By admin on Jul 2, 2008 in Energy | 0 Comments
The biodiesel-powered boat Earthrace has set a new record for the quickest journey around the world by a powerboat. The Earthrace boat has been traveling around the world for more than two years to raise awareness for biologically produced fuels, such as fuels made with cooking oils, plant matter and fats.
The record breaking journey took 60 days, which is an impressive 14 days less than the previous record, set in 1998 by a boat named Cable & Wireless Adventurer. Over the next few months the boat will be touring Europe to continue to raise awareness for biologically produced fuels, before travelling to Australia for the 2009 Auckland International Boat Show.
By admin on Jul 1, 2008 in News, Business | 0 Comments
The landfill tax in Ireland has been increased today for the first time in six years. The landfill tax has been increased by €5, which is the maximum amount allowed by law. This raises the landfill tax from €15 (£12) to €20 (£16) for every tonne of waste that is sent to an authorised landfill facility.
The changes have been made through the Waste Management (Landfill Levy) Order 2008, which amends section 73(3) of the Waste Management Acts 1996 to 2008.
The levy builds on a €20 a tonne tax which is already in place in Ireland for waste which is sent to an unauthorised landfill facility. This means that persons responsible for the illegal deposition must pay the levy and remove the waste, as required by Section 60 Policy Direction, and remediate the land, apart from any other penalties that may be imposed through the courts.
By admin on Jun 29, 2008 in Recycling, Home & Garden, Guides | 0 Comments
The UK uses over 900,000 tonnes of aluminium, with around 73% of this having been recycled. Due to the high unit value, large items such as those used for transport and building applications, achieve as much as a 95% rate of return for recycling.
However, the aluminium used for packaging is much more difficult to collect, as it is very light and is often discarded in every home, school, office, pub and restaurant. This should not be the case, as auluminium is one of the easiest materials to recycle. Read the rest
By admin on Jun 29, 2008 in Environment, News, Energy | 0 Comments
By 2015 German car giant Mercedes hopes to completely remove petrol powered cars from its range of vehicles. This means within just 7 years they aim to produce only vehicles which run on alternative energy sources, such as battery electrics, fuel cells and highly efficient internal combustion engines that can operate on biofuels.
Mercedes are determined to make their model range run on alternative fuels in order to improve costs, become more eco-friendly and because the oil supply will eventually run out.
Mercedes are set to invest around £7billion before 2014, having already invested £2million on their new long-term Sustainable Mobility plan. This money will be spent on making current Mercedes engines even cleaner and more fuel-efficient while increasing the amount of hybrids, emission-free electric cars and clean-fuel gas engines and the further development of battery and hydrogen-powered vehicles.
By admin on Jun 27, 2008 in Environment, Energy | 1 Comment
Festival season is well and truly here with Glastonbury underway this weekend. To celebrate the festival scene in an eco-friendly way, Ibuyeco, the 100% carbon neutral car insurance provider, will offset emissions of people travelling to the Cornbury Music festival in Oxfordshire.
Ibuyeco is the headline sponsor of the festival, which is being held over the weekend of 5th and 6th July. The festival showcases a range of ecclectic music, including acts such as KT Tunstall, Beverley Knight, Crowded House, Paul Simon and The Bangles.
Hugh Phillmore, Cornbury Festival Organiser, commented: “We understand that bringing all the family and camping gear to Oxford for the weekend will mean most visitors have to use a car. It’s great then that ibuyeco, headline sponsor of the festival, is supporting our efforts to make Cornbury greener by offsetting CO2 emissions caused by families’ travel to the event.”
Ibuyeco offers insurance packages which offset 100% of a vehicle’s CO2 emissions for the duration of the policy. For every 1kg of the emissions produced by your vehicle’s driving each year, ibuyeco we arrange for 1kg to be saved by a climate friendly project elsewhere in the world.
By admin on Jun 27, 2008 in Uncategorized, Featured, Environment, Guides | 0 Comments
With Glastonbury starting today and many more festivals lined up till September, there is likely to be a rush for the number one festival accessory – a good pair of wellies! But I believe eco friendly products should have a firm place at the top of the list of things to take too. Especially when festival organizers, typically faced with the chore of clearing up acres of beer cups, broken tents and God knows what else, are pledging to make music festivals more green.
That’s why I love the idea behind Myhab – an eco friendly alternative to a normal tent – inspired by the thousands of tents, left behind every year, that end up on landfills somewhere. If you fancy hiring Myhab, check out their website www.myhab.com for more info, and enjoy festivals in eco style. But remember to add eco products to your festival packing list, to make your festival experience even greener. Read the rest
By admin on Jun 27, 2008 in Hazardous Waste, Recycling, Featured, News, Energy | 0 Comments
The UK’s first nuclear recycling plant to be based outside an existing atomic facility is being built in Cumbria. The recycling plant is being built by Swedish-based company Studsvik at Lillyhall Industrial Estate near Workington. The site is due to be completed by December and will handle approximatley 3,000 tonnes of scrap metal a year from nuclear sites all over the UK.
After recycling the metal, low level nuclear waste will be taken to the nearby storage facility at Drigg. Studsvik say the operation will be completely safe and monitored on a regular basis.
A spokesman for Studsvik, which operates similar facilities in Sweden, said it would serve the UK’s nuclear industry, whose sites are now being decommissioned under the control of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
He said: “To meet the government’s decommissioning targets, new facilities need to be constructed to provide alternative methods for cleaning the materials that will be removed during the decommissioning process. Read the rest
By admin on Jun 27, 2008 in Recycling, News, Home & Garden | 0 Comments
Marks and Spencer’s has this month become the first retailer in the UK to trial the use of recycled plastic in food and drink packaging on a large scale and to gauge customer reaction to the concept.
The project is being run in conjunction with an Australian owned recycling company called Closed Loop Recycling. London Remade are also part of this great project, which is partly funded from WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme). The 6-month trial involves around 1,500 tonnes of recycled PET (rPET) plastics being incorporated into salad bowls, beverage bottles, recipe pots and trays, with the recycled content ranging between 30% to 50%.
The trial packaging was launched in Marks & Spencer’s stores across the UK earlier this month and carries on-pack declarations and messages such as “packaging made from 50% recycled material, 100% recyclable”, as well as the closed loop recycling logo. Throughout the duration of the trial customer reaction will be assessed through a series of in-store survey activities. Read the rest
By admin on Jun 25, 2008 in Household Waste, Recycling, Featured, News | 0 Comments
Lincolnshire County Council members will today be asked to back a £917m recycling scheme aimed at helping the county to meet new recycling targets over the next 28 years.
The plan includes building an ‘Energy from Waste’ unit - a combined heat and power plant to generate electricity for sale to the national grid and heat in the form of steam for sale locally.
A report prepared for the meeting said: “The new directive requires that the council significantly reduces the amount of biodegradable waste that it landfills, which means that the council must find an alternative solution.”
The report said the plant would take three years to build and would operate for 25 years, using waste that remained after recycling to create energy for sale. Read the rest
Hartlepool-based company Able UK has been awarded a controversial contract to dismantle and recycle a French aircraft carrier which was deamed too toxic to break up in India. 
