1. Banner Business Services in £37m government deal

Banner Business Services (BBS) has been appointed to supply recycled, ‘Closed loop’ paper to the Department for Transport (DFT), Home Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in a deal worth a reported £37 million.

The contract, which is set to run for three years, is mandatory for all Central Government Departments.

Commercial Director at HM Revenue and Customs, David Thomas, said: “Delivering aggressive savings targets will require all of us in the public sector to think differently.

“HMRC has the lowest office supplies cost per employee in Whitehall and was the first Government department to implement the Closed Loop solution. It has enabled us to reduce our costs and also delivered further data security and environmental benefits.”

2. Recycling fellowship for Lib Dem MP

Liberal Democrat MP John Pugh, is set to begin a fellowship programme at waste and resource management company, FCC Environment, in a bid to ‘learn more about the UK’s growing green economy’.

The fellowship, organised by the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT), will comprise ‘discussions with recycling experts’, tours of recycling and treatment facilities and a visit to a WEEE recycling facility.

Pugh said: “The green sector is vital to the UK economy and creates jobs so I’m interested to observe how a waste management company such as FCC Environment operates.

Head of External Affairs at FCC Environment, Mike Snell, added: “FCC Environment provides essential environmental and energy services to businesses and communities so we’re eager to help parliamentarians better understand the waste and recycling industry… [and] what makes business tick. This understanding will help them make decisions that are positive and relevant for the health of the country’s economy.”

3. Grundon joins WRAP’s Hospitality and Food Service Agreement

Recycling and waste management company Grundon Waste Management Ltd, has signed up as a supporter of WRAP’s Hospitality and Food Service Agreement, in a bid to help reduce food and packaging waste.

Those signed up to the voluntary agreement are committed to help to ‘reduce food and associated packaging waste arising by 5 per cent’ (against a 2012 baseline measured in CO2 emissions) and increase the recycling rate of food and packaging waste to ‘at least 70 per cent’, by the end of 2015.

CEO of Grundon Richard Skehens, said: “Grundon is delighted to be working with WRAP on this major new initiative to tackle food waste.

“We wholeheartedly support the aims of the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement and will be actively encouraging our staff, customers and suppliers to waste less food and associated packaging, and to reuse and recycle more”.

4. UK’s fourth largest onshore wind farm for Lincolnshire

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, has approved plans for the construction of a 22-turbine onshore wind farm at Heckington Fen, Lincolnshire.

The 66-megawatt project, the UK’s fourth largest and the biggest in energy supplier Ecotricity’s portfolio, has the potential to generate enough electricity to power in the region of 40,000 homes.

Founder of green energy company Ecotricity, Dale Vince, said: “Heckington Fen is a superb location for a wind park, probably the best we've ever seen. The planning department from North Kesteven District Council recommended the application for approval and we had no objections from any of the statutory consultee’s such as English Hertitage, RSPB or Natural England.

“Harnessing Britain’s wind energy is the only way that we, as a nation, can break the cycle of endlessly increasing energy bills – where price rises are driven by the global energy markets.”

5. New AD facility for farm in Cumbria

Environmental investor, Iona Capital, has announced its first foray into the ‘smaller scale’ anaerobic digestion (AD) market by investing in joint venture company Stanley Renewable Energy Ltd, with developer JFS & Associates Ltd and a family farm, Ponsonby Old Hall Farm, in Cumbria.

The deal will see the JFS & Association construct a 250 kilowatt AD plant , fuelled by manure and slurry, at Ponsonby Old Hall Farm in Cumbria.

Electricity generated at the plant will either be used on the farm or sold to the National Grid, supplementing income generated under the Government’s Feed in Tariff Scheme. The farm will also utilise the heat generated on site, as well as digestate bi-product which for use as a bio-fertiliser.

Director of Iona Capital, Mike Dunn, said: “We believe that anaerobic digestion technology provides an excellent opportunity for farmers to benefit from new streams of income through the clean production of electricity and reduction of costs on farm. “