Exeter has become the first council in the UK to turn plastic bags collected from the kerbside into litter bin sacks, it has been revealed.
Green-thinking Exeter City Council has partnered up with plastic recycling company Jayplas for the UK first.
The ‘closed loop’ project sees waste polythene bags collected from households across the city and trade customers, sent to Jayplas’s new film sorting plant in Smethick.
Once there it is sorted into polymer type and colour, before being turned into recycled granules by washing and compounding the materials.
Households across Devon are being thanked for their ongoing support and efforts to keep on top of waste and recycling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Collection crews across Devon say they have been delighted with the level of public support shown to them in recent weeks, including pictures and thank you notes left on bins and outbreaks of spontaneous doorstep applause from appreciative residents.
Devon County Council for its part says it is looking to reopen Household Waste Recycling Centres as soon as it is safe to do so and Government guidance permits.
People in Exeter can sign up once again for the City Council’s Garden Waste Collection Scheme.
The Council had stopped new customers signing up for the scheme at the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak. However it has now lifted the suspension and is taking on new customers.
Gardeners can choose either a 140 litre brown bin for £37.15 a year or a 240 litre bin for £48.80. Alternatively a bundle of five biodegradable sacks costs £11.
As the fight against plastic pollution gains more momentum, a South West business has invested £280,000 to bring a state-of-the-art plastic processing machine to the region and help Devon and Cornwall businesses recycle more.
Devon Contract Waste (DCW), a leading South West independent waste management company has installed the next generation plastic recycling machine at its plastics recycling and reprocessing plant, DCW Polymers, in Wrangaton.
The new machinery is capable of processing in excess of 100 tonnes of plastic a week. Prior to the arrival of the new shredding...
Recycling is growing increasingly popular every day, thanks to the efforts of eco-conscious citizens. This begs the question; how can you benefit from the junk lying around your house without throwing it away? Well, there are many great ideas you can try if you want to repurpose some of your old household items. Not only will this help reduce environmental pollution, but it will also help you save a pretty penny! So, if you are interested, check out these 7 household items that you can transform and reuse.
Devon residents are being invited to join the Donation Generation by pledging to reuse and repair clothing as much as possible and reduce the estimated 10,000 items of clothing thrown away in the UK every five minutes.
Every pledge made will be entered in a prize draw on 2 March 2020, to win one of 10 Upcycling and Repair kits.
The kits consist of handy items to help repair and upcycle clothing easily such as fabric scissors, iron-on patches, repair tape, cottons, needles and buttons.
To enter, residents can pledge to undertake various waste saving actions, such as...
Devon County Council (DCC) has commissioned a full analysis of the carbon impacts of its waste management services from international environmental consultancy Eunomia Research & Consulting Ltd.
Last year Devon County Council endorsed the Devon Climate Declaration by declaring a climate emergency. The new project, which commenced in December 2019, forms part of the authority’s subsequent commitment to become a net-zero authority by 2030.
Eunomia’s emissions modelling team will establish the carbon footprint of DCC’s current waste management services, including the...
An action plan to help reduce the amount of food waste in Devon was endorsed by Devon County Council's ruling Cabinet.
It follows a Food Waste Spotlight Review being commissioned by Devon County Council’s Corporate, Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Commitee earlier this year.
Representatives from food charities, councils and anaerobic digestion plants attended the review to discuss why food is wasted, how to reduce it and ways to improve its collection.
Almost a third of all food purchased in Devon is thrown away, either by residents or businesses,...
Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure Development & Waste, has announced that Devon no longer sends any rubbish from kerbside collections to landfill.
Cllr Davis says that all residual waste now goes to Energy Recovery Facilities, and is used to create heat and electricity.
The news follows Devon keeping its status high among the top recycling counties in England such as Zero Waste Group , recycling 56% of household waste.
The latest 2018/2019 draft figures show that the recycling rate has increase by 2% when...
A new waste transfer station at Bynsworthy, Barnstaple will become fully operational on Monday 11 February 2019.
The new facility will enable Devon County Council to bulk up and transfer non-recyclable ‘wheelie bin/black bag’ waste collected in the North Devon and Torridge areas away from landfill to Energy from Waste facilities where it is converted into electricity.
The new facility marks the end of household ‘black bag’ waste being sent to landfill in the county of Devon. This type of waste elsewhere in Devon is already being sent to either the Exeter Energy Recovery...
