Thoughts from the Kerbside - The Big Wheelie Bin Blog

The coolest incinerator on the planet

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:58:59 GMT

It's sexy, and it has a ski slope. Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group has unveiled an award-winning design for a waste-to-energy plant which, when built, will replace a 40-year old tired-looking incinerator in Copenhagen.

Build me a planning headache (part 2)

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:34:58 GMT

How are we going to make the planning system work in its redesigned form? This question posed by Professor Tom Foulkes, director general of the Institution of Civil Engineers, was key to the debate that took place yesterday at a seminar hosted by the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum.

Build me a planning headache (part 1)

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:09:50 GMT

It currently takes an average of seven years for waste companies to get new facilities up and running - and four of those are spent tangled up in the planning process, according to the CBI. As the confederation's deputy director general Dr Neil Bentley aptly points out, "That is not the way to attract investment."

Human incineration - sink or swim?

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:12:00 GMT

Plans to warm a public swimming pool with heat generated by a nearby crematorium were given the go-ahead in Worcestershire this month. Now me, I think it's a great idea. But not everyone agrees. The moral arguments around this kind of thing run deep.

Yes Minister, you will be missed

Fri, 4 Feb 2011 10:27:12 GMT

Most politicians want to cling onto their seats for dear life these days, so it's somewhat refreshing when you meet one that has made a deliberate decision to hang up their hat early and leave on a high note.

Waste Review starts to take shape

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:42:10 GMT

Social media may have its fair share of critics, but there's no denying it has its uses. Earlier today I put questions to Defra's deputy director of waste strategy Diana Linskey on the Government's forthcoming Waste Review and I didn't even have to leave my desk - I just tuned into my first webinar.

Waste - just resource in the wrong place

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:58:55 GMT

Most of us who work in resource management and sustainability know there is an enormous amount of value locked up in the UK's waste stream. But what we lack are policy levers with teeth, ones that can really bite to effect change and release this potential.

Holy smoke, Batman! My bin's been missed!

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 14:32:02 GMT

It didn't take long for the first bin-bashing story to make the front pages this year. Fed up with goading our posties, the weather and those pesky VAT hikes, our nation's press hounds turned their angst towards - you've guessed it - the beleaguered wheelie bin.

RWM and CIWM: best BOGOF deal of the year

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 13:49:29 GMT

Only two days before Christmas and Santa pulls out one heck of a surprise present from his sack - news that the RWM and Futuresource exhibitions are to merge as from next year. The industry has been given a real gift - a single major annual UK-based waste show, which it had long been calling for.

What lies beyond localism?

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:45:47 GMT

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a closed meeting hosted by the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) where Neil Thornton, who heads up Defra's waste arm, spoke about the Government's forthcoming waste review.

Food waste - I'm hungry to recycle!

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:27:09 GMT

The LAWR news desk seems to have been inundated with stories of different food waste related initiatives lately.

Litter - it's bugging me!

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:21:24 GMT

Launching a new advertising campaign this week, Keep Britain Tidy has revealed that the cost of keeping the country's streets clean has soared to a preposterous £858 million a year. The extent of Britain's litter problem is clearly massive but can it be reversed?

From glass factories to Futuresource

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 10:01:44 GMT

As a recent addition to the LAWR team, I thought I should probably introduce myself. I joined as online editor in May and have been frantically writing news stories for lawr.co.uk ever since. I'm still finding my feet in the industry, so please bear with me!

Talking rubbish (literally)

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:10:41 GMT

I haven't blogged for a while, apologies for that. But I have been out and about, meeting the movers and shakers in our industry, experts who know far more about the intricacies of waste and resource management than me.

Landfills - a nuclear option?

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:23:33 GMT

I must admit I was somewhat floored yesterday when I heard there were plans to dump radioactive waste in landsite sites. Highly toxic news!

Party politics - is blue the new red?

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 15:31:01 GMT

Ahh, the Tory conference. I was looking forward to this one. It's nice to have a bit of straight-talking from Shadow Chancellor George Osborne on how debt-ridden Britain will have to pay its way back into the black. Something that is woefully missing from Alistair Darling's battered little red suitcase.

The stink around food waste

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:11:13 GMT

Food waste seems to be flavour of the month when it comes to recycling ... or maybe not. There is still a lot of concern and reluctance among councils to undertake food waste collection trials, despite the financial incentives being offered from WRAP.

Spellbound? Hardly ...

Wed, 2 Sep 2009 11:36:27 GMT

Councils and wheelie bins took another thumping today, this time from hypnotist and self-improvement guru Paul McKenna who was talking on LBC radio this morning.

Bagging a bright idea

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:01:26 GMT

It's a shame the leading supermarkets have just missed out on hitting their voluntary targets to cut single-use carrier bags by 2%. The target was 50% and they collectively achieved a 48% reduction - still a figure not to be sniffed at.

Don't fall asleep over safety

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:25:10 GMT

As news broke today of a man who fell asleep in a wheelie bin in Brighton and was subsequently crushed to death, the issue of safety comes yet again to the fore to haunt this industry.