June 7th, 2013
I was recently speaking to my son’s great-grandmother about her experience of using nappies when her children were in diapers fifty-something years ago. She simply shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well, I was one of the lucky ones — I had a washing machine by the time the first one arrived.”
Read more on Don’t throw in the towel – the case for reusable nappies…
May 31st, 2013
by Dominic Hogg
It barely seems credible today to recall that in the late 1990s and early noughties there were people making policy – in what is now Defra, and the Environment Agency – who sincerely believed that it was incredibly challenging to meet a recycling target for household waste of 25%.
May 17th, 2013
by Phillip Ward
Defra is reviewing WRAP – again. Although styled a funding review in reality it goes much wider.
The consultation paper acknowledges WRAP’s past achievements but goes on to ask a number of questions about priorities and the WRAP business model. Essentially these cover:
May 13th, 2013
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.
February 20th, 2013
by Phillip Ward
Defra’s much-delayed Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) Code of Practice and the accompanying Quality Action Plan have now been published. Most of the reaction has been positive, but not from the Resource Association which represents the businesses that have to use the output of the recycling system. I think they are right to be disappointed and need support in persuading Defra that their current proposals will not achieve their stated objective. Defra’s aims are set out clearly enough:
