wasteIssue 20, Autumn 2006

w a t c h e r s

www.recycleforhampshire.org.uk

The BIG Recycle

R e c y c l e f o r H a m p s h i r e

FarnboroughSince 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%!

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 re-arranging 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. In June, Recycle for Hampshire ran a

week of recycling challenges as part of the 'BIG Recycle'

IN THIS ISSUE

Portsmouth's Designer ERF

MAF-amatics!

Above: Olympic star Roger Black with the competition winners

Below: The teams in action

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.

The schools involved then received a visit from the Recycle for Hampshire team, who as well as picking up an amazing two tonnes of shoes equating to 4,000 pairs, gave football skills 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

most shoes and Nursling Primary School which won the football tournament.

The ‘BIG Recycle’ week was great fun for all involved, and alongside the fun activities it allowed over 3,600 children from across the county to learn more about the importance of recycling.

Small changes...

Big Difference!

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!”

Record RecyclingRates in

Small changes... Big difference

Heroic Hampshire

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!

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.”

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

in The Green Book, other companies, councils and communities around the world will benefit from its experience and success.”

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 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

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.

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.

Veolia ES Hampshire Managing Director, Gavin Graveson, proudly displays the Green Hero Award

“MAF-amatics!”

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).

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!

A new way to study waste composition

composting, sustainable shopping, and eliminating unwanted junk mail, as well as having a waste-free picnic at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens near Romsey!

Dick and Bridget Strawbridge with the winning prize draw ticket

Waste Watchers is published by Veolia ES Hampshire, Poles Lane, Otterbourne, Hampshire SO21 2EA

Tel: 01962 764 000 Fax: 01962 715 693

Staff profile 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.

Lester Mortimer

The Dizzy HeightsEarlier 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.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

‘Steve Says’A Question Answered

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.

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 over-printed, 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.

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 non-recyclable 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.

“Why can't I recycle gift wrap?”

of Design

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

Steve Read, Project Integra

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Have your sayProject 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 integra@hants.gov.uk

Produced by Veolia ES Hampshire in association with Recycle for Hampshire