19 February 2016
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The turn of the year has brought some interesting and positive news stories which will hopefully set the trend for the rest of 2016.
Clean For The Queen
The 14th January saw the launch of a nationwide campaign, Clean for The Queen. This year, Queen Elizabeth II will turn 90 and the country will be litter free, or so the scheme aims. Clean for The Queen is asking everyone to clean up litter during a clean-up weekend on the 4th, 5th, and 6th March, with one million people expected to take part.
The initiative will be a first for national organisations such as Keep Britain Tidy, and the Garfield Weston Foundation, as they work together with food manufacturers, councils, and officials to cut down litter produced and ensure proper waste disposal.
High Rated Recycling
It’s official! England has reached a recycling rate of 44.8%! Figures released by Defra on 1st December shows a 0.6% increase from 2013 to 2014 in waste sent for recycling by local officials.
It’s been revealed that household waste recycling varies across the country, with values ranging from 14% to 67%. The largest increase in household recycling goes to South Bucks District Council, who scored a 67% average.
A huge step in this great figure is due to the increase of waste sent to energy recovery plants. These plants incinerate waste to create renewable energy to be harnessed as electricity. For the first time, the amount of waste received by these plants was more than waste disposed of at a landfill, 1.4 million tonnes more!
The National Grid’s Christmas Dinner
For many, the Christmas Holidays can be summed up by one word, food. Each year over the festive period, food waste increases by up to 30%. Biogen saw this as an opportunity to turn those left over Brussels into green energy.
The equivalent of 2,000 elephants in food waste was used as a renewable source to generate electricity. The 15,000 tonnes of leftover food was processed throughout the country in Biogens Anaerobic Digestion Plants. The electricity generated by this was fed directly into the national grid to help power the nation through the new year celebrations. The recycling didn’t end there as the processed food was used to create biofertiliser for farmlands. 
