1. Defra website to move

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced that most of the information currently available on its website will move to GOV.UK as of Wednesday (10 April).

Defra will join 18 other ministerial departments already encompassed by the website, which aims to make finding information ‘simpler, clearer and faster’. By the end of April all departmental websites will appear at the new address.

Included in the information being transferred are policy information, news, publications, consultations and statistics. Furthermore, those using old Defra addresses for this information will be automatically redirected to the new domain.

According to Defra, some ‘specialist information’ will remain on the old website, but over the course of 2013/14 all content will be migrated to GOV.UK.

2. Viridor awarded Brent Council contract

Brent Council has awarded waste management company Viridor, a one-year contract to sort mixed recyclable materials across households in the borough.

The contract, which came into effect at the start of April has an optional 12-month extension, will see Viridor ‘sort and market’ an estimated 22,000 tonnes of recyclate at its Materials Recovery Facility in Crayford, Kent.

As a result of the new contract, residents will now be able to recycle books and a ‘wider range of metal items’, in addition to currently collected materials.

Lead Member for Environment and Neighbourhoods, Councillor James Powney, said: "Working with Viridor marks an important step forward for recycling in Brent. This is a deal that provides good value for the council and its residents.

“Recycling more of our waste will help reduce waste disposal costs and ensure recycling rates are pushed up even higher. "

3. SMEs to ‘throw away’ £463 million in 2013

Data released by waste management company Veolia, shows that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will ‘throw away’ as much as £463 million in landfill tax during 2013.

By sending waste to landfill, rather than recycling it, SMEs are likely to fall foul of landfill tax which, as of 1 April 2013, stands at £72 per tonne, up from £64 in 2012.

Veolia warns that unless SMEs recycle more, that figure will only increase as landfill tax rises to £80 per tonne in 2014/15.

Chief Executive Officer of Veolia, Estelle Brachlianoff, said: “We have now reached a stage where it is much more expensive to send waste to landfill than it is to recycle.

“The solution is to develop a recycling mindset in the workplace based on segregating materials at source. “

This data follows calls from the North London Waste Association (NLWA) for residents to recycle more, after finding that at current waste levels, the association will have to pay £13.1 million in landfill tax in 2013/14.

4. BHS launch BHS Europe

(L-R) General Manager at Nihot, Huig van der Meij and Managing Director of BHS Europe Cees Duijn

Bulk Handling Systems’ (BHS) has announced the launch of BHS Europe, following its acquisition of Amsterdam-based Nihot Recycling Technology BV in January 2013.

Director of Development, Cees Duijn, is to oversee BHS Europe as its Managing Director, responsible for the region’s sales, product delivery and customer service.

Chief Executive Officer of BHS, Steve Miller, said: “As we continue to build our European footprint and customer base, it’s important to us that we have the pieces in place to support this growth.

After working together for many years, I have a great deal of respect for Cees and his team, and am truly excited about the future of BHS Europe under his direction.”

5. Wolverhampton switch operations to Leicester

It has emerged that recyclables collected from Wolverhampton’s 98,000 homes will now be processed in Leicester rather than Southampton, after recycling firm DS Smith saw its recycling site in Southampton shut down in February.

The move will see the waste collected travel 100 miles on its round journey to Leicester, down from the 306 mile equivalent journey to Southampton.

Spokesperson for Wolverhampton City Council, Tim Clark, said: “DS Smith recently conducted a review of its operational facilities and has chosen to reduce a number of facilities.

“They have sourced an alternative location for our mixed dry recycling, it had been going to Southampton and is now going to Leicester.”

According to Clark, the new arrangement will not affect the “quality of the service”, or be of any further cost to taxpayers.

Read about the closure of DS Smith’s Southampton facility.

6. Bradford Council to double recycling collections

Bradford Council has announced that it is to double the number of recycling collections as it moves from monthly to fortnightly collections.

The scheme is to be piloted in parts of Bingley and Baildon before being rolled out across the district from September 2013. Residents will be informed of the changes by way of a leafleting campaign, which will explain changes and offer revised collected dates.

In addition to these changes, householders in the district will now be able to recycle plastic bottles.

Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Sustainability, Councillor Andrew Thornton, said: “The more we can help and encourage people to recycle and the more material we can all put in our recycling bin, the better it is all round.

“It results in less pollution, lower landfill tax charges and a reduction in the pressure on precious resources.”