New UK association to help partner recycling and reprocessing sectors

Call to arms: Greg Mulholland Liberal Democrat MP, Ray Georgeson, CEO and Andy Doran from Novelis Recycling (L to R) A new member-based association launched in the UK to represent the recycling and reprocessing industries has set out to provide a more secure source of materials to help the country's manufacturing sector. Launched in the Houses of Parliament, London, the Resource Association will be inviting new members from all businesses, local authorities, trade associations, agencies and NGOs. Founding members announced at the launch included waste management firm May Gurney, Coca-Cola Enterprises and the Somerset Waste Partnership. It will be led by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) founding director Ray Georgeson as CEO, as well as Andy Doran, national recycling manager at Novelis Recycling, Eric Randall from Bryson Recycling and Chris White from Plastics Sorting. Speaking to delegates, Georgeson said: "We need to make good use of quality recyclates for quality products here in the UK. If you take SMEs in the manufacturing sector, materials can cost more than 50% of overheads. There is a need for the recycling and reprocessing sectors to come together, which we have been backing for some time." Novelis' Doran said: "We will actively work with the government to align policies where they are not joined up and advocate greater transparency in the supply chain. This includes the Transfrontier of Shipment of Waste Regulations and the Packaging Waste Regulations." The Resource Association aims to cover the broad cycle of the industry, from engaging with local authorities to help deliver better recycling services, to addressing quality and recovery challenges of secondary materials in the reprocessing industry. Addressing the potential of existing associations crossing over, the Resource Association said: "We believe there is a distinctive space for the Resource Association. In particular, we wish to work complementarily with existing material-specific trade associations and where needed provide a championing voice to unite shared agendas in the reprocessing and recycling sector." Potential associations for Resource Association to work with would include the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), as well as the British Plastics Federation (BPF) and Wood Recyclers' Association (WRA). Membership costs to join the association are based on companies' annual turnover and includes a top fee of £20,000 per year for companies generating over £250 million turnover, right down to £500 per year for firms generating up to £500,000 per year. Speaking to Waste Management World, Georgeson said: "We see the association as an umbrella advocacy body and we're looking to engage in conversations with all existing material bodies." in brief UK: Angry Response to Withheld PFI Credits Caroline Spelman, the UK Secretary of State's decision to withhold confirmation of PFI credits to Norfolk's proposed waste to energy project has been criticised by the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM). CIWM warned that if it is a demand for further consultation or approval of an already agreed strategy, the action risks creating a never ending loop of appeal and consultation that could significantly damage the planning system and the PFI process. It added that it could negatively impact investment in the waste sector. U.S: Gasification comes to Idaho Idaho based waste gasification specialist, Waste Dynamis Energy is to design, build and operate a $60 million facility to convert MSW and waste tyres into electricity at Ada County's Hidden Hollow Landfill in Idaho. According to the company, the agreement will see landfill property leased from the county for $1 a year for 20 years and will build a gasification plant capable of disposing of 250 tons (227 tonnes) of municipal waste, tyres and other types of solid waste per day. China: 70% of Waste to be Recycled by 2015 The Chinese government is aiming to recycle 70% of the country's major waste products by 2015. According to a recent official document, the country will put in place a complete waste collection network featuring advanced sorting technologies. The guideline issued by the government said that the system is to target "major waste products", including metal, paper, plastic, glass, tyres, cars and electronics. UK: Waste to Energy Facility Wins A Court of Appeal judge has dismissed an anti-incinerator campaign's bid to halt a decision to allow waste management company, Viridor, to build a 300,000 tonne waste to energy facility at its existing Ardley site in Oxfordshire, UK. Campaign group Ardley Against Incineration had applied to the High Court to have the decision reversed. The company can now begin construction of the 24 MW facility, which will provide enough electricity to power 38,000 households. Mozambique: Indian Company Plans Recycling Facility Mumbai, India based Hanjer Bio-Tech Energies, has made a proposal to recycle solid waste fuel and fertilisers in Maputo, Mozambique and the neighbouring city of Matola. According to the Mozambique News Agency, the plan is currently being reviewed, to determine which type facility should be installed, taking into account quantities of solid waste produced in the two cities. Biomass Gasification Facility Ready for Take Off Rentech's Product Demonstration Unit in Commerce City, Colorado Los Angeles based waste and biomass gasification specialist, Rentech has completed work on all the systems required to start up its Integrated Bio-Refinery (IBR) in Colorado. Commissioning, validation and start-up of the demonstration facility is now underway. According to the company, the Rentech Energy Technology Center incorporates a 20 ton per day (18 tonne per day) biomass gasifier that has been designed to produce bio-synthesis gas from various high impact wood waste and sugar cane by-product feedstocks. The gasifier has been integrated with its existing Product Demonstration Unit (PDU) at the site, which uses the firm's own Fischer-Tropsch process to treat the feedstock, followed by Honeywell subsidiary, UOP's upgrading technologies to produce drop-in synthetic jet and diesel fuels at demonstration scale. The PDU is currently producing synthetic fuels for testing and certification purposes. The facility is designed to produce more than 400 gallons (1500 litres) per day of ultra-clean synthetic jet fuel, aviation fuel, ultra-low sulfur diesel, and speciality waxes and chemicals and is scalable for greater output, according to the firm. Rentech said that it expects the integrated facility, which will be capable of producing syngas, hydrogen, and steam as well as biofuels, to be used to evaluate additional technology integration opportunities. The IBR project was co-funded by a $23 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, with the balance of its total cost of approximately $36 million being funded by the company.Total costs for the facility included building the gasifier, feedstock handling equipment, integration with the synthetic fuels plant and operation of the facility for a period of six months to collect 2000 hours of operating data. The IBR is expected to begin producing certified renewable fuels in late 2011. $32 Million Expansion at Brazilian Aluminium Plant Global rolled aluminium producer, Novelis is to invest approximately $32 million to expand recycling capacity at its aluminium rolling and recycling complex in Pindamonhangaba, Brazil. New investment is in addition to $30 million that it has invested over the past two years to expand recycling capacity and establish a network of used can collection centres within the country, as well as a $300 million rolling mill expansion currently under way. The company said that this expansion will include a state-of-the-art recycling line that will nearly double the plant's capacity to recycle used beverage cans and other aluminium scrap from 200,000 metric tonnes per year to 390,000 tonnes per year. The line is expected to come on stream in late 2013, and to help ensure metal supply for the plant's rolling mills while reducing costs and delivering environmental benefits. Novelis currently uses around 33% recycled content in its products, but has set a target to increase that figure to 80% by 2020. According Phil Martens, president and CEO at Novelis, such investments will be key if the company is to achieve this target. Ros Roca Envirotec Forms Saudi Arabian Joint Venture Ros Roca envirotec, the engineering arm of the Spanish Ros Roca Environment, has entered into a Joint Venture and strategic partnership in Saudi Arabia to form a new company, Ros Roca envirotec Arabia, based in Jeddah and with offices in Al Khobar and Riyadh. According to Ros Roca envirotec, the new company will operate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and specialise in environmental engineering and construction services for the public and private sectors. The company said that it will be especially focused on the installation of automated waste collection technologies. Explaining the move, Carles Torres, international business developer Middle East & Asia at Ros Roca Environment, said that as environmental awareness grows in Saudi Arabia, Ros Roca has identified an opportunity to grow its capabilities by offering projects in the waste transportation and waste treatment fields. "The Middle East, and in particular Saudi Arabia remains one of our most important and long term growth markets," added Torres. UK Food Waste Down, But No Room for Complacency While food waste in the UK has declined by 13% over the past three year period, the country still discards some £12 billion of edible food each year. This was according to the Waste and Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) Dr Liz Goodwin, chief executive, who announced at the organisation's annual conference the results of research over the past three years. Goodwin said that the fall in household food waste since 2006-07 from 8.3 million tonnes to 7.2 million tonnes per year was very welcome and probably due to a range of factors. However, the chief executive also warned there was a big job still to do in dealing with the "significant" food wasted throughout the supply chain at a time when food security was a major global issue. Goodwin also announced the results of the first major research into the benefits of greater reuse of materials such as textiles. Send your news to Waste Management Worlde-mail: benm@pennwell.com More Waste Management World Articles Waste Management World Issue Archives