Isonomia

by Hattie Parke

On Saturday evenings I cycle to my local Sainsbury’s, trailer in tow, and collect a stack of ‘Taste the Difference’  loaves, bagels, croissants, pastries and other baked goods that happen not to have sold that day and would otherwise end up in bin bags and never be eaten. This stuff isn’t ‘off’ – it’s been baked fresh that morning, but anything that’s unsold by evening is removed to be replaced with fresh goods the next day.

Read more on Put your money where the mouths are…

by James Fulford

Although the data is thin and somewhat contradictory, it looks as though there’s plenty of room for improvement in the recycling performance of smaller SMEs. But those who want to support increased recycling need to understand how the market-driven commercial waste collection sector works.

Read more on We all bin it together…

By Mike Brown

Why isn’t merchant residual waste infrastructure getting built? Millions of tonnes of non-recyclable commercial and industrial (C&I) waste is being landfilled each year when it could be moved up the hierarchy. Meanwhile there is enough capacity with planning consent to treat 5 million tonnes per year more waste than we landfill, but many facilities remain just blueprints.

Read more on Waste infrastructure: planning to fail…

by Carolyn Cross

As I meander through the veg aisles of my local supermarket, Matthew the British apple farmer beams down, Chairman Mau-style, from giant posters. He looks like a nice guy, and while the supermarket may be getting a lot of mileage out of him, it does mean fewer nasty air freight and truck miles. In turn that means fresher, healthier produce, reduced carbon emissions, and more of the economic benefits staying close to home; so buying Matthew’s apples is good for us, good for UK plc and no doubt good for Matthew too.

Read more on Is my grocer greener than my government?…

by Peter Jones OBE

The shift in perceptions that transforms “waste” into resources is accelerating, driven by the great rise in the value of stuff previously considered worthless. This revolution of thought will be accompanied and enabled by many smaller changes, some of which are already beginning to take shape. Some will be subtle alterations of mindset, but others will be very visible – including, I think, a transformation in the processes and equipment involved in waste collection. Soon we will start to see what the real resource economy of the future is going to look like, and what sort of waste industry it will need.

Read more on The decline and fall of the Rolonoffs…