Comments on: Executive Councillor for Bins Reports Amount of Waste City Sends to Landfill has Fallen http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/waste-cambridge-landfills-reduced.html Cambridge, United Kingdom. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:54:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Anne Garvey http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/waste-cambridge-landfills-reduced.html#comment-43520 Anne Garvey Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:12:14 +0000 http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/?p=3086#comment-43520 This waste business is extremely important - probably the one local move we can make towards a greener way of life. But if the percentage of recycling is the criterion ( as the new rules suggest) then throwing stuff away is being encouraged rather than the reverse. And there is no mention of the horrors of plastic so called recycling which is shipped off to China to do untold damage to the health of people there as it is rather uselessly processed. The new initiative to discourage bi monthly collections will make it even harder for Councils to reduce landfill but the most heinous move of the new Tory government is to abandon the Pay as you Throw plans . Anyone who was deluded enough to vote for the Lib Dems at the Election are now seeing what it is bringing, unimaginative, centralized diktats - as for Huppert promising to vote against Trident ( and then not doing so) and to abolish student fees , it has manifestly compromised his position as MP for Cambridge. This waste business is extremely important - probably the one local move we can make towards a greener way of life. But if the percentage of recycling is the criterion ( as the new rules suggest) then throwing stuff away is being encouraged rather than the reverse.
And there is no mention of the horrors of plastic so called recycling which is shipped off to China to do untold damage to the health of people there as it is rather uselessly processed.
The new initiative to discourage bi monthly collections will make it even harder for Councils to reduce landfill but the most heinous move of the new Tory government is to abandon the Pay as you Throw plans .
Anyone who was deluded enough to vote for the Lib Dems at the Election are now seeing what it is bringing, unimaginative, centralized diktats - as for Huppert promising to vote against Trident ( and then not doing so) and to abolish student fees , it has manifestly compromised his position as MP for Cambridge.

]]> By: Richard Taylor http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/waste-cambridge-landfills-reduced.html#comment-39441 Richard Taylor Sat, 29 May 2010 18:34:03 +0000 http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/?p=3086#comment-39441 An <a href="http://www.organics-recycling.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=1%3Alatest-news&id=387%3Acambridgeshire-mbt-plant-well-ahead-of-schedule&Itemid=18" rel="nofollow">article on the Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant at Waterbeach</a> states: <blockquote>The process is expected to reduce the volume of the waste by 25% through the material extraction and a further 25-30% through the composting process - leaving behind a compost-like output. Subject to accreditation from the Environment Agency, Donarbon hopes to use the material in land restoration or to grow energy crops.</blockquote> The <a href="http://www.donarbon.com/mbt" rel="nofollow">Donarbon MBT website</a> states: <blockquote>Due to the fact that the input is mixed waste, the material produced cannot be used by farmers or the public, but Donarbon hope to use the compost-like output of the MBT plant for quarry restoration, growing energy crops or as a fuel.</blockquote> One worrying possible consequence of this last statement is the potential implication that once land has been used to grow energy crops - using contaminated compost - it might be hard to revert that land to food production use. There is no mention of direct energy production or of methane capture during the composting process on either site. An article on the Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant at Waterbeach states:

The process is expected to reduce the volume of the waste by 25% through the material extraction and a further 25-30% through the composting process - leaving behind a compost-like output. Subject to accreditation from the Environment Agency, Donarbon hopes to use the material in land restoration or to grow energy crops.

The Donarbon MBT website states:

Due to the fact that the input is mixed waste, the material produced cannot be used by farmers or the public, but Donarbon hope to use the compost-like output of the MBT plant for quarry restoration, growing energy crops or as a fuel.

One worrying possible consequence of this last statement is the potential implication that once land has been used to grow energy crops - using contaminated compost - it might be hard to revert that land to food production use.

There is no mention of direct energy production or of methane capture during the composting process on either site.

]]> By: Cllr Mike Pitt (Via Twitter) http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/waste-cambridge-landfills-reduced.html#comment-39440 Cllr Mike Pitt (Via Twitter) Sat, 29 May 2010 18:21:35 +0000 http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/?p=3086#comment-39440 <a href="http://www.twitter.com/@RTaylorUK" rel="nofollow">@RTaylorUK</a> to be fair the MBT is a County initiative. As opposed to the MRF. Lots of TLA in EWS :-) @RTaylorUK to be fair the MBT is a County initiative. As opposed to the MRF. Lots of TLA in EWS :-)

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