Recycling across the area

[SteveH]

CONWY County Borough Council and Crest are working with ?Podback?, a not-for-profit coffee pod recycling service, to help residents recycle their coffee pods at home, as part of a new kerbside collection service.

The county-wide service is the first of its kind to launch in Wales and collections will start from September 26.

Podback is a nationwide recycling service created by the biggest names in coffee pod systems, Nespresso, NESCAF? Dolce Gusto and Tassimo.

The new service supports the council?s aim to reduce waste and increase recycling.

Residents will be able to recycle their plastic and aluminium coffee pods at home by signing up.

Once registered, residents will be provided with Podback recycling bags and instructions on how to use the scheme.

When bags are full, residents simply put them out as normal on their fortnightly textiles and electricals kerbside collection day or if they live in a rural area, book a collection by calling Crest.

cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/20906281.pioneering-new-coffee-pod-recycling-service-comes-conwy/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

Christmas bin collections dates for North Wales as households see changes to usual dates
Some areas will see their rubbish and recycling collected earlier than normal

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/christmas-bin-collections-dates-north-25784969?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

How and where you can recycle your Christmas tree in Wales in 2022
It depends on where you live

Conwy
If you have a garden waste collection subscription with Bryson Recycling, they will collect your real tree with either of your collections in January. You can check when your collection date is by looking on the Conwy County Borough Council's website. And if you don?t have a subscription, you can take your tree to one of the authority's household recycling centres. You can also shred and compost your tree at home.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/how-you-can-recycle-your-25846892?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

Please note this story is from the 17th January .........if in doubt double check with the council

CONWY County Borough Council have amended the days for waste collection due to the snowy road conditions.

As snow sweeps across North Wales, the Council said its teams are "struggling" to make many collections today.

Residents have been advised to leave their black bins out on Saturday for collection, and any missed recycling will be collected next week.

Nappy collections will also return next week.

A Conwy County Borough Council spokesperson said: "Due to snowy road conditions, our recycling & waste crews are struggling to collect today.

"Please put your black bins out on Saturday for collection. We'll collect your missed recycling next week.

"Nappy collections will return next week ? you can put any excess in bin bags

[SteveH]

Baravelli's hand-crafted 50kg polar bear turned into electricity

Mark Baravelli, director of the artisan chocolatiers in Conwy, said: "After visiting the zoo and sitting in the window, Bianca wasn?t really fit for consumption. We wanted to make sure she was as useful as possible, so we got in touch with the council to ask about anaerobic digestion.

"Polar bears in the wild are losing habitat because climate change is reducing the sea ice they live and hunt on. By taking Bianca to be anaerobically digested, she?s been turned into fossil fuel-free energy, doing her bit for reducing carbon emissions.?

Bianca was collected by Conwy County Borough Council?s recycling team and taken to the Biogen plant in St Asaph, which processes food waste collected from the county?s residents. Last year, Conwy residents recycled 5,769 tonnes of food waste, creating renewable energy and fertiliser for local farms.

Once at the site, food waste is shredded and turned in a porridge-like substance, which is pumped into digestion tankers. As the food waste digests, the gas it gives off is collected to drive an engine and create electricity, while the leftovers are pasteurised to create fertiliser. In total, the Biogen site processes 22,500 tonnes of food waste every year, generating 1 million watts of electricity.

cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23306710.baravellis-hand-crafted-50kg-polar-bear-turned-electricity/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

Welsh Water: Sewage dumped in Welsh waterways for 600,000 hours

Water company Welsh Water released sewage into rivers, lakes and the sea around Wales for almost 600,000 hours last year, data shows.

This accounts for more than 25% of all hours of discharges into waterways across Wales and England.

Latest figures also show more than 83,000 spills in 2022 - 77,000 of which were "significant".

The not-for-profit company said removing Combined Storm Overflows (CSOs) was too expensive.

It added that it was targeting investment in areas with the biggest environmental impact.

Although not illegal, campaigners and experts say releasing the sewage poses a danger to human and animal health.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65156560

[SteveH]

TERRACYLE
Many local people are keen recyclers, but there are lots of everyday, household items that are difficult to recycle.  That's why we wanted to make people aware of TerraCycle....  https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/

TerraCycle provide home and school based recycling programmes that include a whole range of items.  All you have to do is visit their website and type the item you want to recycle in the search bar on their homepage.

VISIT TERRACYCLE WEBSITE

[SteveH]

Community-minded youngsters get stuck in to clean up Conwy estate

A TOTAL of 50 volunteers took part in a litter pick to start a summer campaign to spruce up a housing estate in Conwy.

The two-month-long project on the Parc Peulwys estate in Llysfaen, above Colwyn Bay, is being organised by housing association Cartrefi Conwy and sister organisation Creating Enterprise who are urging tenants to get involved.

Cartrefi and Creating Enterprise are joining forces for similar events in other neighbourhoods, including a Big Clean-Up day beginning at Ty Hapus Community Centre, Llandudno.

?Cartrefi Conwy wants to listen to the community?s concerns and to act upon them so I urge people to come forward and join in the various activities they have planned over the summer.?

Cartrefi Conwy tenants are advised to check out Facebook and the housing association?s website for more information about the programme of activities.

full story https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23575631.community-minded-youngsters-get-stuck-clean-conwy-estate/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

People are getting 10p back for their used drinks containers in a town trialling a deposit scheme that could come to all parts of the UK.

Customers scan a bar code - now on every bottle, can or carton for sale in Brecon, Powys - then put it in a recycling bin or at set collection points to receive their money.

"A man brought in 68 bottles," said one shop manager. "We dealt with it."

All UK nations aim to have deposit return schemes in place by 2025.

But getting them off the drawing board has proved hugely problematic.

Retailers worry about costly infrastructure, councils have concerns about lost income from kerbside collections - and there have been rows between the UK and devolved governments over whether to include glass.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66948446

[Hugo]

It'll be interesting to see how the trial works out, hopefully there will be less litter about in that area.     As kids we used to supplement our pocket money by taking bottles back to the shops and pubs

[SAJ]

Hugo, best time for bottles to take back for the 3d refund was Saturday afternoon when the day trippers had gone, leaving behind their pop bottles by the bins on the prom. Hopefully, this scheme will take off. A similar scheme operates in parts of Scandinavia where bottles/cans can be deposited in a machine inside certain shops in return for vouchers to use in those shops.

[Dave]

They have been doing it in Germany for years. They lead the way in recycling .

[SteveH]

The eight common plastic items the Welsh Government will ban from next month
'We?re asking businesses and organisations to ready themselves for the change'

There is roughly a month to go before a number of single use plastic items will be banned from being sold across Wales. In December 2022, Wales made history by becoming the first part of the UK to legislate against a thorough list of single-use plastics when the Senedd approved legislation to ban selling unnecessary, disposable products to consumers.

The new law is a key step in reducing the flow of damaging plastic waste into the Welsh environment and is being introduced following consultation with the public and other stakeholders. It will give local authorities the power to enforce the offence of supplying or offering to supply the commonly littered items ? even when they are free.

This will start to come into effect on Monday, October 30, when the following items will be banned from being sold across the country:

Single-use plastic plates
Single-use plastic cutlery
Single-use plastic drinks stirrers
Cups made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene.
Takeaway food containers made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene
Single-use plastic balloon sticks
Single-use plastic-stemmed Cotton buds
Single-use plastic drinking straws (*exemptions for those who need them to eat and drink safely and independently)

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/eight-common-plastic-items-welsh-27818828

[SteveH]

Nearly half a billion small electricals such as cables, lights, mini fans and disposable vapes, were thrown away last year, research from Material Focus has shown.

These "Fast Tech" items, the electrical version of fast fashion, are the fastest-growing e-waste type, it says.

The average home also has thirty unused electrical items gathering dust, the research shows.

These items contain valuable raw materials, and all can be recycled.

The not-for-profit group Material Focus commissioned a survey of 2000 people from Opinium Research. Based on the responses it calculates that 471m "Fast Tech" items were thrown away in the UK last year, including:

260 million disposable vapes
30 million LED, solar and decorative lights
26 million cables
10 million USB sticks
7 million cordless headphones
5 million mini fans.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67082005

How can I recycle my electricals?
Used electricals can be sold, donated, repaired - or if none of those is possible, recycled.
You can take old electricals to recycling centres, libraries, and other locations to be collected. Some councils will collect from your door.
Retailers are also required to help people dispose of old electricals, even if they didn't sell them to you in the first place.
The Recycle Your Electricals website has a guide to local recycling facilities.

[SteveH]

Wales makes new law on recycling

From April 6, 2024, it will be illegal for all businesses, charities and public sector organisations not to sort their waste for recycling. The list of who the law applies to is comprehensive, covering schools, universities, GPs, hospitality venues and prisons.

All businesses, charities and public sector organisations will need to separate their waste. The NHS and private hospitals have an extra two years to comply with the law.

It also applies to all waste and recycling collectors and processors who manage household-like waste from workplaces. The Welsh Government says it is introducing this law to improve the quality and quantity of how we collect and separate waste in a bid to reaching zero waste. We are already the best in the UK for domestic recycling and third best in the world.

cont https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/new-law-means-every-workplace-27922906?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589