year are currently being dismantled and it is a very costly and slow exercise.

This has resulted in a backlog of ships for dismantling, and an opportunity that CEMS-D has identified in the market.  For example, in the USA, a large number of ships from the Suisun Bay National Defence Reserve Fleet will soon be sent for dismantling. Also, the ageing tanker fleets of multinational petroleum companies are being made obsolete under forthcoming maritime legislation.  With ten of the top twenty busiest ports in the world, China has very significant demand for ship dismantling and recycling expertise. 

In a related development University College Cork (UCC) and Dalian University of Technology (DUT) China have signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to co-operation in a range of projects, initially in environmental sciences, coastal management, and maritime engineering. Further co-operation in areas such as food science and technology is envisaged in the future.

“UCC is delighted to be collaborating with Dalian University of Technology in a range of areas of mutual interest. Dalian University of Technology is a very prestigious university in China and this MoU is a very tangible way for us to engage and build a strong relationship for the future” says Dr Michael Murphy, President of UCC.

A new report, published by the Welsh Government, shows that between April 2011 and March 2012 Wales’s local authorities reused or recycled almost 800,000 tonnes, while the amount of waste sent to landfill fell to around 700,000 tonnes. This means that for the first time Wales recycled more than it sent to landfill.

“Wales is the only country in the UK which recycles more than it sends to landfill,” says Minister for Natural Resources, Alun Davies. “Recycling not only benefits the environment but also supports the economy through the creation of jobs in the waste and resource management industry. This is why the collection of high quality recyclate is central to our plans as it can be reprocessed here in Wales – retaining our resources, creating local employment and stimulating Welsh markets.”

The report is the first to examine a 12 month period and provides a more detailed account of the end destination of recycled material than the previous report. The Welsh Government will continue to work with partner organisations to make future reports more informative for local authorities and householders.

The Minister adds: “I hope the report, which shows that our waste is being used as a valuable resource that can be recycled or re-manufactured here in Wales, encourages people to continue recycling and even start recycling more materials more often.”

Austria, Germany and Belgium recycled the largest proportion of municipal waste in Europe in 2010. Although some countries have rapidly increased recycling rates, Europe is still wasting vast quantities of valuable resources by sending them to landfill, and many countries risk falling short of legally binding recycling targets.

Overall 35% of municipal waste was recycled in Europe in 2010, a significant improvement on 23% in 2001. But many countries will find it extremely difficult to meet EU-mandated targets to recycle 50% of household and similar waste by 2020. The information comes from a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) which looks at the management of municipal solid waste, mainly consisting of household waste, in 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Although five countries have already achieved the target, most others will need to make extraordinary efforts to achieve this before the deadline. For example; at present, Bulgaria and Romania seem to recycle small proportions of municipal waste, so in order to meet the target by 2020 they must increase recycling by more than 4 percentage points per year during this decade – something which no country managed to do between 2001 and 2010.

The United Kingdom increased the share of municipal waste recycling from 12 to 39% between 2001 and 2010, while Ireland raised recycling rates from 11 to 36% over the same period. Slovenia, Poland and Hungary have also dramatically improved recycling rates since joining the EU.

Recycling rates are highest in Austria, with 63%, followed by Germany (62%), Belgium (58 %), the Netherlands (51%) and Switzerland (51%). Alongside the main report, the EEA has also published individual country reports.

Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Executive Director, says: “In a relatively short time, some countries have successfully encouraged a culture of recycling, with infrastructure, incentives and public awareness campaigns. But others are still lagging behind, wasting huge volumes of resources. The current intense demand for some materials should alert countries to the clear economic opportunities in recycling.”

The EEA report is particularly relevant, given that municipal waste is primarily a public sector responsibility and the current economic situation in many EU Member States demands an added focus on how to achieve policy goals most cost-effectively.

The report supports European Commission efforts to help EU Member States improve their waste management performance. Other findings include:

*Europe is successfully moving up the ‘waste management hierarchy’, albeit more slowly than required by legislation, the report says. The amount of waste sent to landfill has decreased since 2001, while Europe has increased the amount of waste incinerated, composted and recycled.

* Recycling can reduce greenhouse gases and save valuable resources. This is because recycled materials replace virgin materials. From a life-cycle perspective, changing municipal waste treatment between 2001 and 2010 has successfully cut greenhouse gas emissions from municipal waste by 56%, or 38 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in the EU, Norway and Switzerland, the report says.

* Preventing waste in the first place is the first priority of EU waste legislation. The municipal waste generated by each EU citizen fell by 3.6% between 2001 and 2010. However, this may be due to the economic downturn – waste generation per capita was quite stable between 2001 and 2007.

* Municipal waste produced by the average Slovakian increased by 39% between 2001 and 2010, while Norwegians and Croatians increased annual municipal waste by 30% and 25% respectively. At the other end of the scale, several countries reduced the amount of waste they generated – including Bulgaria (18% reduction), Estonia (17%), Slovenia (12%) and the UK (12%).

* Norway, Ireland and Poland reduced the proportion of municipal waste going to landfill most between 2001 and 2010.

* Improved recycling rates are primarily due to trends in recycling of materials, with less progress in bio-waste recycling.

* Countries that successfully reduced waste sent to landfill and increased recycling usually used a range of national and regional instruments. These included landfill bans on biodegradable waste or municipal waste that has not been pre-treated, mandatory separate collection of municipal waste fractions, economic instruments such as landfill and incineration taxes, and waste collection fees incentivising recycling.

As part of the annual Repak Easter campaign, Repak is calling on Irish consumers to beat their record of recycling 21,000 tonnes of mixed packaging from households over the Easter period in 2012.

This accounted for over 50% of all used household packaging resulting in the equivalent of circa 19,000 tonnes of carbon equivalent saving. 2012 recorded one of the highest levels of Easter packaging by Repak since it was establishment in 1997.

Rehab Glassco is urging all householders to go greener in 2013 by making an extra effort to recycle their glass and aluminium cans at local bring sites. Glass is the best packaging material of all to recycle as it can be recycled over and over again without losing quality. Furthermore, recycling is easy, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly.

David Farrelly, Business Development Manager, Rehab Glassco, says: “Going greener in 2013 is one resolution that will be easy to keep. It only takes a few minutes to dispose of your bottles, jars and cans in the bring banks and, in return, you know you are playing your part to protect the environment. Ireland is currently ranked eleventh in Europe for glass recycling with a rate of 76% of recycling. We want to be in the top ten and everyone has a part to play. So go green in 2013!”

Rehab Glassco continues to lead the way in glass recycling in Ireland providing over 1,800 collection points in 25 local authority areas. Almost 90,000 tonnes of glass were collected by Rehab Glassco in 2012 and were recycled at its state-of-the-art facility in Naas, County Kildare. Over 70,000 tonnes came from bring banks in the form of domestic glass, with the remaining 20,000 tonnes collected from the hospitality sector.

Formed in December 2009 following the merger of Rehab Recycle’s glass recycling division and Glassco Recycling, a glass recycling facility in County Kildare, Rehab Glassco is part of Rehab Enterprises, Ireland’s largest single non-governmental employer of people with disabilities. Rehab Enterprises currently provides integrated employment for 208 people with disabilities in 18 locations nationwide.

Fota Wildlife Park is the first Zoological Institution in Ireland to be accredited with the prestigious international ‘Green Flag’ award. The accreditation, granted by An Taisce, was for their work on the An Taisce ‘Eco-Centre’ Programme and followed two years of sustained work and a rigorous assessment by an expert panel.

The An Taisce ‘Eco-Centre’ programme, was undertaken by Fota Wildlife Park staff and its catering partners – Kudos Catering within the last 2 years and included Fota Wildlife Park’s campaign “Going Green – Staying Green”. This work had the objective of reducing the park’s ecological footprint.

Fota Wildlife Park contracted Waste Management Solutions (WMS) to conduct a comprehensive waste audit and work with them to achieve the objectives of the ‘Eco-Centre’ programme by supporting the “Going Green – Staying Green” campaign.

As a result of various aspects of the programme, Fota Wildlife Park has increased its recycling rate from 21% to 70%, developed systems for composting food waste generated onsite from cafes, restaurants and animal food preparation areas, integrated sustainability elements such as rain water harvesting, solar panels and a wood boiler into new buildings on the site. Fota Wildlife Park has also undertaken a number of educational and outreach events including a European Week of Waste Reduction (EWWR) event for families.

David Noone, Managing Director of WMS, says:“These recycling rates should grow further to a figure closer to 80% to 85% with the ongoing improvements to the waste management system currently in use at Fota Wildlife Park. Through these ongoing improvements Fota Wildlife Park can be confident in renewing its ‘Green Flag’ status.”

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David Noone of WMS joins Fota Wildlife Park in raising the Green Flag.

WEEE Ireland aims to recycle more than 25 million waste batteries in the next 12 months for LauraLynn, Ireland’s children’s hospice, after last year’s campaign succeeded in recycling 22 million waste batteries, raising Eur45,000 in the process.

Due to the success of last year’s inaugural Spread a Little Sunshine campaign, WEEE Ireland is again teaming up with LauraLynn for a whole year to try and recycle as many waste batteries as possible whilst also creating a fund for the children’s charity.

Spread a Little Sunshine was officially launched at LauraLynn by this year’s ambassador, star of the Today show Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh. Blathnaid says: “LauraLynn provide families across the country with an amazing service and the team here are an inspiration. Everyone can help these families too in a really simple way – just recycle your waste batteries wherever you see the blue WEEEIrelandbattery box in stores, offices and in schools. It’s not always possible for people to financially help charities at Christmas and this is a lovely free way to do your bit.”

Elizabeth O’Reilly of WEEE Ireland says: “Last year, we collected the equivalent of approximately 22 million AA batteries for recycling and were able to raise Eur45,000 for LauraLynn. We want everyone to help us recycle even more this year and help out an incredibly worthwhile cause.”

The more batteries that are recycled, the more the children’s hospice will benefit. The money raised will go toward the upkeep of the hospice, which requires Eur1.4 million to operate annually. WEEE Ireland, the compliance scheme for battery and waste electrical and electronic recycling, ensures that all batteries are recycled safely.

Four composting facilities from around Ireland have been accredited under the country’s first ever Compost Quality Assurance Scheme CQAS 441 and compost quality mark, which encompasses the Irish Standard for compost quality (I.S. 441). Each of the facilities certified creates quality compost from garden and/or food waste collected in Ireland.

The CQAS 441Compost Quality Assurance Mark has been developed for use only by production sites that have reached this standard and are certified. The four facilities certified primarily supply high quality compost to the commercial horticulture, landscaping and agriculture sectors. More facilities will be certified to produce quality assured compost that will be packaged in smaller quantities for sale to householders and the retail sector.

The following facilities have been presented with the first CQAS 441 Composting Quality Assurance Scheme Certificates:

* Enrich from Kilcock, Co. Meath

* Bord na Móna, Kilberry, Co. Kildare

* Cremins Farm Compost, Charleville, Co.Limerick

* Limerick County Council.

The composting industry called for the need for third party certification of processes and products in composting facilities in order to bring the industry into line with European best practice and to help increase competitiveness. A certified facility must implement prescribed procedures thereby requiring more manpower and creating jobs in order to produce a higher quality end product. This work is supported by additional revenue from quality compost sales.

CQAS 441 is audited and managed by Certification Europe under the rx3 programme to develop markets for recyclable materials here in Ireland, funded by the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government. For more information visit www.rx3.ie or lo-call 1890-732925.

Over 269,000 tonnes of waste materials were composted in Ireland in 2010. The customers for compost are mainly horticulture and agriculture industries for food production and landscaping industries for sports pitches, public parks and gardens.

363 people are directly employed on the island of Ireland in composting with a further 2,573 indirect jobs, with further employment likely with the expansion envisaged in response to national policy

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The Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government, has awarded certificates to four composting facilities from aroundIrelandto be accredited under the country’s first ever Compost Quality Assurance Scheme, CQAS 441. Pictured with Phil Hogan, TD, Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government are (L-R) Maurice Cremin, Cremins Farm Compost, from Charleville, Co.Limerick, Kevin McCabe from Enrich, Kilcock, Co. Meath, and Sharon McGuinness and Dearbhail Ni Chualain, both from Bord na Móna, in Kilberry, Co. Kildare.