Isonomia

by Richard Vaughan

On 28th March the Environment Agency carried out a ‘day of action’ against waste crime, code named Operation Cyclone. Over 100 officers visited 60 sites suspected of carrying out illegal waste actions in the North East and South East regions of England. In addition to site visits, roadside stop and searches were carried out. In 2012 the Agency stopped a total of 1,135 illegal waste sites including closure, enforcement action or advice on changing practices to operate legally. It is encouraging that the Agency is taking waste crime so seriously and having a real impact. However the large number suggests that for many operators the rewards of working outside the law remain attractive.

Read more on Does waste crime pay?…

by Peter Jones

The Daily Mail ran an extraordinary story on its front page on 5^th April, claiming that 12m tons (sic.) of material collected as household recycling is in fact being landfilled overseas. The article also reports that official statistics showing a recycling rate of 43% of household waste are overstated because “in reality, processors reject most recyclable material, which then often ends up in landfill sites.”

Read more on The Daily Mail’s recycling “con” con…

by Dominic Hogg

I had a bit of a shock the other day. I saw an aluminium can in one of our residual waste bins. You might think I’m being a little melodramatic, but in my view, that type of behaviour is not acceptable in a company of which I am the Chairman. It triggered an e-mail to fellow staff at Eunomia to highlight the fact that I was expecting rather more of them than this.

Read more on “No can do” isn’t good enough…

by Mike Brown

Until a week ago, the term “trommel fines” was rarely heard outside a materials recycling facility (MRF) or a waste transfer station (WTS). But that was before Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued the snappily titled Brief 15/12 – Landfill Tax: material used on a landfill site; and classification of waste.

Read more on Trommel at t’mill…

by Chris Sherrington

A few days back I came across yet another article claiming that plastic bags really aren’t as bad as they are often made out to be – backed by the authoritative voice of last year’s Environment Agency Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of supermarket carrier bags

Read more on Turtle economic value…