LetsRecycle are letting the world know about Hertfordshire county council’s incinerator plans in an on-line article entitled Herts shortlists four EfW specialists for £800m PFI. Continue Reading “SITA and Covanta take the fall in Herts” »

No, this is not another article about how Veolia are blocking people’s democratic right to view public accounts in England, nor is the case about allegations of Veolia violating human rights in Palestine (those are different stories…).

This time Veolia are in court to face charges in connection with an explosion at the Red Scar Industrial Estate.

In a short article, entitled Firm in court over explosion we read how:

Veolia Environmental Services Cleanaway Ltd is due to answer charges of failing to take safe measures to prevent a fire or explosion at Preston Crown Court. The charges relate to the massive blaze at the site in July 2007. The prosecution is being brought by the Health and Safety Executive.

You may recall the headlines from the summer of 2007:

Huge mushroom cloud over Red Scar
M-way closed after chemical fire
Chemical explosion at reported Veolia plant closes UK motorway
Chemical Blast Forces Motorway Closure
Chemical fire causes motorway chaos

U.S. Labour Board to Seek Injunction against Covanta Energy

Braintree, Massachusetts, USA. Leaders of Utility Workers Union of America Local 369 have hailed a decision by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board to authorize federal court proceedings against Covanta Energy, which owns and operates Covanta SEMASS in West Wareham, Massachusetts. Covanta generates energy from solid waste at the SEMASS facility and at more than 40 other locations across the U.S., and is also aggressively pursuing plans to build similar facilities in Britain, Ireland, and Canada. Continue Reading “US court proceedings against Covanta Energy” »

LetsRecycle is reporting that the number of bidders for the South West Devon Waste Partnership’s £800 million PFI-funded waste contract has been reduced to three: MVV Umwelt, SITA UK and Viridor. Continue Reading “Shanks and Veolia among Devon PFI losers” »

A local newspaper reporting on the Brent Cross development proposals is quoting the leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Mike Freer, as saying:

There is no public money underpinning this regeneration scheme, all of the investment is being funded by the housing development. That’s what many of the objectors fail to realise is the reality of the scheme…I’ve been reassured the air coming out of the [waste incinerator] chimney is cleaner than the air going in.

Continue Reading “Protesters protest as Brent Cross Leader misled?” »

Earlier this month (November 2009) LetsRecycle published an article by the International Solid Waste Association’s Jeff Cooper. The piece focussed on the Thermal Treatment Working Group of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), and included the following sorry tale:

When the meeting was first planned it had been expected that the Lakeside plant would be fully operational. Sadly, when we visited the plant in September it was still a construction site and staff were trying to get over the latest in a series of problems that have progressively delayed both the plant’s commissioning and now full opening. Continue Reading “Gas cylinders caused Lakeside incinerator damage” »

Photo showing members of TelfordPAIN anti-incinerator campaign group presenting Cllr NIGEL DUGMORE with the TelfordPAIN group objection to the incinerator planning application. Continue Reading “Cllr Dugmore shares the TPAIN” »

Veolia stinks

That’s the conclusion of and Environment Agency (EA) investigation into foul smells emanating from Veolia’s composting facility in Fareham.

Veolia’s Downend Composting Plant is, according to The Portsmouth News, has been identified as the source of the ‘Portchester Pong’. Continue Reading “EA: Veolia stinks” »

We are proud to announce that the United Kingdom Without Incineration Network (UKWIN) is featured alongside others, such as Friends of the Earth Senior Waste Campaigner Michael Warhurst and UKWIN AGM 2009 keynote speaker Peter Jones, in Resource Magazine’s “Hot 100″.

Resource describes itself as a magazine offing a new perspective on waste. Each year they compile a list of 100 “waste and recycling stars” (waste geeks), and this year’s list recognises the work of some familiar names, including:

• Shlomo Dowen (UKWIN) – “The people’s champion for freedom of waste information”
  Michael Warhust (FoE) – “Exposer of myths”
  Dominic Hogg (Eunomia) – “For taking the fight for better environmental policy from the national level up to the EU”
  Ray Georgeson (Ray Georgeson Resources) – “For his inspirational thinking…”
  Julian Parfitt (Resource Futures) – “Excellent research on composting”
  Matthew Thomson (London CRN) – “His enthusiasm is infectious and he constantly – quite rightly – challenges the powers that be”
  Kate Chappell (Carpet Recycling UK) – “For single-handedly setting up and gaining funding for two carpet recycling facilities”

No more spoilers folks – If you want to see the full list you’ll have to ask for a copy of the November – December 2009 Issue Number 50 of Resource Magazine

And as if that were not enough, UKWIN also received recognition from the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM)!

Yes, you read that correctly, the CIWM describes itself as “the professional body which represents over 6,000 waste management professionals…”

Each year the CIWM holds an award ceremony. The Ben Heath Award for Outstanding Presentations “is intended to recognise the importance of preparing clear, informative and interesting presentations, not necessarily involving the preparation of a formal written paper.

This year’s runner-up for the Ben Heath Award for Outstanding Presentations went to UKWIN Coordinator Shlomo Dowen.

Download a version of Shlomo’s presentation [PDF]