With news on: Full Circle Generation EfW plant processes first 100,000 tonnes; Coca-Cola in the Netherlands and Norway to switch to rPET; Dsposal wins 10-year Acumen contract; and, Aldi introduces cardboard packaging across steak range.
Full Circle EfW plant processes first 100,000 tonnes
The Full Circle Generation energy from waste (EfW) plant announced last week it had recovered more than 100,000 metric tonnes of waste since operations began in earnest last August.
The gasification plant’s operator Bouygues Energy Services says it is looking to build on this by increasing throughput to more than 140,000 metric tonnes during the next 12 months.
Minister Poots walks through the plant with Full Circle Generation director Brett Ross (l-r)
Construction of the £109 million facility was completed in February 2018 and since then Bouygues Energy Services has been optimising the plant in preparation for its first year of full operation.
Full Circle Generation director and managing director of waste management company RiverRidge Brett Ross said: “This is a very important milestone for the waste sector in Northern Ireland.
“Full Circle Generation, Northern Ireland’s only large-scale energy from waste facility, has changed how the waste sector has traditionally operated.
“With the processing of its first 100,000 metric tonnes of fuel completed, we have demonstrated the robustness of the design of this plant and shown that this is an effective solution and a proven alternative to the landfilling of waste, or the need to export refused derived fuel to mainland Europe.”
Northern Ireland’s environment minister Edwin Poots visited the facility at Belfast’s Harbour Estate to celebrate the milestone.
Coca-Cola in the Netherlands and Norway to switch to rPET
Coca-Cola in the Netherlands and Coca-Cola in Norway have announced they are to transition to plastic bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET) in the next few months.
Coca-Cola in the Netherlands has announced that from October 2020 it will transition all its locally produced small plastic bottles to 100% rPET, including for brands such as Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Large plastic bottles will follow in 2021.
Coca-Cola in the Netherlands and Coca-Cola in Norway say they are to transition to plastic bottles made from 100% recycled plastic
And, Coca-Cola in Norway says it will transition to 100% rPET for all plastic bottles it produces locally during the first half of 2021.
Joe Franses, vice president of sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners said: “Today’s announcement that Coca-Cola European Partners Netherlands and Coca-Cola European Partners Norway are making the switch to 100% rPET marks a vitally important step forwards on our journey to eliminating new virgin oil-based plastic across all our plastic bottles within a decade.
“Crucially, this announcement provides a compelling case for the role that deposit return schemes can play in the creation of local circular economies for beverage packaging.
“Markets with well-designed DRS such as those in Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway not only have high collection rates but also have the capacity to collect a higher grade of material with less contamination.”
In December 2019 Coca-Cola in Sweden announced it was to switch to 100% rPET.
Dsposal wins 10-year Acumen contract
Manchester-based waste tech company Dsposal has secured a 10-year contract with Acumen Waste Services for its waste compliance software.
The deal includes the launch of a new service for users of the Dsposal Directory which will allow them to access waste management services directly from Acumen.
(L-r) Michael Ruddock, financial controller at Acumen; Kris Sutton, financial director, Acumen; Alexa Culver, commercial director at Dsposal; Tom Passmore, CEO of Dsposal; and Lauren Hill, technical director at Acumen
Dsposal’s commercial director Alexa Culver said: “We’re delighted to be working with Acumen on this significant contract, which not only sees our industry-leading waste compliance software implemented at a highly-regarded national waste company, but also enables us to provide a valuable new service to the thousands of visitors to our website.”
Acumen is a waste management company based in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.
Acumen’s technical director Lauren Hill said: “Our use of the Dsposal compliance software demonstrates our commitment to remain at the forefront of supply chain management.
“By automating the management of environmental compliance for our extensive UK wide supply chain, including waste management companies, waste facilities and waste disposal locations, Dsposal will ensure real-time, consistent compliance, bringing everything into one place and seamlessly integrating with our other systems.”
Aldi introduces cardboard packaging across steak range
Aldi is to roll out cardboard packaging across all 15 of the supermarket’s steak products in 890 UK stores from the start of October.
Aldi says the move will save approximately 1,100 tonnes of plastic a year.
Aldi says the move to cardboard packaging will save approximately 1,100 tonnes of plastic a year
The move follows a successful trial in stores across parts of Wales, as well as the North West and South East of England, the supermarket says.
Luke Peech, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi UK, said: “Reducing our plastic footprint is a fundamental area of focus for us as a business, and we’re constantly reviewing the products we offer to see where this is possible.
“It can be challenging to balance tackling food waste with the need to reduce the amount of plastic we use, particularly with fresh meat.
“A successful trial has shown us that this new packaging enables us to do both.”
Once a protective film has been removed, the cardboard packaging is recyclable, Aldi says, and is sourced from sustainably managed forests.
The post News in brief (14/09/20) appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
