This new service will launch later in September for all homes . . . → Read More: New kerbside collection of food and plastic waste]]> The council for the West Devon borough has begun to plan the distribution of more kerbside waste food caddies and boxes to its residents. They will begin distributing the materials next week, before they launch their brand new service for waste and recycling collection.

This new service will launch later in September for all homes located in the northern area of the country. Households in the south will begin to have the service in October. Over 24,000 homes in the area will be covered once the plan is in full swing.

With the plan, all West Country residents of the local authority will be getting kerbside collection of plastic bottles as well as food waste collections each week. The latter will be available for the entire borough.

As well, more dry recyclables will be collected, and refuse collections will now be done on an alternate weekly basis. The council has recently given Focsa Services a waste delivery and recycling collections contract that will last for seven years.

This plan will . . . → Read More: Metalmatters drink can recycling drive]]> Drink can manufacturers have put their support behind an advertising campaign which will be designed to increase recycling of metal packaging in Britain. Corus Steel Packaging Recycling, Beverage Can Makers Europe, Wrap, and Novelis have launched Metalmatters. This is following research which looked at barriers for consumers and thoughts on recycling and local authority.

This plan will be piloted in two different councils. Nuneaton & Bedworth along with East Hampshire will roll out the plan throughout the coming weeks. It will also be assessed in the fall.

A leaflet will be dropped at almost 60,000 homes, and posters and displays will be placed in shopping areas. Spokesman for Metalmatters Norman Lett states that they know what needs to be done to ensure that the public will understand that recycling can make a difference. They are trying to show the high value of metal as a recycling material.

Bill Shepherd from the Nuneaton & Bedworth Council says that this could be a chance to help increase recycling rates in the community. He says that Metalmatters is a fantastic example of an industry that supports local authorities and the current curbside recycling plan that has already been implemented.

The aim of the Metalmatters program will be to help local authorities to encourage local residents to increase how much they recycle at home. Metalmatters is the newest initiative that has been started to increase the rate of recycling for metal packaging. We have also seen Aerofoil for recycling aluminum and aerosols, as well as Every Can Counts for when residents are not at home.

The Global Green Awards are known to be one of the most notable events for those in the eco world as they recognize the best campaigns targeted at promoting sustainability.  Outside of originality and creativity, . . . → Read More: The Green Awards is now accepting entries]]> The Green Awards is now accepting entries for its 5^th annual ceremony that honours creativity within the communications and sustainable marketing industries.

The Global Green Awards are known to be one of the most notable events for those in the eco world as they recognize the best campaigns targeted at promoting sustainability.  Outside of originality and creativity, entries are also judged based on how they contribute to society by following the Environmental Accreditation Scheme as defined by RSA.

This is the first year that the awards will be open to global entries in all categories.

There are sixteen categories in this year’s Green Awards to honour every discipline including public relations, advertising, direct marketing, and many more.  New categories are designed every year to encompass the growth of innovation within the communications market.

This year the new categories include Best Green Product Innovation, Best Green Use of Mobile Apps and Technologies, and Best Green Educational Project.

Other new add-ons to this year’s 2010 Green Awards include the creation of a ‘Steering Group’ in order to offer guidance and advice during the selection process.  Members of the group are professionals that work with environmental organizations, marketing, and communications.

UNEP Director of Communications and Steering Group member Satinder Bindra stated that it is important to make your voice heard in the hard market of environmental campaigns and thus those who participate need to be risk takers that offer the qualities of creativity and persistence.

Most of the judges are quite prominent such as Freya Williams the MD/Planner of Ogilvy Earth, Johan Eliasch the Special Representative of the PM of the UK, Cheryl Hicks the Special Advisor on sustainability for the WBSCD, and Nick Nuttal the Media Head for UNEP.

In Rotterdam there is a large collection of old televisions packed into a shipping container that will be impounded . . . → Read More: Computers and old televisions banned from being shipped out of Europe for destruction]]> Computers and old televisions that contain hazardous substances are still being exported out of Europe even though a ban is in place to stop this from occurring given the fact that it poisons workers in Asia and Africa.

In Rotterdam there is a large collection of old televisions packed into a shipping container that will be impounded and then sent back to the Germany instead of to the Ivory Coast where they were headed.

This is just one line of the new effort to stop electrical and electronic equipment fro, getting discarded in large quantities in the developing world.

Rotterdam is the busiest port in Europe that serves as a regional shipping hub with more than nine million containers passing through the area every year.

A third of those goods originate from the Netherlands alone with the rest coming from the other 26 members of the EU states including southern Europe and the UK.

In order to pick out which shipping containers may contain hazardous goods, customs officials select shipping by using risk profiling using a list of potential indicators of electronic waste such as the items destination and its sender.

Although the Dutch have been the leaders when it comes to stopping e-waste exports since it was banned in the middle of the nineties, still only about three percent of all containers are checked which means that about one shipment is caught every week allowing an unknown amount of other containers to possibly pass through.

The website also provides browsers with plenty of . . . → Read More: Boots now recycling mobiles]]> High street chemists, Boots, are now taking mobiles as a way to promote recycling among consumers.  Boots is offering those interested a simple way to trade in old mobiles, since you can simply head over to their website, enter the phone model, and then see what your options are.

The website also provides browsers with plenty of useful tips such as how you can recycle other electrical items that previously may have never even crossed your mind as reusable.  Of course, there are plenty of online mobile recycling websites that will mail you an envelope to return a mobile in, but Boots allows you to simply walk into one of their hundreds of stores and grab your own envelope so that it gets off on its way much quicker.

The only downside is that there is not any hard cash offers for an old mobile, but anytime that you choose to sell Boots a mobile you receive points that will continue to build up on the company’s Advantage Card and after thirty days have passed you can trade them in for items such as cosmetics, toiletries, food, and many other products at any Boots stores.

Outside of mobile phones, Boots will also take trade-ins for digital cameras, printer cartridges, MP3 players, and several other electrical items all of which count of advantage points.  Within a six month period households are allowed to trade in up to six devices so you can wait and add up points for even better treats at the store.

However, there are mobile phone . . . → Read More: Mobile Phone Recycling]]> Although it may be something that you never have thought of before, proper disposal of cell phones is a major issue due to the fact that with so many free sim cards, free mobile phone offers, and free chargers included in every contract millions of people produce mountains of mobile phone waste.

However, there are mobile phone recycling centres and plans that can offer an alternative to producing waste every time you upgrade a mobile phone, which is an excellent eco-friendly choice as opposed to adding to overflowing landfills.

One of the best reasons to consider recycling old mobile phone components is because they contain many toxic chemicals that can seep into ground and contaminate both the soil and water sources.

Mobile phones often contain mercury, which can be very harmful to the environment when thrown away.  In addition, mobile phones and their components are also usually made of non-biodegradable elements that will take up previous landfill space forever.

Thus, the simple choice to protect the environment and help do your part in the green movement is simply to look for a mobile phone recycling centre at a shop, or online, before tossing away an older model.

Outside of making the ‘green’ choice, there are other incentives for choosing to recycle an old mobile phone as well.  For instance, some mobile providers or mobile manufacturers will offer you discounts on future purchases or cash if you drop your phone off for recycling purposes.

They are able to offer these perks because sometimes old mobile phones contain components that can be placed into refurbished models.  Other collection agencies will take old models and donate them to charities for you, helping to provide mobile phones to those who live in under-developed countries, those displaced by natural disasters, or members of the military.

There are many different organizations that offer mobile phone recycling opportunities for you to take advantage of.  Almost all of the major mobile phone providers and manufacturers offer some type of recycling facilities, which is the easiest way to seek out a location, although these usually will not offer any type of perk.

In addition, there are also online organizations and drop off centres that offer cash or discounts.  Online you can also seek out donation locations or donation kits if you wish to donate your phone to a charity.

The review, which is set to be released next Thursday, . . . → Read More: Local Government recycling shake-up on the way]]> Local Government secretary, Eric Pickles, is looking at plans that will offer councils that axe fortnightly collections rewards.  The plan comes ahead of a new publication review of the waste policy as outlined by the Government by the Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, which is due next week.

The review, which is set to be released next Thursday, is said to raise the prospect of adding fines and penalties against those who do not regularly recycle. Pickles is taking a close look at the new plans in order to reinforce his campaign to get councils to consider weekly collections instead of fortnightly collections.

The once a week trash collections law first came into place in 1875 in order to help reduce the effect of plagues such as cholera which claimed many lives across the UK.

The Labour Government, however, only encouraged councils to collect rubbish on alternate weeks in an effort to promote recycling.

The Tories were against this idea claiming that it increased the amount of maggots, rats, and fly’s in bids throughout the summer months.

Currently, about half of all local communities collect rubbish on a fortnightly regime with polls showing that about 75% of home owners are opposed to this system.

The cost of reinstating weekly rubbish collections across England is anticipated to be around £121m.

Pickles first offered councils cash in order to switch to weekly collections but is now thought to be looking to fund the cost from scrapping quangos and via the Local Government Finance Settlement.

David Casey stated that he has been impressed to see his company and other companies take a stand and purchase recycled products over new . . . → Read More: Offices are getting the eco friendly idea]]> At one time environmentally safe products were the exception to the norm, but now they are in demand across the UK, as business owners see that they have a responsibility to the environment.

David Casey stated that he has been impressed to see his company and other companies take a stand and purchase recycled products over new products in order to reduce their carbon footprint.

Casey is just one of the thousands of employees in the UK that has seen their employers take a stand and start reducing their regular rubbish output.  From choosing to purchase recyclable binders to using recyclable toner cartridges many UK businesses are looking for ways to be green conscious from within the office.

Bob Taylor of everythingoffice.co.uk stated that they sell everything that is in demand for office spaces and have noticed that lately the products that are selling in large quantities are those that are environmentally sound.  He added that manufacturers are now realizing they have an environmental responsibility and have in response started stocking more items.

As more businesses across the UK are starting to think past the bottom line and focus on what they own their environment it is probably only a matter of time until products that are not environmentally friendly start to disappear.

Taylor added that the company is proud to offer a full line of sustainable products to meet businesses needs and that other manufacturers of green products will continually appear on the scene to make it easier to be green conscious at work.