Waste Watchers Issue 20

waste
www.recycleforhampshire.org.uk
watcher s
Issue 20, Autumn 2006
R e c y c l e
f o r
H a m p s h i r e
The BIG Recycle
IN THIS ISSUE
Portsmouth's
Designer ERF
MAFamatics!
Small changes...
Big Difference!
Record Recycling
Rates in
Farnborough
Since May this year, users of the Eelmoor
Road HWRC in Farnborough have seen the
start of a transformation that has already
resulted in a dramatically increased recycling
rate. This has shot up from 53% and
currently stands at 66%!
In June, Recycle for Hampshire ran a
week of recycling challenges as part of
the 'BIG Recycle'
Olympic medal-winner, Roger
Black, donned his referees' kit
for a unique football tournament
between local schools. The
Hampshire-born athlete, who has
been a supporter of the Recycle
for Hampshire campaign over the
past 18 months, watched over
games at Fleming Park Leisure
Centre in Eastleigh in June to end a
week of recycling challenges run as
part of the national ‘BIG Recycle’.
Here in Hampshire, the football
tournament followed a week of
school visits collecting unwanted
shoes and trainers for recycling.
In association with The Salvation
Army, school children from 12
schools were asked to raid their
wardrobes and bring in any
outgrown shoes or worn out
trainers, for reuse and recycling. In
the UK alone we buy approximately
338 million pairs of shoes a year, yet
only 18% are collected for reuse and
recycling.
Above: Olympic star Roger Black
with the competition winners
Below: T
he teams in action
most shoes and Nursling Primary
School which won the football
tournament.
The ‘BIG Recycle’ week was great
The schools involved then received a fun for all involved, and alongside the
visit from the Recycle for Hampshire
fun activities it allowed over 3,600
team, who as well as picking up an
children from across the county to
amazing two tonnes of shoes equating learn more about the importance of
to 4,000 pairs, gave football skills
recycling.
demonstrations and created monster
trails of shoes, whilst delivering the
recycling message.
Each school was then invited to
put forward a five-a-side team to
represent their local authority area in
an inter-school human table football
challenge, to warm up for the World
Cup. Roger Black was on hand to
ensure fair play and handed out prizes
to the winning schools: Kimpton
Primary School which collected the
One major change has been with the
introduction of a new manager, Peter
Walklett and his hand-picked team of staff
who have been praised for their excellent
customer care skills. The team have
implemented many changes, including rearranging the site to improve the layout and
adding new facilities to help visitors and the
waiting time has been reduced as a result.
The road access to the site is also set to be
improved shortly to help reduce congestion
at peak times.
Peter has been overwhelmed with letters,
emails and phone calls regarding the
improvements to the Eelmoor Road site,
and says that he will continue to do all
he possibly can to maintain these results
and standards. Peter also oversees the
Basingstoke site which also has a very high
recycling rate and so is now in competition
with another of his own teams: “Watch
out Basingstoke!”
“MAF-amatics!”
A new way to study
waste composition
An innovative new facility has
been introduced to get a better
picture of what, collectively, we
all throw away. Located at the
Alton MRF, the Materials Analysis
Facility (MAF) is a permanent
material sorting facility, which aims
to provide Project Integra with
composition data for a variety of
waste streams.
The MAF began sorting materials
in May and consists of a small
automated conveyor belt
supported by staff who manually
sort through quarter tonne
samples gathered from a particular
round. It is not the intention, nor
is it possible, to identify material
from individual properties.
The first project has been to
sort recyclables from all over
Hampshire to identify and classify
levels of contamination and has
looked at samples from at least
half of the rounds from every
district. The material was sorted
into good recyclables, ‘contras’
(i.e. items which are theoretically
recyclable, but we don’t have a
market for, such as yoghurt pots),
and ‘residue’ (black bag waste).
Small changes...
Big difference
Hampshire County Council, on behalf of Project Integra and in
partnership with a number of outside organisations, has received
funding from the Government to carry out an exciting new
project which aims to challenge the amount of rubbish we throw
away.
The project is called Small Changes…Big Difference and, as the
name suggests, is all about making small changes to our lifestyles
which will add up to a big difference for our local environment.
These changes will not only reduce the amount of rubbish in
our bins, but will also change the way we use natural resources,
whilst saving money and time and improving our health!
Work will shortly begin with different groups of people
undergoing significant changes in their life such as having a baby
and moving house, to understand the challenges they face with
recycling and rubbish. A pilot project is already underway with
retired residents from University of the Third Age groups in the
New Forest who, among other activities, have learnt about home
composting, sustainable
shopping, and eliminating
unwanted junk mail, as
well as having a wastefree picnic at the Sir
Harold Hillier Gardens
near Romsey!
The programme was officially launched in May, and things
got off to a flying start thanks to a guest appearance
by Dick and Bridget Strawbridge from the BBC2 series
‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’. Having already undertaken
an intensive project to make their home and lifestyle as
environmentally friendly and waste-free as possible, they
were able to offer first hand advice to residents about to
embark on a similar challenge themselves.
Whilst participants don’t have to go quite as far as the
Strawbridges who, for example, have installed their own
water wheel to generate electricity, there are lots of
simple, practical steps participants will be encouraged to
take which will not only reduce their rubbish but also
have all the other benefits to both their own health and
the environment. Those taking part will be keeping track
of the amount of rubbish they throw away each week
so they can measure the impact of the changes they are
making. A new website for the project will soon be up
and running, so see http://www3.hants.gov.uk/smallchanges
for more details.
Dick and Bridget Strawbridge with the winning prize draw ticket
Heroic Hampshire
Veolia Environmental Services Hampshire, the company that
processes the county’s household waste, is one of the first to
be presented with a plaque to mark its achievement as one of
Britain’s first Green Heroes.
The Green Hero Award recognises the changes made to
processing residents’ green waste via Efford Household
Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) in Lymington. Over
8,000 miles in transport have been saved annually, with
a matching drop in vehicle emissions. In addition the
facility in the New Forest has taken steps to encourage
bio-diversity and now thanks to the HWRC team and
local residents has one of the best recycling rates in the
county!
in The Green Book, other companies, councils and
communities around the world will benefit from its
experience and success.”
Veolia ES Hampshire Managing Director, Gavin Graveson,
commented: “We are delighted to be the first to receive
the Green Heroes Award which highlights the work
we have undertaken within Hampshire to promote
environmental best practice and to share our market
leading expertise with others in the field. We have
plans to build on this and will continue to highlight the
successes we have in Hampshire.”
We will report the results in a
future issue of Waste Watchers
but, in the meantime, if you’re
unsure of what to put in your
recycling bin, log onto www.
recycleforhampshire.org.uk
or consult your ‘whirly wheel’
guide to recycling, sent out to all
households this summer!
The Green Organisation, which made the award,
recognises, rewards and promotes environmental best
practice around the world. Veolia has already received
the Green Apple Award for environmental best practice
– and has demonstrated its commitment by helping
others follow its environmental lead. Green Organisation
national spokesperson, Roger Wolens, said: “As one of
our first Green Heroes, the company fully deserves this
recognition… by having its winning papers published
Veolia ES Hampshire Managing
Director, Gavin Graveson,
proudly displays the Green
Hero Award
The Dizzy Heights
of Design
Earlier this year, the Portsmouth
Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) was
presented with a Design Award by
the Portsmouth Society. Following
this, the site came to national
attention, and was featured in
BBC2’s ‘Culture Show’, in a segment
named ‘The Unsung Heroes of
Architecture’, which applauded
the ERF for its high quality design
standards in a type of building
which although striking, is often
ignored.
‘Steve Says’
A Question Answered
“Why can't I recycle
gift wrap?”
About this time last year we caused a
bit of a storm by asking residents not
to put gift wrap into recycling bins. The
reasons for this are simple – the vast
majority of gift wrap these days is either
made of plastic film, foil or heavily overprinted, low grade paper. Used gift wrap
is also often scrunched up and covered
with sticky tape. Overall it has very little,
if any, material benefit for recycling.
The site was highly praised for its elegant design and materials,
by judge, reporter and architecture critic, Tom Dyckoff, who
said: “This cathedral of incineration has a style of industrial,
almost minimalist chic. It’s an incinerator that isn’t an eyesore.”
Even more recently, the ERF also gained the Edmund Hambly
Medal from the Institution of Civil Engineers. This prestigious
prize is awarded for creative design in an engineering project
that makes a substantial contribution to ‘sustainable development’. The committee of judges also looks for projects
which display a high degree of innovation and
imagination.
Gordon Masterton, President of the Institution
of Civil Engineers (ICE) commented, “Project
Integra has been an outstanding example of
integrated waste disposal and recycling and ICE
is pleased to recognise this with its premier
award for sustainable development.”
Designed by Jean-Robert Mazaud with an
emphasis on high quality materials, curves
and colours, the building is designed to be
unobtrusive. The ERF has been operational
since early 2005 and processes 165,000 tonnes
of waste annually. Whilst it is aesthetically pleasing, the facility also generates 14MW of electricity which is supplied to the
National Grid and powers approximately 14,000 homes.
Steve Read, Project Integra's Executive Officer, said: "This facility is the final piece of the jigsaw for Hampshire's waste
infrastructure, and now all three ERF sites in the county are processing waste that previously went to landfill." In addition,
the Portsmouth Energy Recovery Facility has now won the Let's Recycle.com award, in the category 'Innovation in design
of a Waste Management Facility'. All this means that residents of Hampshire can be proud to say they are part of Project
Integra.
Staff profile
Lester Mortimer
Lester has worked as the manager at Efford (Lymington) HWRC since March 1999
and he employs seven other members of staff. Lester says he loves his job because
“every minute, every day, something different happens.” Lester has seen some unusual
sights while working here: one of the most memorable was when he found four
suitcases of Johnny Mathis records in the bin. He finds that people often throw away
valuable items like collectable teddy bears and dolls. At the shop at Efford, you can
find items like furniture, crockery and brand new clothes for sale, all unwanted and
thrown away.
Christmas is obviously the peak season
for gift wrap and in the past, large
quantities were put in recycling bins.
This hindered the efficient processing of
the useful quality material so carefully
recycled by Hampshire residents. At
Christmas the MRFs are more stretched
due to the recyclable remnants of all
the extra things we buy for the festive
season.
Sure, some gift wrap says (usually on the
disposable polythene outer wrapper)
that it is recyclable paper. An even
smaller amount is actually made from
recycled paper. But with the Alton MRF
processing up to 30 tonnes of recyclable
material every hour, it can’t detect which
type is recyclable and which isn’t. To
envisage what 30 tonnes of recyclables
looks like, imagine a standard sized
wheeled bin - full of paper, card, plastic
bottles and cans - being emptied once a
fortnight for 115 years!
What are the alternatives? Well, most
used gift wrap put into your nonrecyclable bin will be cleanly incinerated
at one of the Energy Recovery Facilities.
The heat produced is used to generate
electricity for the National Grid.
The best alternative though, is not to
always reach for that roll of gift wrap
– the type used once and thrown away.
Consider using ribbons or decorative
bags or boxes that can be used again.
For some imaginative ideas on how
to present gifts more sustainably, and
other hints and tips about recycling
during the festive period, visit www.
recycleforhampshire.org.uk in the run-up
to Christmas.
Steve Read, Project Integra
Waste Watchers is published by
Veolia ES Hampshire, Poles Lane,
Otterbourne, Hampshire SO21 2EA
Tel: 01962 764 000
Fax: 01962 715 693
Have your say
Project Integra’s Executive Officer, Steve Read, is always keen to hear your views on what you
like about the scheme, how you think it could be improved, and the difference it makes to your
home, your environment and your life. Email him with your comments to [email protected]
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