EIMissue8

JUNE/JULY 2010

FLOODING WATER WARS COMPOSTING PLASTICS RECYCLING FUTURESOURCE BRITISH MAMMALS

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INTRODUCTION FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to Issue 8 of Environment Industry Magazine; an issue that I think gives us cause for celebration as it signifies the climax of our first year of publishing. I can hardly believe that it is 12 months since I sat in my office on a gloriously sunny Saturday writing the introduction to the first issue of Environment Industry Magazine. There is a slight sense of Déjà vu; here I am in front of my laptop on another beautiful Saturday in May. This year, however, I am in much more salubrious surroundings in the Cotswolds, filling my time before heading to my favourite restaurant (and possibly the best in the world) for family birthday celebrations, a set of circumstances which I feel are much more acceptable. I have promised Kim, the owner of the New World Vietnamese Restaurant in Tewkesbury that I would give her a mention in Environment Industry Magazine but it has always felt a bit contrived to prise it into the editorial without proper reason. I should also point out that calling the New World the best restaurant in the world may be a moot point, however, having trained and worked as a chef for 13 years and been lucky enough to have travelled extensively, I have never been in a food establishment which is as consistently good as this one. I have eaten here regularly for around 7 years and have never had cause for anything but compliments.

If you happen to find yourself racing along the M5 in the vicinity of Tewkesbury, or anywhere around the Cotswolds, then I recommend that you make a concerted effort to head to the New World. Just tell them, Alex from Manchester sent you!

Ironically this beautiful Saturday in the Cotswolds reminds me of how fickle the British weather can be. Just a few years ago at the height of summer most of the UK suffered with some of the worst flooding in living memory; this area in particular was hardest hit. So it seems fitting that this issue contains a major flooding focus and even more fitting that I am writing the introduction in Tewkesbury, which is still suffering from the impact of the 2007 floods.

As usual we have some incredible writers: the lead editorial on water is provided by Dr Patricia Wouters, who offers an interesting paradox for the flooding focus that, whilst we live on an island with relatively few worries about water abundance, there are places in the world where the stresses placed on water could literally boil over into conflict. With this in mind, we have editorial from Hyder’s Bob Sargent, discussing The Flood and Water Management Act, and from Ben Kidd of CIRIA on the flood resilience of our infrastructure. To round up this water section of the magazine we also discuss methods of managing rainwater runoff with editorials from Marcus Bicknell, partner at Rain Water Harvesting Ltd, on Flood Attenuation and from Terry Nash, Chair of the Rainwater Harvesting Association, discussing…well, rainwater harvesting.

intermittently closing European airspace, the carbon pendulum may swing in our favour for a British summer like the ones you remember from childhood. I think there is a real sense of optimism in the air; we have a coalition Government which actually seems to be working and, despite the impending swingeing financial cuts, things feel promising; so much so that even the Great British press are unable to break the mood.

I don’t want to tempt fate but it also seems as though our sporting endeavours for the summer seem genuinely optimistic. This year’s Wimbledon has a good chance of seeing a British winner, our cricketers are actually playing cricket and playing well compared to how they usually do and finally, is the 44 year wait over? Will England do the unthinkable in South Africa and actually win? I sincerely hope that when I sit in front of my laptop in 2 months time, writing the introduction for the August/September issue of Environment Industry Magazine, the answer is yes, of course England won the World Cup!!

Before I go, I would like to drag this back to discussing the content of the magazine. If you read nothing else in this issue, obviously apart from this introduction, please take the time to look at the Elementa Case Study on page 112. Having raved about their waste-to-energy plant for 2 months, you can finally see for yourselves the future of waste management. Also, I am extremely proud to have Dr Derek Yalden, Chair of the Mammal Society and my former lecturer on British Mammals at Manchester University, writing on the impact reintroducing large mammals could have on British wildlife.

And finally, in Issue One I dedicated the magazine to my father John, who had, at the time, undergone a liver transplant. Since then, lots of people have asked how he is doing and I am happy to say that he is in good health and I would like to thank everyone for their concern.

I hope you all have a great summer,

Alex Stacey Alex Stacey Managing Editor

Hopefully, the summer of 2010 will be significantly better than the 2007 one; we can only hope that, with the combination of BA strikes, the financial crisis forcing everyone to stay at home and the Icelandic volcano (Eyjafjallajökull) ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

News

UK SDA ...the “green” economy takes shape... By Gage Williams OBE

Pages 04 - 24

Pages 26 - 27

So Does Blue and Yellow Make Green? By Steve Grant

Could Water Ignite the Next War? By Dr Patricia Wouters

Page 28

Pages 30 - 31

The Flood and Water Management Act – is it enough to Pages 33 - 34 turn the tide on future flooding? By Bob Sargent Financing improved infrastructure resilience to natural hazards during a recession By Ben Kidd ..Too Much Water, But Not Enough to Drink... By Steff Wright

RainWater Harvesting and Flood Attenuation By Marcus Bicknell

Pages 36 - 38

Pages 40 -42

Pages 43 - 44

Flood Risk - Recognition and Response By David Mole Pages 46 - 48

Innovation for Sustainable Contaminated Land and Ground Water Remediation By Dr Mike Lenn

Pages 50- 54

Unacceptable intake – when is a lot, ‘too much’? By Professor Paul Nathanail Pages 56 - 58

St Leonard’s Court - Wake up call for developers and property owners By Keith Davidson & Lottie Dodd

Environment Agency Prosecutions

EnviroMedia Limited, 254a Bury New Road, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 8QN

Pages 60 - 62

Page 63

Alex Stacey Tel: 0161 3410158 Fax: 0161 7668997 Email: alex@enviromedia.ltd.uk

Environment Industry Magazine is proud to be the official media partner for the UK Sustainable Development Association.

Every effort is made to verify all information published, but Environment Industry Magazine cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any losses that may arise as a result. Opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect those of EnviroMedia Ltd. Environment Industry Magazine welcomes contributions for publication. Submissions are accepted on the basis of full assignment of copyright to EnviroMedia Ltd unless otherwise agreed in advance and in writing. We reserve the right to edit items for reasons of space, clarity or legality.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Pages 64 - 65

Choose Your Weapon! By Stephen Blunt

Pages 67 - 70

Over the Garden Fence By Trevor Renals

Pages 71 - 72

Organics Recycling Blossoms By Charlie Trousdell

Pages 74 - 76

Waste Shredding For Companies That Didn’t Think it Possible By Chris Oldfield

Pages 77 - 78

The Importance of Developing a Quality Protocol By Clem Spencer

Page 80 - 82

Sustainable Approach Called for as New Plastic Packaging Recycling Targets are Propsed By Stuart Foster

Pages 84 - 89

Futuresource Preview

Pages 91 - 93

What’s in a Name? By Marc Capancioni & John Febbraro

Pages 94 - 96

Train to get ahead By Max Linnemann

Pages 98 - 101

Pages 102 - 105

Pages 106 - 107

Time to Take the Risk Out of Energy By David Cockshott

Reintroducing Vertebrates By Dr Derek Yalden

Rapid Assessment of Marine Production By Tim Fileman & David Lowe

Pages 108 - 119 Case Studies

Page 120

Famous Last Words By Dr Keith Rutherford

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

NEWS

Chainsaw artist David Good creates a giant sundial which will be the centrepiece of a new learning area funded by TK Maxx.

Jack Berry (nine) unveils a learning area he designed in school. He is joined by Cressida Stevens from TK Maxx, which funded the area, and Geoff Sinclair from the Woodland Trust.

Cressida Stevens from TK Maxx joins the learning area's designer Jack Berry next one of the 'chainsaw artist's' creations.

PUPILS UNVEIL AN OUTDOOR LEARNING AREA THEY DESIGNED IN SCHOOL Schoolchildren have visited the site of a new outdoor learning area they designed in the classroom, which is being funded through the sale of plastic bags in a national clothing store chain.

The idea for the learning area was conceived by TK Maxx, which wished to bring local children closer to nature.

Years four, five and six from Elmstead Primary School entered the competition - with the winning entry being chosen by the Woodland Trust. Their design is now being created in the charity’s new 105 acre wood at Elmstead Market, near Colchester.

On the day 30 children were joined by a chainsaw artist, who is creating a sun-dial at the centre of the classroom. The youngsters helped to plant some of the 1,500 hedge plants, which will form the perimeter of the new learning area.

The work with the school has been made possible by the generosity of TK Maxx, which is working in partnership with the Woodland Trust. The store chain is directly funding 15 acres of woodland after raising tens of thousands of pounds by charging customers for plastic bags in store leading to a 75% reduction in nationwide TK Maxx store plastic bag use. The outdoor classroom consists of a sun-dial in the centre which is surrounded by 12 seats – ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

one for each hour. Each seat sits two children, so a class of 24 can take school lessons in the countryside.

The new learning area sits near the archaeological remains of a Neolithic hut and will nestle amongst thousands of newly planted trees which will grow up into much needed new woodland.

Jo Murphy, head of CSR at TK Maxx, which is part of TJX Europe, said: “We are committed to working with the Woodland Trust to build a better future for children. The outdoor learning area has been created by us as part of our commitment to local communities and as part of our environmental strategy to preserve native woodland. We are delighted with the design of this outdoor classroom and hope that the children will really benefit from learning outside with nature.”

TK Maxx began charging customers for core carrier bags in August 2008 as part of its commitment to reducing waste. The partnership began in 2004 when TK Maxx began recycling cards in store for the charity’s annual Christmas Card Recycling Scheme.

Alun Cochrane (left), compare and comedian, and Tom Idle (right), Chair of the Awards and Editor of Sustainable Business Magazine, present the award for Sustainable Business of the Year to Seacourt’s Chairman, Jim Dinnage at this year’s Environment and Energy Awards 2010.

SMALL FIRM TRAIL-BLAZES TO TOP SUSTAINABLE AWARD Oxford -based print firm Seacourt have just been awarded “The Sustainable Business of the Year 2010” at this year’s Sustainability Live, the UK’s premier environmental event.

As part of the Environment and Energy Awards, and sponsored by organisations such as WRAP, BSi and AEA amongst others, these awards are now well recognised as industry standard awards, celebrating excellence and innovation in sustainability.

Open to all companies across all industries, the awards are always well-subscribed with over 100 entries in the Sustainable Business category alone. Judging criteria was based on recognising businesses or organisations which have taken their environmental, social and financial performance to the next level, by mitigating impact whilst ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

using the sustainability agenda to gain competitive edge.

The judges looked at the organisation’s strategy and performance within a number of areas including waste, transport, energy, carbon emissions, buildings, pollution control and stakeholder engagement. From a shortlist of 5 companies, all were asked to present a case for their company. The category was one of 11 awards presented that evening.

Seacourt, quoted as a “Top 3 environmental printer worldwide” by a leading printing association, has won numerous national and European awards to date and is a recipient of The Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development.

This award constitutes their 13th over the last 10 years.

VERDANT STARTS SWITCHING CONTRACT FLEETS TO BIO-DIESEL Following successful trials, municipal services provider Verdant has begun switching its vehicle fleet to run on bio-diesel. This will help reduce the overall carbon impact of its services, to which vehicle use makes a significant contribution.

In March, 36 vehicles that service its recycling, refuse and cleansing contract for Arun District Council in West Sussex started using GD100 bio-diesel supplied by GreenerDiesel.

Verdant plans to roll out the initiative to other contracts this year, including Swale and Norwich.

Fuel processor GreenerDiesel will supply Verdant with around 800,000 litres annually of its GD100 cooking oilbased bio-diesel for these three contracts alone. The vehicles will also use engine lubricating oil made from vegetable oil by Fuchs.

This bio-diesel produces no SO2 (sulphur dioxide), no net CO2 (carbon dioxide), has up to 20 times less CO (carbon monoxide), reduces soot emissions by between 40% and 60%, and also reduces polycyclic hydrocarbons (carcinoENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

gens). The initiative will reduce the carbon footprint of every Verdant vehicle using the biofuel by over 10%.

Verdant operates over 600 vehicles, ranging from 32 tonne refuse / recycling collections vehicles to car-derived vans, across the 24 local authority contracts it services in England, Scotland and Wales.

Verdant began testing bio-diesel last May, initially with one 26 tonne RCV vehicle with a Euro 3 engine. After three months, a second RCV was added to the trial to evaluate if bio-diesel would affect the Euro 4 engine. All outcomes were positive over the seven month trial, with no increase in vehicle downtime nor any negative performance.

Group Fleet Manager Ian Coxhill said: “With such a large fleet, any operating efficiencies achieved will directly and positively contribute to reducing our operational costs and our carbon footprint.

“Carbon reduction is an increasingly important issue for local authorities, and rolling out bio-diesel across our large fleet will be highly relevant to our customers.”

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CAT GETS A NEW ROOF The Centre for Alternative Technology first installed its Photovoltaic (PV) roof over 15 years ago. When it was first built it was the largest PV array in the UK , covering up to 112sq metres and generating up to 13.5 kilowatts. It has provided CAT with a clean, constant source of electricity ever since. As of October 2006 the roof has produced 2,885 KWH- enough energy to power eight houses and saved over 14 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Unfortunately over the last few years the frame on which the PV panels are mounted has deteriorated. But thanks to neighbouring company Dulas, the roof is getting a revamp and the PV panels remounted using new technology in order to enable the solar panels to carry on producing electricity.

Ian Draisey , Director at Dulas said, “The work of CAT is vital in informing, inspiring and enabling practical solutions for sustainable living. We have been delighted to lend a

| 10 | ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

hand in repairing the solar roof and giving this valuable resource a new lease of life .”

Dulas , which is based in Machynlleth , is a worldrenowned renewable energy company. Dulas started 28 years ago as part of the Centre for Alternative Technology but has since gone on to become its own company with expertise in biomass, wind energy, solar, and hydro installations. Dulas have begun work on the PV roof at CAT to replace the old frame, donating materials and time for free.

Kate Blair at CAT said, “ We are enormously grateful to Dulas for their help. Dulas and CAT enjoy a long-standing relationship and it is fantastic that they have offered their expertise to redo the PV roof ahead of the opening of our new eco-educational facility the Wales Institute for Sustainable Education.”

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Charlie Paton, Martin Hartley and Ann Daniels, aka ‘The Explorer Team’

© www.martinhartley.com

EXPLORERS REACH NORTH POLE AFTER 60-DAY SURVEY TREK A team of three British explorers described as ‘the world’s toughest’ reached the North Geographic Pole today ending a gruelling 60 day scientific survey across the floating sea ice of the Arctic Ocean.

The Catlin Arctic Survey’s headquarters in London was contacted at 2050 hours (BST) by team leader Ann Daniels and her colleagues Martin Hartley and Charlie Paton to say they had completed their survey work as they reached the Pole.

The team has been collecting water and marine life samples from beneath the floating sea ice as part of the expedition's leading edge science programme which is assessing the impact of CO² absorbtion on the ocean and its marine life – a process known as ocean acidification.

Their celebrations could not begin until they had taken the last samples through a hole drilled manually through the ice at the North Pole.

“We called it our Hole at the Pole,” said Ann Daniels.

“Getting the science work done has always been our top priority but it is absolutely fantastic to reach the Pole as well. We’re ecstatic.”

Speaking from Catlin Arctic Survey's headquarters in London, the Survey Director and explorer Pen Hadow described the team’s achievement as extraordinary. “It’s not possible to imagine what this team has had to do to pull off this extreme survey. I consider them to be the world’s toughest to have done this. Together they’re the | 12 | ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

face of modern exploration helping to advance the understanding of scientists and the public alike about how the natural world works.”

The three explorers have travelled over 483 miles (777 kilometres) since March 14th but to reach the Pole have had to increase the amount of trekking time each day.

They made it with only hours to spare before a Twin Otter plane was scheduled to land on the ice to collect them.

Commenting on the harsh conditions Ann Daniels said; “It has been an unbelievably hard journey over the ice.

Conditions have been unusually tough and at times very frustrating with a frequent southerly drift pushing us backwards every time we camped for the night. On top of that we’ve had to battle into head-winds and swim across large areas of dangerously thin ice and open water.”

The Catlin Arctic Survey 2010 is a unique collaboration between marine biologists, oceanographers and polar explorers to get vital science field work done which has not proved possible until now.

The expedition is sponsored by Catlin Group Limited, the international specialty insurer and reinsurer. Chief Executive Stephen Catlin said, “It’s great news that the team has completed such an extensive survey and reached the North Pole. Their effort to obtain data that can help to forecast the risk posed by our changing environment is truly impressive.”

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ACCOYA® WOOD SHOWCASING IN BIGGEST SHOW GARDEN EVER AT 2010 RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW

Accoya® wood, the world’s leading high technology wood, formed part of the largest show garden ever at the 2010 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The garden, entitled ‘Places of Change’ was an ambitious collaboration between national housing and regeneration delivery agency, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the Eden Project, national membership charity for frontline homelessness agencies Homeless Link, and Communities and Local Government (CLG).

The garden was developed by homeless people right across the country, with the project aiming to challenge stereotypes around homelessness. This partnership builds on the success of the silver medal award-winning Key Garden at Chelsea in 2009 which saw collaboration from 20 homeless agencies and 200 homeless service users involved at all stages of the Garden’s development.

Participants involved consistently reported a huge confidence boost, new skills, and renewed hope for their future.

The ‘Places of Change’ garden was 3 times the size of the 2009 Key Garden. The raised bed planters, a bench, compost bins and decking in the Garden were made of Accoya® wood, which combines outstanding durability and dimensional stability with the virtues of fast growing, sustainable wood. As a highly durable wood, Accoya® will last at least 50 years above ground and 25 years in contact with or below ground. Designed by the Eden Project’s award-winning garden designer, Paul Stone, in collaboration with Roderick James Architects LLP, BCHA, Look Ahead Housing and Care, SHYPP (Herefordshire Supported Housing for Young People), Stonham Home Group, NOAH Enterprise, Architecture sans Frontières-UK, Providence Row Housing Association and Crisis Skylight.

Tony, 44 years old, Carpenter at St Mungo’s WoodWorks workshop, London said before the show: “If the St Mungo’s | 14 |ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

WoodWorks workshop closed down, I don’t know where I’d be. It’s turned my life around after I was homeless for 15 years. It’s interesting working with a different type of wood on this project and making things I don’t usually make like compost bins and planters, where I’m used to building furniture for hostels. Just knowing that the pieces I have constructed will be in one of the gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show makes me really proud and gives me such a buzz. I’ll be watching the telly every night of the show hoping to see my pieces!”

The Accoya® wood team worked with homelessness charity St Mungo’s to construct the Accoya® wood items.

The items were crafted in WoodWorks, the St Mungo’s wood workshop in Westminster, where homeless people develop new skills that will enable them to move on to further training and qualifications to help turn their lives around long-term. The Accoya® wood items were located in the themed zones of the garden: Zone A, The Food zone and Zone D, the Industrial zone.

Paul Stone, The Eden Project’s award-winning garden designer said: “The RHS is trying hard to make sure the Chelsea Flower Show is more sustainable and what we are doing in the Eden Project garden is true to this objective.

We chose to use Accoya® as it is a sustainable, high performance wood that can be used inground as well as above ground. Not only is it FSC certified but it is also durable, attractive and extremely versatile, meaning that we can use it across a wide variety of applications in our garden. The fact that it is non-toxic and recyclable adds to its credentials as the perfect wood for a sustainable garden.”

Paul Clegg, CEO of Accsys, the company behind Accoya® wood, commented: “We are delighted to be involved with creating such a spectacular show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. The carpentry skills and knowledge required to construct the garden furniture and decking provide a great training opportunity to nurture talent and support employment prospects for all the individuals taking part. Accoya wood has many qualities but it is specifically its Class 1 durability that makes it suitable for use in landscaping and outdoor furniture.”

The Places of Change Garden will offered more opportunities for the visitor to explore and discover the stories and individual “places of change” of the people taking part. It featured a number of designated zones such as crops and food; forestry and leisure; medicine and health; industry and manufacture; and conservation and the environment; all of which acted as a metaphor for new skills and the journey embarked on by the individual to get there. The overall impression was one of craft and enterprise and the importance of teamwork.

An artist’s impression of the garden

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE | 15 |

HELVETA SECURES £5M INVESTMENT IN FUNDING Helveta Ltd, the provider of supply chain intelligence software, CI World(tm), recently announced the completion of a £5m equity financing. The round was led by BeCapital, with Carbon Trust joining as a new investor and continued support coming from existing investors Albion Ventures, Oxford Capital Partners and Succès Europe.

The investment underpins Helveta's rapid expansion in its key geographic markets worldwide. Helveta's CI World supply chain intelligence functionality enables public and private sector users in the forest and food products industries to provide full traceability and compliance verification capability for assets moving along global supply chains. In the forestry sector CI World is the only proven technology to provide automated Chain of Custody (CoC) management, Legality Assurance System (LAS) functionality and pro-active compliance with new US Lacey Act and European Union Due Diligence Regulation timber import legislation.

CI World is being used to monitor in excess of 2.7m hectares of forest across the Congo and Amazon basins and in South East Asia. Recent major contract wins include national timber traceability and compliance validation systems in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. Once deployed, these systems will increase significantly the total forest area monitored using Helveta technology. CI World is rapidly becoming the supply chain governance software platform of choice with countries becoming involved in the EU's Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process.

Recently, Ghana became the first country to sign up to treaty commitments under FLEGT. As a result the Ghanaian government has selected Helveta to implement a Legality Assurance System for its timber sector.

CLIMATE THREATENS TROUT AND SALMON

continues as expected in the next two to three decades.

Trout and salmon are among the world’s most familiar freshwater fishes, but numbers have fallen over recent decades – in some areas, dramatically.

“Huge efforts have been put into bringing salmon back into Europe’s formerly polluted rivers such as the Taff, Thames, Clyde, Seine and Rhine, so these results are a major worry,” said Professor Ormerod.

Pollution, habitat loss and over-fishing have all been blamed in the past, but new evidence from Cardiff University shows that climate change could be a major factor, putting both species at risk.

The scientists studied populations of young salmon and trout in the River Wye in Wales, traditionally one of the UK’s best angling rivers. Professor Steve Ormerod and colleagues from the Cardiff School of Biosciences found salmon numbers fell by 50% and trout numbers by 67% between 1985 and 2004 - even though the river itself became cleaner.

The fish were hit hardest following hot, dry summers such as 1990, 2000 and 2003. The results suggest that warmer water and lower river levels combine to affect both species. As both trout and salmon favour cool water, they face potentially major problems if climate warming | 16 | ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

“Salmon and trout fishing also generate many jobs and large economic benefits. In Wales alone, salmon fishing contributes around £90 million annually. Any risk of eventually losing these species to climate warming is therefore one we must consider very seriously. We suggest measures to ensure that river levels are maintained in hotter conditions alongside the use of riverside trees to create shade and protect against the highest temperatures."

The Cardiff team used data on fish population collected each year by the Environment Agency at more than 50 locations throughout the Wye. Stream temperatures increased over the study period by 0.5 – 0.7ºC in summer and 0.7 - 1.0ºC in winter, with the latter effects apparently affecting the fish at low flow. Water temperature is known to affect growth and susceptibility to disease, while lower water levels restrict their access to cooler habitats.

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Scientists discover a treasure trove of new species ©Neville Kemp

A scientific expedition to a pristine wilderness once dubbed “The Lost World” by Western media has revealed a stunning diversity of spectacular species, many of which are believed to be new to science, Conservation International (CI) and the National Geographic Society announced recently, during a week that will mark the 2010 International Day for Biological Diversity.

The array of new species, which include several new mammals, a reptile, an amphibian, no fewer than twelve insects, and the remarkable discovery of a new bird, was found by a collaborative team of international and Indonesian scientists participating in Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), which explored Indonesia’s remote Foja Mountains on the island of New Guinea in late 2008. | 18 |ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The biologists on this expedition endured torrential rain storms and life-threatening flash floods as they tracked species from the low foothills at Kwerba village to the top of the range at 2,200 meters (7,200 feet), reporting notable discoveries that included a bizarre spike-nosed tree frog; an oversized, but notably tame, woolly rat; a gargoyle-like, bent-toed gecko with yellow eyes; an imperial pigeon; and a tiny forest wallaby, the smallest member of the kangaroo family documented in the world.

The frog (Litoria sp. nov.), which was observed to have a long, Pinocchio-like protuberance on its nose that points upwards when the male is calling but deflates and points downwards when he is less active, represents a particularly distinctive find that scientists are interested in documenting and studying further. Its discovery was a happy accident,

Š Tim Laman/National Geographic

Š Tim Laman/National Geographic

after herpetologist Paul Oliver spotted it sitting on a bag of rice in the campsite.

Other discoveries recorded during the RAP survey included a new blossom bat (Syconycteris sp. nov) which feeds on rainforest nectar, a small new tree-mouse (Pogonomys sp. nov.), a new black and white butterfly (Ideopsis fojana) related to the common monarch, and a new flowering shrub (Ardisia hymenandroides). Images of the neverbefore-seen animals were captured by National Geographic magazine photographer Tim Laman.

In addition to the new kangaroo-related dwarf wallaby (Dorcopsulus sp. nov.), scientists obtained the first photographs of a free-ranging individual of the extremely rare golden-mantled tree-kangaroo, which is critically threatened by hunting in other parts of New Guinea.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the expedition came when ornithologist Neville Kemp spotted a pair of new imperial pigeons (Ducula sp. nov.) with feathers that appear rusty, whitish, and gray. This novel imperial pigeon was seen no fewer than four times by scientists, yet overlooked on previous surveys, which could indicate a very low population.

This November 2008 expedition (www.conservation.org/foja) was conducted with financial and scientific support from the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institution, and Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and marked a return visit to a mountainous region recognized by scientists as a profound species generator because of its relative isolation, elevation, and tropical environment.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE | 19 |

Atkins Appointed to National Ecology Framework

McDonald’s Awarded The Carbon Trust Standard

The Environment Agency has contracted Atkins to provide expert ecological advice in freshwater ecology and conservation management across England and Wales. Atkins has been appointed to the national Ecological Services Framework Lot 1 which relates to aquatic and terrestrial ecology. Atkins will draw on expertise from across its water and environment business to increase the effectiveness of the monitoring and interpretation of the ecology of aquatic systems.

This will include expert advice on habitat management and restoration, biodiversity action plans and protected and non-native species. The framework runs for two years with the possibility of extension for a further two one-year contracts.

McDonald’s has been awarded The Carbon Trust Standard for reducing its carbon footprint in the UK. This achievement recognises the steps McDonald’s has taken to strengthen its commitment to the environment. The prestigious Carbon Trust Standard is awarded to organisations which reduce their carbon emissions and demonstrate good carbon measurement and management. McDonald’s reduced its carbon emissions by around 4.5% between 2007 and 2009 – equating to over 14% carbon reduction per £ sales. This reduction is based on measuring the energy consumption (gas and electricity) of all restaurants and offices in the UK.

WORLD GOVERNMENTS FAIL TO DELIVER ON 2010 BIODIVERSITY TARGET World leaders have failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, and have instead overseen alarming biodiversity declines. These findings are the result of a new paper published in the leading journal Science and represent the first assessment of how the targets made through the 2002 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have not been met.

Compiling over 30 indicators – measures of different aspects of biodiversity, including changes in species’ populations and risk of extinction, habitat extent and community composition – the study found no evidence for a significant reduction in the rate of decline of biodiversity, and that the pressures facing biodiversity continue

to increase. The synthesis provides overwhelming evidence that the 2010 target has not been achieved.

The study recognised that there have been some important local or national successes in tackling biodiversity loss, including the designation of many protected areas (e.g. the 20,000 km2 Juruena National Park in Brazil), the recovery of particular species (e.g. European Bison) and the prevention of some extinctions (e.g. Black Stilt of New Zealand).

But despite these encouraging achievements, efforts to address the loss of biodiversity need to be substantially strengthened, and sustained investment in coherent global biodiversity monitoring and indicators is essential to track and improve the effectiveness of these responses.

Branston Ltd, a leading potato supplier, won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyor’s (RICS) East Midlands Sustainability award for its new prepared foods factory in Lincolnshire.

The factory was completed in May last year and it now shares resources with the main factory next door at its site in Branston near Lincoln. It already benefits from the company’s new water recycing facility and will soon utilise energy that has been generated onsite by the company’s anaerobic digestion (AD) plant.

Winning team: Mark Wilcox, Branston development director, Robert Peto RICS president, Vidyanath Gururajan (Vee), project director, Branston. | 20 | ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The 2,500m2 prepared foods factory was designed to maximise efficiencies and reduce any waste produced by the company. This was in line with Branston’s strategy of “low carbon = low cost”. The project team investigated a wide range of environmental initiatives prior to designing the factory, and selected the most cost-effective solutions for the long term.

SHOP QUICKLY WITH A CONSCIENCE

from planting the seed to stacking on the shelf.

A small Eco Fashion brand from the Isle of Wight has made it easy and convenient for customers to find out where their clothing comes from and how it is made; traceability that is years ahead of the industry.

“So far eco-fashion has been about new fabrics and new ways of manufacturing. We think sustainability is about designing new ways of businesses communicating with consumers, opening up a dialogue with consumers rather than talking at them. Our traceability technology allows us to do that and allows the market forces of demand and supply to work for sustainability”, said Rob.

The brand says that it’s not that people don’t care, it’s just they don’t know, and believe that talking to customers more is key to sustainability. The result is an interactive map format with images, video, facts and figures where shoppers can investigate the complete product lifecycle on page, “packaged simply so that consumers can shop quickly with a conscience.”

Rapanui, based on the Isle of Wight, was founded by brothers Rob and Martin Drake-Knight in early 2008 and its two young directors have been nominated for countless sustainability and entrepreneurial awards.

The brand’s website also hosts a live Wikipedia style resource packed with information about their supply chain, where consumers can find out where clothing comes from, how it is made and ask questions on anything –

Rapanui make clothes out of organic natural fabrics in a wind powered factory audited by the Fairwear Foundation.

As well as reaching the finals of the Enterprising Young Brit awards and Sustainable Business Awards, Rapanui has recently been nominated for the ISPO Brand New award, international recognition for their eco-marketing model.

“If we can inform and educate people as to where clothing comes from and how it is made they can make informed decisions as shoppers. As a brand, if we can mix eco with trend and inspire people to think about the environment in wider lifestyle choices, we will have done our job”, said Mart.

CHEMPOLIS STARTS UP THIRD-GENERATION BIOREFINERY FOR PRODUCING CELLULOSIC ETHANOL Chempolis recently commissioned a biorefinery for processing non-food biomass into cellulosic ethanol in Oulu in northern Finland. The new line was officially opened by the Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, on 4th May. Chempolis’ unique third-generation formico® technologies can convert a wide range of non-food biomass generated as agricultural by-products, such as straw and bagasse, into bioethanol, biochemicals, and papermaking fibres both cost-effectively and sustainably. formico® processes are self-sufficient in terms of their energy requirement and produce no greenhouse emissions, and their closedloop circulation system minimises water consumption.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The two key members of Chempolis' technology family are formicobio™ for producing bioethanol and formicofib™ for producing papermaking fibre. Depending on the needs of its customers, Chempolis can license these and other processes, and supply key equipment, as well as plant engineering, procurement, and commissioning services.

Chempolis has invested some €20 million in its new biorefinery, which also functions as a development and marketing centre for testing customer-sourced raw materials and producing sample batches of bioethanol, biochemicals, and papermaking fibres. The plant is capable of processing 25,000 t/a of non-wood and non-food raw material.

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Could an open source hydrogen car change the motor industry?

We are often introduced to the idea of the ‘car of tomorrow’, but there is one company that is not only trying to change the cars we drive, but how they are built and how the motor industry works as a whole.

Riversimple’s hydrogen fuel cell electric car boasts fuel consumption the equivalent to 300 miles per gallon and carbon emissions of just 30g, but that isn’t the most unusual thing about it. What makes Riversimple stand out from the crowd is its move away from the traditional car design process by throwing the door open to the rest of the world.

By releasing their designs under an open source licence, Riversimple want other people to add new ideas and build on their designs. The concept is that by asking the crowd to contribute, new technologies will be incorporated more quickly, innovation will be speedier and more needs will be met, all resulting in a car that works for people as opposed to markets. This is exactly the approach that the Ideas in Transit project believes is necessary if the world is to address the grand challenges of sustainability and dwindling resources.

Riversimple was founded by Hugo Spowers, an engineer and entrepreneur with a former career in designing and building racing cars. Spowers believes that given the ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

huge gap between the environmental performance of cars and what is sustainable, the competitive market will never bridge it. As such only an open source approach can come close to the rapid and constant improvement that the world’s environmental situation requires.

But even turning the whole design process on its head isn’t enough. Riversimple also wants us to question the whole idea of car ownership, with vehicles that are leased and not sold. As such it believes car clubs will become a key customer, which have in themselves seen demand rapidly increase in recent years.

The leasing will include maintenance, fuel and the recycling of the car at the end of its life. All of this helps enforce the idea of sustainability in design and creation on the manufacturer, who will have ultimate responsibility for the car at the end of its life. All very different to how we think about cars today, where manufactures arguably have no long term incentive to ensure longevity, low running costs or sustainability.

Riversimple cars are expected to be on trial in the UK from 2012. Around 50 cars will be leased in one or two cities, supported by the local authority, with several having already expressing an interest.

Find out more about Ideas in Transit at www.ideasintransit.org Learn more about Riversimple at www.riversimple.com

Two week professional training modules available in Comparative National Water Law and Regulation of Water Services modules.

Academic assessment week additionally available for both.

Water Law Water Leaders Summer Programme The Comparative National Water Law and Regulation of Water Services modules provide the national water law content for the Water Law Water Leaders (WLWL) Programme, which is developing a new generation of local water leaders to achieve locally controlled solutions to water issues globally.

National Water Law and Regulation – This module focuses on legal frameworks for integrated water resource management and good governance of water, water rights, abstraction controls and water pollution and quality. The module starts on 12 July 2010 for two weeks.

Regulation of Water Services – This module focuses on legal frameworks for water services i.e. water supply, waste and sanitation. It looks at service standards, economic and social regulation and governance of water services in both the public and private sectors. The module starts on 2 August for two weeks.

The price of each module is £1,600 (£2,000 with academic assessment).

Who should attend

JJuly & August 2010 2010

National Water Law: Professional Training

These modules will benefit anyone concerned with national water law, especially water resources experts, students, lawyers, scientists, engineers, civil servants, policy makers, regulators, water suppliers and staff of non-governmental organizations.

Selected speaker

To join the symposium National Water Law and Regulation: www.dundee.ac.uk/ad/nationalwater Regulation of Water Services: www.dundee.ac.uk/ad/waterservices or please visit www.dundee.ac.uk/water for full details.

Further information, please contact symposium course leader Dr Sarah Hendry • Dundee UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science • Graduate School of Natural Resources Law, Policy & Management • College of Arts & Social Sciences • University of Dundee • Dundee DD1 4HN Tel +44 (0) 1382 386473 • Fax +44 (0) 1382 388671 • s.m.hendry@dundee.ac.uk

www.dundee.ac.uk/lifesciences/

www.dundee.ac.uk/water www .dundee.ac.uk k/water

• Alan Sutherland, Chief Executive of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland

UK-SDA

… the “green” economy takes shape …

With the introduction of any new legislation or technology, there will always be individuals and organisations that establish a full understanding of the associated implications faster than others; for everyone else, it can clearly pay big dividends to gain the full benefit of this knowledge as quickly and cheaply as possible, rather than wait for it to evolve in-house – if at all.

The environment is a particular case in point with both legislation and relatively “mysterious” technology conspiring to make the once straightforward art of building homes an increasingly complex and technically challenging task as the construction industry strives to come to terms with changes to Building Regulations, codes such as the Code for Sustainable Homes, and BREEAM assessments. These present a challenge to the unwary on at least three levels, namely how best to achieve the required environmental performance, how best to select and integrate the various technology options, and how to meet the associated assessment criteria.

Not to mention money! With the end result needing to be affordable alongside local market housing, and ideally cheaper, there will clearly be a competitive advantage for developers who can evolve a strategy for making their new better-performing properties cheaper in real terms than their environmentally under-performing predecessors. And for many smaller developers, this might only be possible by calling on expertise outside the business.

Taking a case in point, on 15 July 2009, Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC) announced a two tier system of subsidies for Renewable Energy, with large installations of over 5-MW installed capacity continuing to receive Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) for their electricity, whilst installations under 5-MW would receive from April 2010 a range of Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs). These are designed to ensure that small domestic installations of different types (solar PV, wind, hydro etc) can compete in terms of pay-back time with larger systems.

Further, from Apr 2011 a range of Renewable Heat

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Incentives (RHIs) would be introduced to reward renewable heat in a similar way to the proposed FITs. Responses to the DECC FIT paper were submitted by 15 October 2009, with a consultation paper on the RHIs likely to be issued early in the new Parliament to prepare people for the RHI introduction in 2011.

Taken together, FITs and RHIs will make it a practical proposition to build more value into a new home than the extra costs incurred in doing so; however, if this does not significantly affect the selling price of the property in its local market then the additional costs of meeting new-build CO2 performance requirements would represent a straightforward loss from the developer’s perspective.

And this despite the new home-owner going on to enjoy a tax-free income for 25-years, through the FITs and RHIs payments, that might easily be worth the equivalent of a £100,000-cash investment. Clearly not a very sustainable business model from the developer’s point of view!

On a macro level, one approach to meeting the developer’s zero-carbon obligations might be through establishing a link with a large-scale renewable energy installation.

For these, the Government is introducing a new planning process for installations of over 50-MW as these are viewed as being of national importance. They will therefore go before an independent panel of experts for the final approval, rather than the decision being made at county or district level. We can therefore expect most wind-farms to be at least 50-MW in order to by-pass the uncertainties of local planning processes.

While the new arrangements can be seen as an erosion of the democratic process, it can also be argued as being essential if the Government is to meet its EU imposed climate change target of moving from about 1.5% Renewable Energy to 15% by 2020. The policy will help achieve two other strategic aims, namely to achieve greater energy self-sufficiency, and to help meet an identified mid-term shortfall in national power generation caused by the closure of a large number of first generation nuclear power stations and old, and dirty, coal powered stations.

Gage Williams OBE, a former infantry brigadier, is a director of the Renewable Energy Office for Cornwall and has given independent advice to the county, major utility companies, estate owners and recently the National Trust on how they can benefit from switching to renewable energy.

The financial numbers around such developments are impressive. The modern 2.5-MW turbines, in an area with average windspeeds in excess of 7m/sec, should achieve a capacity factor of around 32%. On this basis the energy generated in an average year can be calculated as around 140,000-MWh (ie 20-turbines x 2.5-MW x 32% x 365 x 24). With each MWh receiving a single ROC, worth about £50, to which can be added the wholesale price paid by the Grid which should be at least another £50.

On this basis, a 50-MW wind-farm might generate gross revenues of around £14,000,000-pa and generate net profits before corporation tax of approaching £9,000,000 - pa. Under Phase 3 of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, the developer may also be able to claim tradable carbon credits currently worth €14/ton on the 67,000-tons pa of CO2 saved to earn a further £840,000 pa. Where permitted, by buying into an appropriate percentage of such a scheme, a developer might satisfy the CO2 requirements of their project, whilst retaining the benefit of the resulting income stream.

knowledge not necessarily available in-house; and not every house-builder may wish to become a utilities broker. However, the above examples do start to give a glimpse of the burgeoning “green” economy of the future, often promised by politicians, in which a thriving renewables manufacturing sector makes it possible for developers to produce high-performance new homes, that are warmer and more comfortable for the homeowner, with the additional build-costs funded by the future energy and heat to be created by the installed renewables technologies. All backed by a new industry sector that finances, monitors and manages these technologies and the revenues that flow from them. 

For further information see www.uk-sda.org

If the CO2 requirements of a project must be met on-site, or close to it, then similar calculations can be based on renewables technologies such as smaller-scale wind turbines, solar heating, solar pv, ground and air source heat pumps, rainwater harvesting, and biomass community heat and power plants. These calculations, on most projects, reach the same well-founded conclusion that meeting CO2 requirements on new-build homes, when supported by FITs and RHIs can be a revenue generator for the developer, rather than a loss-maker, subject to three simple guidelines:  Use the right mix of technologies to meet the site’s environmental requirements  Select the right products at the right price  Retain the benefit of the resulting revenue streams, to compensate profitably for the additional capital costs Although straightforward in theory, these “rules” may be harder to apply in practice, demanding skills and

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

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Could water ignite the next war?

Recent news stories from around the world have picked up the “water wars” discourse again. In our lifetime more than one half of us will face water shortages, according to a proliferation of reports on this topic. National governments, global policy organisations, the UN, and even the private sector are concerned about how to address the emerging water crisis. History tells us that our future will be shaped in large part by how we manage this scarce resource. Are we prepared to tackle this pressing challenge and what legacy will we pass to our children?

While water is managed primarily at the local level, recent regional concerns over shared transboundary waters have elevated the issue in complex ways, including with respect to the scale of the problem - one could now speak of the globalisation of the great water challenge. Furthermore, the water-energy-food nexus looms as the perfect storm on our common horizon, a point underlined by the UK Government Chief Scientist, John Beddington. This explains the current uptake of the problem by the World Economic Forum, and supports also the growing reach of the UN in water-related activities.

From a legal point of view, the issue has been under-studied; what is most notable is the lack of trans-disciplinarity in the formulation of not only solutions but also conceptual approaches to the problem. There is also a lack of innovative interfacing of the various streams of legal disciplinary expertise – and a need for creative approaches to weaving together the “rule of law” notion across areas of subdisciplinary expertise in law (i.e. public international and comparative national law). Thus, the world water problem could be considered more holistically through the prism of the UN Charter and its cornerstone principles - the maintenance of international peace and security, and ensuring the fundamental freedoms for all. From this ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Dr Patricia Wouters, Director Dundee UNESCO IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, is a professor of international water law. She heads a research team of water lawyers, scientists and political scientists at the University of Dundee.

viewpoint (a meta-normative approach), could we not consider the management of the world’s freshwater resources as a catalyst for peace, and not a cause for war?

Yes, but…

The potential for conflict over water grows. In Central Asia, Uzbekistan continues to express its concern regarding the proposed upstream development of a major dam in Tajikistan; Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan need water for irrigation, while the Tajiks and Kyrgyz are keen to develop additional hydropower. In Africa, where more than a dozen countries already experience water stress and double that number are forecasted to join their ranks within a decade, the impasse over the Nile continues. Egypt has refused (again) to sign the Nile Framework Co-operation Agreement with some government officials prepared to go to war over the matter, worried about water shortages (The Guardian, 26 April 2010). In Asia, some of the world’s major rivers supplied by the Himalayan water towers, serving vast populations in China, India, and South-east Asia, already suffer from diminishing quantities and qualities of flow and this threatens regional peace and security. Similar challenges are faced right across the globe, as detailed in the IPPC Climate change report on water. With more than 260 major watercourses criss-crossing sovereign nations around the world, serving more than 70% of the world’s populations and supporting critical eco-systems – the global water problem could not be more evident. And it is all about competition between a range of stakeholders for an increasingly scarce resource. Will the most powerful players always win?

In times of deepening uncertainty, economic turmoil, and rapid change, what is the relevance and role of water law in addressing the global water challenge? Apart from contributing to added clarity during such complex times 

by defining “the rules of the game”, water law is founded upon those core values at the heart of rule of law - to ensure a free, just and peaceful society. While this might sound rather lofty, upon reflection, is this not the very essence of the discipline? And given the critical importance of water to the economic, social, and environmental welfare, should we not try to join up our thinking on this more effectively? Indeed, law is not a panacea to resolving the world water crisis, but it is too often a missing link, or a post-factum consideration or static bolt-on to political and technical solutions. We need a more dynamic interface across a range of frontiers if we are to be effectively equipped to meet the crucial challenges of this brave new world. Let us find and implement best practice around the globe based on notions of hydro-diplomacy and hydrosolidarity.

At the University of Dundee, we are attempting to make our contribution to addressing the global water crisis through our integrated research and under our Water Law, Water Leaders graduate programme. We need more good people in the water sector – our future depends upon it. We must all be committed to uncovering new pathways to ensuring “water for all”.

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Selected References UN Charter United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, UN Doc. A/51/869 (21 May 1997) United Nations, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, Report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, Doc. A/59/565 (2004).

Sharing Transboundary Waters— An Integrated Assessment of Equitable Entitlement: The Legal Assessment Model, IHP-VI, Technical Documents in Hydrology no. 74, UNESCO (2005), <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/>.

Out of the Mainstream. Water Rights, Politics and Identity, R. Boelen, D. Getches and A. Guevara-Gil (2010, Earthscan) Science, Policy and Stakeholders in Water Management: An Integrated Approach to River Basin Management, G. Gooch and P. Stålnacke. (2010, Earthscan)

Transforming Potential Conflict into Cooperation Potential: The Role of International Water Law (2003), http://unesdoc. unesco.org/ Taming the Anarachy. Groundwater Governance in South Asia, Tushaar Shah, (2009, RFF press) The Guardian, “Egypt must negotiate on Nile water”, Joseph Mayton ((26 April 2010) The Journal of Water Law. Special Issue: Promoting Water for All – Current Issues of International and National Water Law (forthcoming, June 2010).

The Rule of Law, Tom Bingham (2010, Allen Lane)

Hanovia is on one ne of the W World’s orld’s most advanced suppliers of UV U technology solutions for disinfection and a chemical reduction in industria al industrial waters. process wate ers. For over 85 years Hanovia has been a leade leaderr in UV and today our technology and expertise e in UV technology is second to none. Our so lutions are trusted by the W orld’s solutions World’s companies leading comp panies in pharmaceuticals, food and drink, ele ectronics, marine, aquaculture electronics, and industries, an nd pools and leisure industries.

With unrivall ed capabilities in UV system design n unrivalled manufacture, and manufac man fac ct re including cture, incl ding our o r own o n lamp developmentt and manufacturing plant, Hanoviaa claim technology. can truly clai m to be the power in UV technolog gy.

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Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power and Civilization, Steven Solomon, (2010; HarperCollins).

Water Security: Global, regional and local challenges, IPPR policy brief (May 2010).

June 21-24, 2010 Dundee UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science will host 40 international delegates at the International Law and Transboundary Freshwaters Symposium and Workshop 2010. Which will discuss global, national and regional strategies for promoting security and sustainability within a rapidly changing world

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The event is organised jointly with Regional Centre on Urban Water Management-Tehran (under the auspices of UNESCO)  ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

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The Flood and Water Management Act – is it enough to turn the tide on future flooding?

Bob Sargent – Director, Water Environment Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd.

Bob Sargent BSc, CSCi, CEnv, MBA, FCIWEM, MCIM Bob has worked in the areas of water quality regulation and environmental policy for the last 25 years.He is Past President of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and is a member of the Environment Agency’s Regional Environmental Protection Advisory Committee. He is recognised and an international expert in surface runoff, flooding and habitat enhancement in response to climate change impacts and regularly presents on these issues.

Bob heads up the Water Environment team for Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd.

Primary legislation regarding water management is a very rare event, so we should all be grateful that the Government was able to push through the Flood and Water Management Act in its dying days before the May election. It was a tremendous effort by all involved to get it enacted but does it really take us much further forward? It’s worth looking at the detail to see just what difference it will make to the environment.

The Act is a further response to the Pitt Review of the 2007 floods. The Review highlighted some basic problems with the management of flooding in England (the Act also applies in modified form to Wales), some of which required legislation to change. To the previous Government’s credit, it responded very positively to the Review and the Act seeks to implement most of the remaining recommendations it made. The Act also seeks to change some aspects of the water industry, some of which were identified by the Cave and Walker reviews into innovation and competitiveness.

So what does the Act seek to achieve for flood management?

One key focus is Pitt’s Recommendation 28:

“Forthcoming flooding legislation should be a single unifying Act that addresses all sources of flooding, clarifies responsibilities and facilitates flood risk management.”

As a step towards this, the Act places responsibilities on upper tier local authorities to take a more active role in local flood management and produce local flood risk strategies. The Environment Agency gains a role in providing a strategic overview of the local authority plan and also a duty to create a National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy, which a number of organisations will have to follow.

These measures will address some of the gaps in flood management that Pitt recognised but the expansion of the role of local authorities, whilst welcome, will be difficult to implement given the restrictions on finance and shortage of skilled staff in key areas. The Act fails to provide any clear income stream for local authorities to carry out the many roles that have been identified for them. Without adequate funding, one has to question how well these roles can be implemented.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Another key focus is control of flooding from surface water, i.e. runoff from heavy rainfall onto urban surfaces.

Surface water flooding has been steadily climbing the flooding agenda in recent years. It was a feature of DEFRA’s water strategy and Pitt identified surface water flooding as a significant factor in the events of 2007.

Partly this is because there is more surface runoff as our urban areas have become more intensively developed, and partly the growing realisation that protection from river and coastal flooding, where most Government funding has been targeted, is only half the issue.

The Act seeks to reduce surface water runoff in several ways. It removes the right of new development to connect to existing surface water drainage systems and thus overloading them with extra water they were not designed to accept. It also proposes measures to increase the use of SUDS drainage systems which could, in some cases, form a viable alternative to surface water sewers. Increasing the use of SUDS has been seen as a problem in England particularly for several years. The Act seeks to increase their usage by a series of measures: • SUDS to be used for all new development unless they can be shown to be unworkable • National design guidance to be produced • A SUDS approval body (which could be an existing body, probably local authorities) to be established

• SUDS to be adopted by local authorities, if approved These measures may finally overcome the perceived barriers to increased use of SUDS and their implementation provides another important role for local authorities.

If successful in making SUDS the standard way to drain new development, they could significantly reduce runoff and, one hopes, provide some improvement to water quality by removing pollutants in urban runoff. However, like much of the Act, these measures will require secondary legislation and the production of guidance before they are brought into force. This is particularly uncertain with a new Government with many other priorities and there are considerable financial implications for local authorities which will have to be addressed before a workable solution is in place.

So is the Act a great step forward for the environment?

If fully implemented it is undoubtedly a step in the right direction but there are many other aspects which are not yet fully addressed. The Act is silent on runoff from agricultural areas, for instance, and this has also been increasing in many areas as a result of drainage, compaction of soil and land use change. This is a big gap in the consideration of “flooding from all sources” recommended by Pitt. Given more time perhaps a more thorough approach to flood management could have been produced.

One hopes that it will not require another flood and another review before further progress is made. 

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National Grid switching station in Walham, Gloucester, the day after the flood inundation in July 2007 (Courtesy of Geodesign Barriers Ltd).

By Ben Kidd BSc MSc AIEMA, Project Manager, CIRIA Introduction The loss of essential services, such as power, water, transport and telecommunications, during the flood events of Summer 2007 has highlighted that disruption to services of this critical infrastructure can have direct effects on both society and the economy. Other events such as the disruption caused by large snowfall and freezing temperatures between December 2009 and January 2010, add weight to the need for further research into methods and technologies to improve the resilience of our nation’s critical legacy infrastructure.

The experience of these large-scale extreme weather events, and with growing acceptance of predicted climate change effects, have raised the profile of the need for greater co-ordination of effort. It has also raised the need for prioritised investment to bring about improved resilience.

Given the current economic climate, a more joined-up a pproach will certainly be required.

The challenge The UK has a large stock of legacy infrastructure, much of which dates back to Victorian times when engineering designs were good, but which has since fallen into disrepair through lack of maintenance or now requires improvement to cope with increased incidents of extreme weather.

Devolution and privatisation of the utilities sector in the second half of the 20th Century introduced new challenges with a significantly increased number of stakeholders and geographical/legislative boundaries, which then requires increased knowledge sharing and co-ordination.

Co-ordinating the prioritisation of investment is made difficult by each infrastructure sector having different funding sources and regulatory regimes.

Strategic level resilience Increasing awareness of interdependencies between infrastructure assets and the need for a co-ordinated effort to build levels of resilience led, in 2009, to the formation of the Natural Hazards Team (NHT) within the Cabinet Office, which sits as part of the existing Civil Contingencies Secretariat.

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Given the co-ordination challenges described above, the NHT is well placed to affect change right across the UK, since the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) provides a common framework for all stakeholders and devolved powers.

The NHT has recently published their Strategic Framework and Policy Statement (Cabinet Office, 2009) which gives details of the process, timetable and expectations for their Critical Infrastructure Resilience Programme (CIRP).

During 2009 the government departments responsible for each of the nine sectors of national infrastructure (communications, emergency services, energy, finance, food, government, health, transport and water) assessed the current vulnerability of their sector from flooding. A summary of the findings, produced as Sector Resilience Plans (Cabinet Office, 2010a), was published in March 2010, two years after being recommended in the Pitt Review – Learning Lessons from the 2007 floods (Cabinet Office, 2008). The Cabinet Office have also published Interim Guidance for the Economic Regulated Sectors (Cabinet Office 2010b), identifying considerations for industry on how they may be able to support resilience building.

There are also a number of other cross-government initiatives which relate to the resilience agenda, none more so than the Climate Change Adaptation programme. This programme is bringing about a step-change in adaptation, and so resilience, to climate change through the requirement for formal reporting under the Climate Change Act 2008.

This is going to require a significant cultural change and re-allocation of limited resources for most infrastructure asset owner organisations.

Resilience to flooding The implementation of flood resistance and resilience measures is most challenging when applied retrospectively to existing stocks of legacy infrastructure in the UK. The existing regulatory context is highly complex and is further complicated by different sectors having differing planning and investment periods. A recent CIRIA publication, Flood resilience and resistance for critical infrastructure (McBain et al, 2010), presents an evidence base of the work which has been undertaken to date to improve the flood resilience of the UK’s critical infrastructure asset stock. CIRIA C688

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CIRIA C688 overview The project was established by CIRIA, building upon previous CIRIA-managed collaborative research on propertylevel flood resilience (DCLG, 2007) and with the aim of addressing some of the critical infrastructure issues raised by recent severe flooding in the UK. The report provides information and case studies on current flood risk management approaches for critical infrastructure, both within the UK and internationally. The report then provides an overview of current prioritisation of investment, cross-sector collaboration and ongoing work to identify interdependencies between critical assets.

Working in partnership with critical infrastructure owners and operators at a strategic level is likely to facilitate better alignment of overall investment in flood risk management measures. This process would be made easier by guidance on whole life costs and benefits, including new research into customer willingness-to-pay.

This overall spend on flood risk management measures in the UK could also be supported by the adoption of a National Infrastructure Bank, as proposed by the Institution of Civil Engineers in May 2009 (NCE, 2009) and supported by the Liberal Democrats in the lead up to the general elections (Liberal Democrats, 2009). The idea of a National Infrastructure Bank would be to leverage public funds with private capital, an approach which will be essential if the UK is to progress with the implementation of increased flood resilience for its critical infrastructure in the current public/private infrastructure and economic backdrop.  References

CIRIA C688 findings Collaboration and knowledge-sharing is constrained by a number of factors including geographical and regulatory boundaries together with the complex network of interconnecting critical assets whose owners often operate across a number of geographical and political boundaries.

The experience of development of Strategic Flood Risk Assessments (SFRAs) and Surface Water Management Plans (SWMPs) in England and Wales has shown that the logistics of collaboration between a number of different organisations across regional and operational boundaries can be problematic.

In an ideal world, the most sustainable solution for implementation of resilience for linear assets, such as road and rail infrastructure, would be to “build in” resilience to the system during routine planned maintenance and renewal programmes. However the pressures arising from service level agreements, for example agreements between Network Rail who own the rail infrastructure and the train operating companies, mean that even routine maintenance and renewal programmes are heavily scrutinised by regulators, the public and the media alike.

Another approach to achieving increased levels of resilience for these legacy infrastructure assets would be multiplebenefit programmes of work whereby flood risk management capital schemes incorporate protection of critical infrastructure at the concept stage and green infrastructure is used to provide flood risk mitigation, increased public amenity and biodiversity, and other benefits such as thermal regulation in dense urban areas. The CIRIA report recommends that those responsible for setting policy, planning and delivering programmes of publiclyfunded flood risk management schemes should consider the protection of critical infrastructure assets more explicitly in their initial prioritisation of capital schemes.

This for example might be achieved in England using amended procedures for prioritising capital schemes.

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CABINET OFFICE (2008) The Pitt Review – Learning Lessons from the 2007 floods Go to: http://archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/pittreview/thepittreview.html CABINET OFFICE (2009) Strategic Framework and Policy Statement (Natural Hazards Team) Go to: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience/infrastructureresilience.apsx CABINET OFFICE (2010a) Sector Resilience Plans Go to: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience/infrastructureresilience.apsx CABINET OFFICE (2010b) Interim Guidance for the Economic Regulated Sectors Go to: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience/infrastructureresilience.apsx DCLG (2007) Improving the flood performance of new buildings: flood resilient construction Department for Communities and Local Government, ISBN 978 1 85946 287 4 Go to: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/improvingflood DEFRA (2009) Hilary Benn calls on engineering sector to lead the design and build of a climate change resilient Britain News article published 2 December 2009, Ref. 281/09 Go to: www.defra.gov.uk/news/2009/091202b.htm MCBAIN, W, WILKES, D, & RETTER, M (2010) Flood resilience and resistance for critical infrastructure Construction Industry Research and Information Association, March 2010 C688, ISBN 978-086017-688-6 Go to: www.ciria.org/service/c688 NCE (2009) ICE calls for national infrastructure bank News article published 1 May 2009 Go to: www.nce.co.uk/ice-calls-for-national-infrastructurebank/5201393.article

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… too much water, but not enough to drink …

Steff Wright is Chairman of the Gusto Group and its subsidiary Freerain Ltd, and has also been Chairman of Lincoln City Football Club for the last 5-years; an award-winning developer of sustainable homes, he is a founder member of the UK Rainwater Harvesting Association, and of the UK Sustainable Development Association.

Tewksbury Abbey, July 2007; picture courtesy of RNLI

It is one of nature’s little ironies that in a country like the UK, entirely surrounded by water and with apparently copious supplies from the sky, mains water resources across wide swathes of the land are already under serious stress, with population growth and climate change predicted to make matters far worse over the coming decades.

Yet on the other side of the same coin, we are all too familiar with the many occasions over the years when this apparent dearth of an essential natural resource periodically turns to an over-abundance that results in floods and wide-spread destruction to property.

As recently as the summer of 2007, for example, June was one of the wettest months on record, with average rainfall across England of 140mm, or more than double ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

the June average. Some areas received a month’s precipitation in just 24 hours that, when coupled with the equally wet May and July – the three months combined being the wettest since records began in 1776, led to a series of destructive floods across the country causing damage estimated at £6 Bn. More recently, abnormal rainfall wrought similar havoc across Cumbria in 2009, with the town of Workington split into two by loss of its river crossings.

For all practical purposes, there is little that can be done to mitigate the impact of abnormal weather conditions on natural water-courses, although maybe more will need to be attempted in the future if climate change serves to make torrential rainfall across the UK a new norm.

Meanwhile, it has long been national planning policy to

ensure that the construction industry does not add to the problem by increasing the surface-water run-off from a site post-development; where local flood risks are known to be high, this can translate into no surface water whatsoever running freely off the site whenever exceptional rainfall is experienced.

This is achieved by ensuring that all new developments are served by a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS), which very simply retains surface water – ie the rainfall on roofs and other hard surfaces such as roads – on the site either permanently, or until the storm drain infrastructure or natural soak-aways can cope with it.

Typical methods of doing this include holding the water on the surface in a balancing pond or swale, but as this requires the dedicated use of expensive land, underground attenuation tanks are often preferred if soil characteristics preclude reliance on soak-aways. The size of the tank is carefully calculated to take into account extreme rain events likely to cause floods, with the water collected being dissipated over a number of days, rather than minutes.

It should be emphasised, however, that such measures cannot prevent floods, but do serve to avoid them from being worse than they would be naturally.

cently. That is, until we discovered the mains supply was not in fact limitless!

The stresses on water supplies have been on the Government’s policy agenda for many years, reflected in various campaigns aimed at economising on use; this has the advantage that economising measures can be applied 

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So having collected all this water, how does that help the water shortage situation? Along with the vast majority of all other rainfall, attenuated water largely finds its way in due course via the storm drain infrastructure into natural water courses and thence into the sea; that is, of course, unless someone has the foresight to integrate rainwater harvesting into their attenuation arrangements.

Rainwater harvesting is as old as history, surviving as a source of household water in the UK through to Victorian times; only with the provision of seemingly limitless supplies of drinking quality water direct to the household tap did the practice all but die out in Britain until relatively re-

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can be applied equally to new buildings and to the existing built environment. More recently, the policy has evolved to embrace new building with, for example, the Code for Sustainable Homes calling for progressive reductions in water consumption down from the current national average of 150-litres per person per day, to no more than 80-litres to meet Levels 5&6 of the Code.

These policy strictures are now being legally enforced through recent updates to Building Regulations which require for the time-being that consumption be no more than 125-litres per person per day. This needs to be demonstrated to the satisfaction of Building Inspectors using the Government’s water consumption calculator methodology with buildings not being signed-off for occupation until that has been achieved.

At face value, there appears to be a strong overlap between rainwater harvesting and rainwater attenuation, in that both involve the collection of surface water – the former from (usually) the roof, the latter from both the roof and other hard-standings; they diverge, however, in that the aim of attenuation is the delayed dissipation of all the water collected into soak-aways or the storm drain system, whereas harvesting systems seek to retain a sustained supply of good quality water for subsequent “non-wholesome” uses such as toilet flushing, clothes washing, car/fleet washing and garden/grounds irrigation. Neither does a rainwater harvesting system substitute for an attenuation system, in that its overflow still needs to be

connected to exactly the same surface water management arrangements as would exist without it.

Where the two systems do come elegantly together, however, is by their integration into a single system designed to harvest good quality water for non-wholesome re-use purposes, maintain a fixed body of water to meet firefighting requirements (in a commercial building for example), and reserve empty capacity to meet SUDS attenuation requirements. This can be achieved very simply by using one compartmentalised tank, containing a suitablysized section for each of the above requirements, or by suitably linking two or three separate tanks. Either way, the advantage for the developer is that only a single holes needs to be dug and both the water-supply and surface water management issues (and fire-fighting if relevant) of the project are solved.

Applied consistently to new buildings over the coming decades, rainwater harvesting can play an extremely useful role in helping to avert a crisis in the supply of drinking water. In new-build houses, a system will reduce mains water consumption by up to 50% by substituting rainwater for the non-wholesome uses in the home; in commercial buildings (where systems can also be retrofitted), any structure that combines a large roof with a high demand for non-wholesome water can achieve savings well in excess of 80%.

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RainWater Harvesting and Flood Attenuation Reduce your tap water use and reduce flood water by Marcus Bicknell â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Partner, Marketing and Technical, of RainWater Harvesting Ltd

Flood attenuation is very much a priority for planners nowadays.

Marcus Bicknell from Rainwaterharvesting.co.uk explains how rainwater harvesting can be used to offset flood threats.

Rainwater harvesting is now seen as a means of reducing mains water consumption, something that we are now all under strong official pressure to do. It is also now recognised that rainwater harvesting can at the same time contribute to attenuating flood water flow, i.e. holding some storm water that comes off the roof and letting it flow at a controlled, slower, rate to the drain or soakaway.

While flood attenuation has previously required stand-alone holding tanks, planning applications that include rainwater harvesting as part of the storm attenuation plan are now viewed favourably. In many cases it is made a requirement, particularly for flood attenuation. What the planners are looking out for are ways of preventing drains overflowing during what seem to be our increasingly frequent very heavy downpours. With the growing prevalence of hardstandings for parking in front of houses, the situation is

made worse with storm run-off racing to the drains rather than filtering through permeable surfaces like lawns and gravel drives. In fact, since October 2008, planning permission is now required to lay traditional impermeable driveways that allow uncontrolled runoff of rainwater from front gardens onto roads. If a new driveway or parking area exceeding 5 square metres in area is constructed using, for example, permeable concrete block paving, porous asphalt or gravel, or if the water is otherwise able to soak into the ground, planning permission is not required.

The new rules also apply where existing hardstandings are being replaced and, despite starting off as provisions for built-up areas (SUDS stands for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) are being applied in the country too.

When installing a rainwater system, there are two ways of dealing with overflow from the storage tank: either excess ď ľ ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

water goes to a soakaway or back to the main drain. For the homeowner or installer, this choice should normally be a matter of convenience. The main drain is the easiest solution as it avoids having to build a soakaway. However connection to the main drain is not always permissible, making the construction of a soakaway necessary. For the planner and the water company, a soakaway solution is the best, as this makes for less rainwater pouring into local drains. In fact, the new Flood Management Bill removes the automatic right to connect to main drains, giving local authorities the power to impose other drainage solutions.

Normally speaking, rainwater for use in the house for WCs and washing machines and for outdoor needs is collected off the roof. Filtered and stored underground, the rainwater is clean and fresh enough for these non-potable domestic uses. The rainwater coming off nonporous ground-level surfaces risks being polluted by animal droppings, oil or chemical spills, and even after filtering would not normally be suitable for use in WCs and washing machines. It could, however, be used for outdoor purposes.

A normal rainwater harvesting system does, in any case, relieve pressure on main drains because a large volume of rainwater off the roof is being diverted into the storage tank and thence into the home for use. If, however, that tank is full or nearly full, the excess rainwater in a heavy downpour will overflow.

One solution is to install a larger capacity storage tank than would be required for recycling the rain. In addition to the overflow siphon at the top of the tank, a second overflow is set at a much lower level. Rainwater is stored below this in the normal way, but in a heavy downfall the excess rain filling the top half of the tank exits via a device that slows the flow rate to the main drain. This can be a floating drain choke or a metal attenuating flange fitted in the lower overflow hole in the side of the tank. This flange has different-sized holes in it and can be set to the flowrate required, for example, from 1 to 6.5 litres per second.

Alternatively, a length of perforated drain can be put between the tank exit and the main drain to dissipate the excess rainwater. Both 1200mm diameter concrete pipes and plastic crates are often used to make big attenuation cells.

Calculating the amount of water in a one in a 10-year or one in a 100-year storm is a task for a specialist consultant engineer, but for some developments the amount of ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

water to hold, temporarily, can be hundreds of thousands of litres. In the case of a single home, the soakaway for attenuation is often double the capacity of the rainwater tank. In extreme cases, planners may require the total attenuation volume to be big enough to hold one half of the annual rainfall coming off the roof. It must also reach below any impervious layers so that the water flows away to ground within a day. It should also be at least 2 metres away from the storage tank.

Clearly it makes sense to use the rainwater whenever possible, so various combinations of storage tanks with attenuation products can be installed depending on the site. 

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FLOOD RISK – RECOGNITION AND RESPONSE More than 5 million people in England and Wales live and work in properties that are at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.1 As the threat of flooding continues to rise, there has never been more imperative to ensure the UK is well equipped to both recognise and respond to flood risk, says David Mole, Managing Director at Landmark Environment – the market leading provider of site-specific environmental risk information.

David Mole, Managing Director of Landmark Environment Here in the UK momentum is building on what is one of the country’s biggest commercial developments, the 2012 Olympics site. In the nearby Thames Gateway area, planning is also underway for 100,000 new homes – many of which could be at risk from flooding if not protected by the Thames Barrier, as much of this activity will be sited in the natural flood plain of the River Thames. However, the issue of flood risk is already high on the agenda for planners and property developers who are seeking specialist advice in order to ensure effective flood risk management in the area.

But not all areas or events are afforded such foresight in terms of flood planning. Take for example the European windstorms which brought heavy rain and gale force winds to Great Britain in 2009. One of the worst affected areas was Cumbria, which experienced extensive damage and flooding. A year on, Cumbria has still not fully recovered from this natural disaster, which has needed more than £10 million in financial support from the Government.2 It is likely that climate change and its continuing impact on weather patterns will increase the risk of these extreme weather events yet further and see the instances of pluvial flooding, fluvial flooding, groundwater flooding and flooding from sewers increase.

However, steps are already being taken at a national level to address the need for better, more comprehensive management of flood risk for people, homes and businesses.

The Flood and Water Management Act 20103 received royal assent in April 2010 and will be a key driver in making this happen, primarily via work with both the Environment Agency and water companies themselves.

Landmark Environment recognises that, as Government commitment to this issue increases, the process of Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) will come under considerable scrutiny for consultants and their developer clients. For this reason we have been working to increase the data we are able to provide to customers through our Envirocheck suite of products. The priority has been to create a single, comprehensive source which can help speed-up the assessment process without compromising on accuracy.

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The Envirocheck Flood Screening Report is the result of this work - bringing together for the first time flooding information from a range of sources, providing a ‘one stop shop’ for consultants, enabling easier collation, interpretation and analysis of crucial data. Maps are included at 1:10,000 and 1:50,000 scales and include contour detail and spot height information, giving clear and rapid information on the local topography. In addition to Environment Agency data, this new report also includes information from another four key sources, covering issues such as surface flooding, flood depths, undefended flood risk and sets the standard for flood information in England, Wales and Scotland.

Surface flooding in particular is a critical area of consideration in the current climate, with an estimated 66% of the 2007 floods caused by flooding from minor rivers, overland flow, rising groundwater levels and inadequate capacity of drainage systems in urban areas. The Envirocheck Flood Screening Report was the first report to draw information such as this together into one accessible source.

Yet, whilst we are working closely with industry to continually drive up standards in flood risk assessment, we also want to work with consumers to raise awareness of flood risk and reduce exposure to the damaging effects of flooding. A crucial step in achieving this is making people more aware of the risks so they can take action to make their homes more resilient before the worst case scenario occurs.

Working closely with the National Flood Forum, in 2008 Landmark launched the ‘Know Your Flood Risk’ (KYFR) campaign, which has a mission to help raise awareness of the issue of flood and encourage practical guidance and support to help protect homeowners, businesses and property professionals against the risks.

KYFR was launched in the wake of the 2007 floods, which took place during the wettest summer on record and affected more than 55,000 properties. These events cost the insurance industry £3 billion and were recorded as “the largest loss of essential services since World War II.”

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Location data from Ordnance Survey supports key government bodies and vital public services involved in the protection of our natural environment.

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Below: Three sample screen shots taken from the Envirocheck flood screening reports

RMS 100 year Return Flood Map (1:10,000)

RMS 100 year Return Flood Map - Slice A

Since its launch, the National Flood Forum and Landmark Information Group have recruited more than 130 people from both the public and private sectors to the campaign. We have found that there are areas of common ground between relevant organisations from the private, public and charity sectors and so by joining together we believe we are more likely to succeed in the face of the growing challenge of flood risk. The Environment Agency estimates that one in six properties is at risk of flooding in England. However, our sources calculate that the figure is closer to one in four.

At Landmark Environment we will continue to work with our key data providers such as the Environment Agency, the British Geological Survey and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in order to equip consultants and developers with extensive information on this topic and help support sustainable development, even in flood plain areas. As a company we will also continue to maximise our work with the National Flood Forum to ensure we raise awareness as well as provide advice on how to adapt and protect our homes and places of work long into the future.

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BGS Flood Data (1:50,000)

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EA Flood Data Map (1:10,000)

More information on the Envirocheck Flood Screening Report is available at www.envirocheck.co.uk.

To find out more about the Know Your Flood Risk campaign, and to register your support, please visit www.knowyourfloodrisk.co.uk ď Ž

EA Flood Data Map - Slice A

Order Details

1

www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood

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www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1516169

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Innovation for Sustainable Contaminated Land and Ground Water Remediation Mike Lenn, PhD: Director, Ecologia

Below Dual cassette mechanism on one of Ecologia’s drilling rigs. The system combines a sonic head (right) and rotary head (left) on a single mast, allowing rapid switching between methods on a relatively compact rig.

Technical approaches to contaminated land and groundwater remediation in the UK have evolved significantly over the past fifteen years. We have moved on from a traditional approach to contaminated land remediation (`dig and dump’) and treatment of contaminated groundwater (‘pump and treat’). Both of these techniques still have an important role to play, but there is now a very real acceptance that fresh thinking and a willingness to consider a combination of innovative technologies can bring both financial and environmental benefits to the characterisation and remediation of contaminated sites.

Along with advancements in the technologies available to remediation contractors, sustainability is increasingly becoming recognised as a factor to be considered when developing strategies to deal with land and groundwater contamination.

The Sustainable Remediation Forum (SuRF-UK) has recently published a Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Soil and Groundwater Remediation. SuRF describes sustainable remediation as “The practice of demonstrating, in terms of environmental, economic and social indicators, that the benefit of undertaking remediation is greater than its impact and that the optimum remediation solution is selected through the use of a balanced decision-making process”.

A very competent and dynamic contaminated land industry has developed in the UK over the past 15 years. This has been driven to a large extent by the willingness of a number of small companies to invest in the development and ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Close-up of Ecologia’s ISRFH electrode array and soil vapour extraction wells during remediation of petrol station in Kent.

commercialisation of innovative technologies or to simply apply creative thinking to adapt existing technologies from other industries.

mounting for the smaller vibration only heads, right through to specialised roto-sonic machines in the order of 20 tonnes plus.

Three key approaches that can improve the overall environmental impact of contaminated site management are:

For environmental applications, the overwhelming advantage of sonic drilling is the removal of flush media from the drilling process, eliminating any risk of further mobilising contaminants or disrupting an existing plume.

Sample quality is excellent and, in many cases, totally representative of natural ground conditions.

1. Careful characterisation of the site and delineation of the actual extent of land requiring remediation.

2. Selection of an efficient remedial methodology (possibly involving a combination of different approaches).

3. Optimisation of the selected technologies on a sitespecific basis.

I will discuss below just three examples of the many innovative technologies that reflect these approaches and which provide for greater efficiency in contaminated land and groundwater clean-up.

Sonic Drilling Technology Although not a “new” technique, the last decade has seen the introduction of the use of sonic drilling equipment in the UK. The majority of “sonic” rigs work by vibrating the drill string at high frequency (0-250Hz), causing unconsolidated material to fluidise and displace around the string making the technique ideal for drilling overburden.

Larger sonic rigs often combine sonic and rotary methods (roto-sonic) to allow drilling through consolidated materials and hard rock, in the latter case the sonication assisting the mechanical breakage is normally associated with rotary drilling, although such technology is generally only found on larger machines. Sonic heads are mounted on a variety of chassis, ranging from agricultural tractor

Sonic drilling in overburden is dry drilling and produces 80%-100% less spoil than conventional methods; apart from the material retrieved as samples, the drilled ground is entirely displaced into existing space in the soil, effectively leaving any would-be spoil in the ground. This reduces vastly, if not eliminates, the cost and environmental implications of off-site spoil disposal. Lightweight sonic rigs require no more fuel to run than conventional rotary machines and, while the larger units require considerable resources to run, they work at a significantly faster rate than conventional rigs with a smaller footprint and, under the right conditions, can offset any disadvantages.

Another innovation that works in tandem with sonic drilling is the Aqualock, a patented soil sampling method.

This method allows for discrete sampling of high quality undisturbed soil cores at a desired depth. The sampler that comes in 2-metre lengths is dropped to its required depth at the same speed as with the lost cone method.

For the penetration the space within the Aqualock sampler is filled with water which keeps the piston down at the bottom end, therefore there is no drilling cone involved. When the required depth has been reached, the water is allowed to escape towards the drilling rods above.  ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The sonic vibrations make it possible to achieve an undisturbed core where generally only the outer layer (1 to 2 mm) is affected by the vibrations. Samples can be taken from clay as well as from (coarse) gravelly sand.

The sampler can be lowered down the previously drilled hole and at the new depth another sample can be taken.

Finally, with the aid of the water the sample is pressed out of the sampler into a trough or a plastic liner.

A good example of a combined-technology approach to on-site remediation. ISRFH system is treating a hotspot of solvent contamination (bottom right) and is linked to a high capacity multi-phase extraction system, which is also treating a larger area. Behind this is an aerated biopile treating contaminated soil.

Sonic drilling can provide rapid characterisation of contaminated sites. Drilling and installation of high quality groundwater monitoring installations (piezometers) can be achieved in less than an hour. The ability to retrieve undisturbed soil cores and to define bands of contamination only few centimetres thick can enhance understanding of the site. An experienced remediation consultant/contractor can use this data to optimise remedial technology selection.

In-Situ Radio-Frequency Soil heating (ISRFH) Thermally enhanced remediation technologies can be used to treat a spectrum of contaminants in vadose and saturated zones. Soil is heated in situ to increase volatility or reduce viscosity of organic contaminants so they may be removed via soil vapour extraction (SVE) or High Vacuum Multi-phase Extraction.

Volatile and semi-volatile organic contaminants (including Petroleum range hydrocarbon, BTEX and chlorinated solvents) are more readily mobile at temperatures above typical ground temperatures of 5 to 15oC. The physical and chemical properties of the soils can be modified by controlled heating such that they are more amenable for remediation. A 10Âş C increase in the soil temperature can significantly improve desorption of compounds, increase volatility and enhance microbial degradation. To date, four main methodologies have been used and investigated for soil heating: hot air injection; steam injection; heating lances; resistive and dielectric heating. The dielectric heating method has proven to be the most effective technique in a wide range of soils (dry, humid, tight soils).

ISRFH is an innovative approach and is the most efficient way of producing dielectric heating in soil. ISRFH technology heats the soil water, which in turn enhances the mobility, volatility and therefore removal of VOCs and sVOCs from soil: An RF generator produces high frequency electromagnetic current which, when applied to electrodes or antennae installed in the ground, generates heat, thereby increasing the soil temperature. The heat is generated when an oscillating electromagnetic field interacts with polar molecules in the subsurface, causing them to rotate and generate heat within the soil. Water is the primary molecule involved in the generation of heat but other molecules, including the contaminants themselves, are affected by the introduction of RF energy into the subsurface. The heating effect is similar to that within a microwave oven; however, a much lower frequency of between 5 to 45MHz is commonly used for heating soil.

This frequency allows the radio waves to penetrate several metres into the soils.

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The main advantage of the RF treatment technology is that it is considerably less dependent than other methods on either the soil type or the contaminant type.

Ecologia undertook a detailed study of ISRFH combined with soil vapour extraction during the remediation of a petrol station in Kent. We were able to demonstrate that not only was the final remedial outcome better than would typically be achieved through soil vapour extraction alone, but the overall energy usage was lower than that calculated for SVE alone. Reduced energy consumption, coupled with reduced remedial time scale (and hence reduced travel for site attendance) and reduced residual contaminant concentrations clearly demonstrate that this is a novel approach with good `sustainabilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; credentials.

It may seem counter-intuitive to some that methods which require the input of a significant amount of energy into the ground can actually require less energy than conventional systems; however Ecologiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data appear to support previous academic findings in this respect (Ref 1).

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the sampling set-up allowed a single analyser to be used on multiple sampling locations on a predetermined timing arrangement. The extracted samples were passed through a drying stage and then through a photo-ionisation detector linked to a datalogger. The use of the automated system played a vital role in optimising the process and allowing us to target particular zones of contamination more aggressively where required.

Another example is in the aeration of biopiles for ex-situ treatment of contaminated soils. This can be accomplished through mechanical turning of the soil or by drawing air through the soil using a network of pipes connected to a vacuum blower. Both methods require a substantial input of energy; however the application of relatively simple process and control systems can greatly reduce the amount of energy required to aerate the soil. A recent project undertaken by Ecologia used an automated gas analyser to measure the CO2 and O2 concentrations within a 3,500 m3 biopile. A multi-gas analyser was used to sample and analyse the gases within the biopile and the output was linked to the process logic controller (PLC) of the remediation system. The PLC was then able to switch the aeration blowers on and off line as required by the gas concentrations within the biopile. This relatively simple use of automated process control made a substantial energy saving of 80% and therefore a significant cost saving for the project and the technique as a whole.

In addition to the energy savings, the automated analysis of the gases provided data which was logged and enabled the rate of CO2 production and O2 utilisation to be studied, a key factor in monitoring the overall ‘health’ of a bioremediation process as well as an important source of data to demonstrate that the project was successful.

Summary

Advanced System Monitoring and Automation No matter how well characterised a site is, or how wellselected the remedial technologies are for a site, there is always scope to refine the process on a site specific basis to improve efficiency. Creative thinking and innovation in the use of automation and remote operation can reduce the overall environmental impact of a remediation programme significantly.

The use of in situ soil heating on a contaminated site relies heavily upon the use of automated and electronic monitoring and control of systems and would not be possible to operate efficiently on a manual basis due to the complexity of the process. Part of the process of ensuring that the soil has been effectively remediated is to closely monitor the amount and type of contamination that is removed from the soil. The process equipment used to undertake the project described above included an automated hydrocarbon vapour analyser fitted with a datalogger. The use of a process logic controller within

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There is a growing acceptance that it is not just the endpoint (achieving a `clean’ site) that matters, but how that end-point is achieved in the context of the wider environment. Remediation consultants and contractors now have a range of technical options available to them; they should also be prepared to consider sustainability as a key factor in the development of site characterisation and remedial strategies.

ISRFH has won the 2009 Brownfield Briefing Award for the ‘most innovative remediation technology’.

The application of ISRFH at a former service station near Manston, Kent in 2008 has also been selected by CL:AIRE as a technology development project (TDP 28), to be published in the near future.

Reference 1: Hiester, Schrenk, & Weiss. Environmental Balancing of "Cold" SVE and Thermally Enhanced Soil Vapour Extraction - Practical Support for Decision Makers. In: Annokkée G.J., Arendt F. & O. Uhlmann (eds.): 8.

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Unacceptable intake – when is a lot,

‘too much’?

Professor Paul Nathanail CGeol EuroGeol SiLC, Director, University of Nottingham Masters in Contaminated Land Management & Managing Director, Land Quality Management Ltd. Image copyright C P NATHANAIL, reproduced with permission.

Two decades ago conferences were being held on the theme ‘how clean is clean enough’ – the beginnings of the realisation that if risk based land management was to become more than theory, we had to accept that contaminants could be left in the ground while still demonstrably ensuring safety. This allowed pathway interruption innovations such as permeable reactive barriers or non-interventionist techniques such as monitored natural attenuation to gain regulatory acceptance.

The advent of the Britain’s three contaminated land regimes at the start of the millennium enshrined the principle and policy of risk based land management in law. Land that was causing significant harm, or there was a significant possibility that it could do so, would be determined as contaminated land and remediation would be required to render the land fit for the purpose for which it had planning permission. The lesson from the United States experience of implementing its equivalent to Part 2A was that generic approaches could help speed up decision making and thereby help secure more timely remediation. So the UK funded a body of technical guidance to support the implementation of Part 2A, including the development of soil guideline values (SGVs). SGVs comprised contaminant concentrations in soil that represented exposure posing tolerable or minimal risk: however much the exposure from SGV levels of contamination it was certainly not ‘too much’.

In parallel, this densely populated island continued its post second world war programme of replacing and expanding its housing stock and land contamination was ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

deemed to be a ‘material consideration’ under the planning regime. Adages such as ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ and ‘safe as houses’ were reflected in the wording of guidance to planners to ensure land was safe, fit for purpose and as a minimum could not possibly be deemed to be statutory contaminated land. In the same way that exceeding the speed limit constitutes a statutory offence but grossly exceeding it results in harsher punishment and conviction of more serious offences so it was slowly realised that the requirements of the planning and Part 2A regimes were different. While developers had to prove their new builds were below a threshold of safety, local authorities had to prove land was above a threshold of unacceptability before designating land contaminated. I have likened planning to limbo dancing and Part 2A to the high jump.

Over recent months many voices have been critical of DEFRA’s decision not to publish ‘red line’ values (RLVs) – generic assessment criteria which if exceeded would suggest that land met the condition for determination as contaminated. Why would they do this in the face of long and loud clamour for such values? Short of setting a ‘speed limit’ by legal definition the scientific defencibility of any meaningful RLV is limited. Preliminary scoping studies show that such RLVs would have to be very high for their exceedance always to indicate a significant possibility of significant harm. Determinations made where RLVs were not exceeded would be easily open to challenge.

To date none of the court cases arising from Part 2A have questioned the determination of contaminated land – 

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merely the allocation of responsibility for paying for the remediation.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;a lotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of intake â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;too muchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, or in the words of Part 2A itself â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;unacceptableâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

So how are the regulators to make decisions now the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;exceeding the SGVs is not necessarily too muchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cat has been let out of the bag?

The collaborative workshop clearly worked as a means of mobilising both labour and buy-in. So LQM and CIEH have joined forces again to lead an initiative to develop substance specific insights into when a given estimated intake is unacceptable. Such insight will draw on the entire cloud of evidence of each substanceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dose-response relationship. This will allow estimated exposures to be compared with the entirety of our knowledge about contaminant toxicity rather than just a single hybrid sciencepolicy laden value such as an SGV, or underlying health criteria value.

Wind back a few years and the clamour then was for SGVs for more substances. A budget constricted and politically rigorous procedure meant progress was slow. The solution was for a sector-led initiative to develop generic assessment criteria (GAC) equivalent to SGVs for use until SGVs became available. The outcomes of the 2006 LQM/CIEH initiative quickly became accepted by most regulators and practitioners as values of choice at the generic quantitative risk assessment tier. Changes in technical guidance and modifications to the CLEA model meant a repeat initiative was needed. Last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two day workshop again organised

by LQM in association with the CIEH and held at the University of Nottinghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ebdon Laboratory resulted in GAC for over 80 substances. A subsequent initiative from EIC members added a further 35 substances for which GAC are now available â&#x20AC;&#x201C; though covering fewer land use scenarios and supported by sparser documentation.

While this helped the struggling brownfield regeneration sector it did little to tackle the Part 2A question of when is

A word of warning however that the above initiative is aimed at risk assessments being carried out under regimes such as Part 2A which target intervention only at unacceptable levels of risk rather than regimes such as planning which seek to ensure safety.

For further details of the Unacceptable Intake workshop see www.lqm.co.uk. We hope to bring news of its outcomes in a later issue. ď Ž

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The Nottingham Masters Course in Contaminated Land Management Nottingham’s MRes in Contaminated Land Management is aimed at consultants, regulators, problem holders and research institutions. The course is geared to practitioner needs in the UK. It is also relevant and immediately applicable to other European and international contexts. Modules are delivered over 2 years in 8 one week long blocks supported by distance learning and web based training materials.

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ST LEONARD’S COURT - WAKE UP CALL FOR DEVELOPERS AND PROPERTY OWNERS

The recent St Leonard’s Court contaminated land ruling is a wake up call for developers and property owners, write Keith Davidson and Lottie Dodd from Pannone’s Environment Team.

In February this year the High Court upheld the Secretary of State’s decision in the high profile St Leonard’s contaminated land ruling. The case confirmed that Redlands Minerals and Crest Nicholson must pay for a multi-million pound clean up of groundwater pollution at a residential development in Sandridge, Hertfordshire.

Fifteen years ago the Parliamentary debates on the Environment Bill warned the property industry that expensive retrospective liabilities could attach to brownfield land.

The long running saga at St Leonards Court highlights the perils of dealing with contaminated sites. The case can be summarised with five key messages.

KEY MESSAGES  Groundwater remediation can be very expensive - the clean up bill is likely to be more than £15m.  The “suitable for use” test applies to groundwater – in this case, a sensitive aquifer will need to be returned to a condition where it is safe to drink water.  A developer can become a “causer” of historic contamination by disturbing the ground. This liability remains with the developer forever, unless successfully transferred.  Sale contracts often include environmental clauses like the ‘Sold with Information Exclusion Test’ that simply don’t work.  Check for contaminated land issues in all property transactions and get appropriate protection from environmental specialists.

THE FACTS Between 1955 and 1980 the St Leonard’s site was a chemical factory producing bromate and bromide. Redland Minerals acquired the interests of the companies that had run the chemical works, so inherited the polluter liability.

In 1983, Redland sold the site to Crest Nicholson which developed it and built 66 houses on the land.

At the time of the sale, Crest knew about bromide contamination in the soil, but nothing about the bromate groundwater pollution. Crest cleaned up the site in co-operation with the local planning authority to the then required standards and sold the completed development in 1987.

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In June 2002, St Albans City and District Council identified the site as “contaminated land” under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Part 2A), on the basis that bromate and bromide was seeping from the land and contaminating a chalk aquifer.

The groundwater contamination forced the closure of several abstraction wells and threatened the water supply of hundreds of thousands of people within five kilometres from the site.

The Environment Agency became the enforcing authority and the area was designated as a special site.

After several rounds of consultation, the agency served a remediation notice on both Crest and Redland in November 2002 who immediately appealed to the Secretary of State, each blaming the other for the contamination.

APPEAL AGAINST REMEDIATION NOTICE There was no technical dispute that bromide and bromate contaminated the chalk aquifer.

Crest argued that they - had no knowledge of the bromate prior to and during its occupation of the site; - did not cause or knowingly permit bromate or bromide at the site; and - had undertaken the appropriate remediation works at the time in accordance with the standards applicable at that time.

Redland argued that the site had been “sold with information” to Crest and therefore Redland should legally be excluded from any liability.

A planning inspector held an inquiry and written representations were provided by the appellants, the Environment Agency, Thames Water Utilities Limited and Three Valleys Water plc. His report in November 2007 recommended that the Secretary of State should dismiss the appeals.

DECISION The Secretary of State took two years to make his decision, having considered the planning inspector’s report. He dismissed the appeals and modified the remediation notice.

The Secretary of State’s decision letter dated 22 July 2009 provides a useful summary of the Part 2A rules.  The “suitable for use” test in Part 2A applies to groundwater as well as land. The objective of the remediation should be to allow the aquifer to be used once more for potable supply of safe drinking water. 

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 Interim remediation can be identified as an urgent action until a longer term strategy is identified. Part 2A provides for phased remediation and later remediation notices can specify the actions.  Both Redland and Crest had “caused” the bromide and bromate contamination and were Class A persons. There was no need to consider the “knowing permitter” test.  There is no need for a “causer” to have introduced the contamination. Crest had “caused” the contamination as a result of its action and inaction in the way that it dealt with the redevelopment of the site.  The conditions in the Sold with Information test had not been satisfied to exclude Redland from its Class A liability. Redland had not provided information on the bromate contamination. Crest could not reasonably have been aware of the extent of the bromide contamination from the information that Redland provided.

The Secretary of State decided that on bromate linkage Crest should be apportioned 15% and Redland 85% of the liability. A relevant factor was the period of time for which the two parties were in control.

On bromide linkage Crest should be apportioned 55% and Redland 45% of the liability. The starting point was the bromate liability (15:85) and then the liability for Redland was reduced due to the partial application of the “sold with information” exclusion due to that fact that Crest was made aware of some of the contamination at the time of the sale.

Care should be taken when appealing a remediation notice.

The Secretary of State concluded that Crest had caused bromate contamination as well as bromide contamination and amended the Remediation Notice accordingly.

APPEAL On 3 February 2010, the High Court refused Crest’s application for permission to bring judicial review proceedings seeking to quash the Secretary of State’s decision. The basis of the application was that there had been an err in the law and an assumption made that Crest’s actions during its ownership of the land were connected to the pollution as identified when the remediation notice was served.

The High Court confirmed the “causer” test. By commencing demolition works on the Site, Crest caused the contaminants to enter into the underlying soil and remain open to rain exposure.

Although it is possible for Crest to appeal this decision in the Court of Appeal, it has been reported that they have decided not to appeal the ruling.

EXPENSIVE REMEDIATION Crest and Redland have been apportioned with a high value liability for activities that took place 17 years ago and which, at the time, were not necessarily in breach of the guidance and regulations.

The groundwater contamination meant that the water companies were required to commence remediation ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

works and to treat the public water drinking supply. The works to date have amounted to a cost of £13m.

As a result of this decision, it seems likely that the water companies will seek to recoup from Redland and Crest the remediation expenditure incurred to date.

INCREASED RISKS FOR DEVELOPERS Previous case law in Circular Facilities v Sevenoaks highlighted that a developer can become a Class A “knowing permitter” of existing contamination.

St Leonard’s for the first time reveals that a developer can also become a Class A “causer”. Crest had demolished the hardstanding concrete, leaving the contaminated soil exposed to rainfall leaching for more than two years before the houses were constructed. This “caused” contaminants to be flushed deeper and faster into the ground.

WARNING FOR PROPERTY OWNERS LOOKING TO SELL CONTAMINATED SITES It is common practice in commercial property transactions to add Sold with Information wording in the sale contract to seek to transfer the seller’s Class A liability to the buyer.

The statutory guidance at D.57 to D.61 of Defra Circular 01/2006 sets out various conditions for the Exclusion Test to be successfully applied:  Sold with Information only applies when the regulator decides to take Part 2A action. Both the seller and buyer must be Class A persons at the time of applying the Test. If a buyer quickly sells or leases the contaminated site, it may not become a Class A knowing permitter.  Before the sale, the buyer must have had information that would reasonably allow it to be aware of the presence of the “pollutant identified in the significant pollutant linkage, and the broad measure of that presence”.

In St Leonard’s, the Secretary of State was not satisfied that sufficient information had been provided by Redland to Crest.

LOOKING FORWARD This case serves as a reminder to sellers that the disposal of contaminated land does not dissolve the potential for future liabilities and costs. In particular, great care should be taken when using the Sold with Information test. Sellers and their legal advisers need to make a full disclosure of specific contamination and spell this out in the sale contract.

Developers need to ensure that their actions and inactions do not create a new liability, simply by removing hardstanding or disturbing the soil. Contractor pollution liability cover should always be considered.

Keith Davidson specialises in contaminated land transactions and has acted in several Part 2A proceedings for both local authorities and land owners. 

Environment Agency prosecutions CASE 1: United Utilities Water fined over river pollution

CASE 4: Rogue trader fined

United Utilities Water PLC have been fined £12,000 at Wigan Magistrates Court for allowing untreated sewage to enter the River Douglas, Wigan. The company was also ordered to pay the Environment Agency’s costs of £1,944.36. Untied Utilities Water PLC pleaded guilty to three offences: causing sewage effluent to be discharged into the River Douglas, failing to notify the Environment Agency that there was potential to operate the emergency overflow system and failing to maintain the duty pump and the stand-by pump at Chorley Road Pumping Station, Standish, Wigan.

Lee Paul Brown, of Ronkswood, pleaded guilty to one charge relating to illegally transporting scrap. The items, which included a pair of gates, a filing cabinet, a washing machine and an electric cooker, were found in the back of his van by Police. The 29-year-old was fined £200 and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge. Mr Brown's fine could have been easily avoided if he had registered as a waste carrier with the Environment Agency at a cost of £152 for three years.

CASE 2: Businessman fined for illegal burning of waste Sand and gravel merchant Joseph McLaughlin has been ordered to pay £4,398 in fines and costs for illegally burning waste plastic and wood at his aggregate depot near Tavistock. An Agency officer visited McLaughlin’s business premises at Windrush, Hayedown on August 17, 2009 to investigate a report of a bonfire. Driving onto the site she immediately saw a large fire. The blaze contained mainly manufactured timber including plastic covered worktops and cupboard doors.

CASE 3: Composting site fined £20,000 A Preston based company has been fined £20,000 at Leyland Magistrates court for failing to comply with an enforcement notice issued by the Environment Agency. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £2,843. TEG Group Plc pleaded guilty to the offence, which required the amount of waste on the site to be reduced to the volumes laid down in their environmental permit. The company ran the site to accept, store and treat waste for composting. The Environment Agency had granted the site a licence to operate, which outlined conditions to ensure their activities did not pose a risk of harm to the environment or human health. The conditions included limits on the amount of waste which could be stored on site at any one time before treatment (200 tonnes), and the amount of waste being treated (128 tonnes). During inspections by the Environment Agency in 2007, officers found more than three times the permitted levels of waste being treated on site, breaching their permit conditions.

CASE 5: Fly-tipping offences costly for offenders Jeffrey Townsend-Sawyer, of Station Road South, Walpole St Andrews, Wisbech pleaded guilty to fly-tipping waste in a lay-by at Old South Bank, Spalding. The waste consisted of corrugated sheeting, analysis of which showed it contained asbestos. He was ordered to pay a contribution of £1,500 towards costs and his prison sentence was suspended for a year. Lisa Bryan, of Station Road, Wisbech St Mary, pleaded guilty to being the owner of a vehicle used to illegally deposit soil. She was also ordered to pay full Environment Agency costs of £1,686. Bryan said when interviewed that she had been paying a local worker to dispose of the waste using her vehicle, at an authorised site believed to be near Wisbech.

CASE 6: Warning over illegal crayfish trapping The Environment Agency, Cumbria Constabulary, the CPS and Natural England are warning that people risk prosecution if they fish for crayfish without a licence. The strict laws are in place to protect native white clawed crayfish populations, which are under threat from alien American signal crayfish. Recently, Christopher Hemsley, 41, from Bramhope, Leeds appeared before Kendal magistrates for one offence under Sec 9 Wildlife Act and one offence of unlicensed fishing. He pleaded guilty to both offences and was fined 3500 GBP for the Wildlife Act offence and £400 for unlicensed fishing. He was also ordered to pay £85 in costs and given a victim surcharge of £15. Matt Brazier, Fisheries Team Leader at the Environment Agency said, “We need to protect our native crayfish populations, and managing trapping is a vital way to achieve this.”

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON! Stephen Blunt BSc MSc CMLI is a horticulturist and Director of GroundCoverDBM – a company specialising in the eradication of Japanese Knotweed.

The site manager faced with an urgent knotweed problem will find a bewildering array of treatments and services offered by companies in ‘the knotweed business’. Acronyms promising speedy treatment abound. This article provides a guide to the herbicide approaches available and sets out some of the questions to ask when choosing a treatment or service.

Herbicide treatments for Japanese Knotweed can be grouped into those treating the knotweed in-situ and those removing the infested soil for treatment elsewhere on the site. Where there is no particular urgency, in-situ treatment will be the most economical and least disturbing option but for development projects, the duration and certainty of eradication are often critical.

1. Will I be able to start building work by my deadline?

If the knotweed is growing in a place that must be disturbed for construction, then you need to allow time for repeated applications of herbicide or select a method involving excavation and relocation/disposal. An established knotweed stand is very unlikely to be killed completely by one application of any legal herbicide. Even if no shoots develop in the following year, rhizome deep in the soil can remain healthy and able to regenerate when disturbed.

Consider what effect a delay would have on the rest of the programme and whether there are ‘fall-back’ solutions when examining the offers from potential contractors.

Healthy knotweed rhizome can remain deep beneath a stand even after 2 seasons of glyphosate treatment

2. Will the herbicide affect my use of the land or soil after treatment?

Site managers need to plan all stages of the knotweed eradication programme. If knotweed is eradicated in-situ then other desirable plants should be established to replace it. Soil that has been excavated, moved to a treatment area and treated with herbicide will need to be re-used on the site or eventually disposed of. The choice of herbicide can have a significant influence on the future use of the soil. Non-residual translocated herbicides such as glyphosate do not leave residues in the soil likely to affect other plants and so where the location or soil is to be re-used immediately, non-residual herbicides should be selected. However, several seasons of treatment are needed to achieve eradication. A residual herbicide such as picloram will remain effective in the soil for up to 2 years. Picloram as a soil application works by forming a shallow layer through which any germinating seedlings would grow, picking up lethal dose.

Japanese Knotweed regrowth distorted by residue of picloram treatmen ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The use of herbicides and many other pesticides is increasingly regulated to ensure public safety and the protection of the environment. For the product user, the product label is the primary source of information and

directions on the safe and legal use of the pesticide. The product label for Tordon 22K (a widely used product based on picloram) states that one treatment controls weeds for a whole season, and notes that sensitive plants may be harmed by residues in the soil. The product should not be applied to soil which may be used as garden topsoil.

Land owners and developers should be careful to insist that weed control contractors provide full details of the intended chemical products and application rates before entering into contracts, so that they can be sure that the soils are still fit to use once the knotweed has been shown to be dead.

3. How much herbicide can be used, and how often?

Glyphosate and other herbicides applied to the foliage are only effective when there is enough leaf area to take up the chemical, and so there is no benefit in making repeated applications to the same stand until the new growth has fully developed. Residual herbicides remain in the soil and so their use is strictly regulated.

The product label for Tordon22K (picloram) states a maximum total dose of 11.2l product /ha/yr, and a recommended application rate for Japanese Knotweed of 5.6l / ha so there should be no more than 2 applications to any area of land. Excavating the infested soil material and

building a bund in thin layers, applying Picloram to each layer in turn, would exceed the dose permitted by the label. It would also create a significant risk of leaching of the chemical in run-off or drainage water, which in turn could contaminate adjacent land or watercourses.

4. What limitations does the treatment place on my construction work?

Employers are required to conduct an assessment of any substances that their staff are working with or in contact with (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations). If any residual herbicide is to be applied, either to knotweed in-situ or to excavated infested soils, the landowner and other contractors need details of products and rates so that they can fulfil their duties to their staff and subcontractors who may be required to excavate or handle that soil in the course of construction. The presence of chemical residues should also be noted on the consignment note if soils are subsequently sent to landfill or for use on another site.

By asking these questions and fully understanding the implications of treatment options proposed by contractors, a land manager or developer can make an informed choice, meet his obligations and stay within the law. ď Ž

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Over the garden fence Trevor Renals, Environment Agency

On 6th April 2010, the Government approved an order to amend Schedule 9 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.

Schedule 9 lists the species for which it is an offence to introduce into the wild. This offence is described in Section 14. The list is a curious mix of exotic and native animals; Mongolian gerbils rubbing shoulders with red-billed chough. Why the native animals? The animals listed are subject to species recovery plans and unregulated releases are regarded as a threat to the health and genetic integrity of the population. Most conservationists agree that it is better to nurture a native population rather than expose captive-bred animals to the challenges of surviving in the wild. Captive breeding does have a valuable role in some cases. This Act provides a means to regulate the process.

The list also includes 36 plants and 2 species of algae.

This is a considerable increase from the original list, that only included Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed within the vascular plant section. Some of the listed plants will inevitably cause some consternation amongst gardeners. Favourites such as Yellow Azalea, Rhododendron and Cotoneaster are listed. However, Section 14 of the Act states that it is an offence to ‘plant or otherwise cause to grow’ Schedule 9 species ‘in the wild’. It’s not a ban on growing these species, simply an attempt to keep them within gardens and amenity areas. Each of the species listed is believed to either be invasive in the wild or have the potential to be so. The Government response to the consultation can be viewed at http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/wildlife/management/non-native/documents/gov-response-schedule9%20.pdf . The document also discusses definitions of ‘in the wild’ and provides useful guidance on interpreting the Act. The guidance also discusses the potential to include a ban on sale for the most injurious invasive plants. This is likely to be a small sub-set of those listed in Schedule 9.

Each decision for a ban on sale will need to be supported by a robust risk assessment. Many retailers are already eliminating these species from their stock, on the

recommendation of organisations such as the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association and the Horticultural Trade Association. The responsible parts of the plant retail industry are increasingly prepared to reduce the potential harm their products may cause if they are disposed of inappropriately. They are also co-operating with the Government campaign ‘be plant wise’ https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/nonnativespecies/beplantwise which seeks to educate the public on how they should manage aquatic plants and dispose of them, if required.

Surely, banning the sale of pond plants is a fine example of the ‘nanny state’? What right does Government have to dictate what you put in your pond? Well, if pond plants stayed in ponds, this would be a legitimate argument.

Sadly, they don’t. Many invasive plants aren’t just invasive in the wild. They tend to take over in ponds and gardens too. These are often the plants that well-meaning friends and neighbours give you. Let’s be honest, we don’t tend to give away our prize water lily. It’s usually the plant that we’ve pulled out because we’ve already got plenty of it but can’t quite bring ourselves to compost. When all of our friends and neighbours have been given their plant ‘white elephants’, the next destination for surplus weed is often ditches, ponds, lakes and rivers. Even if plants aren’t intentionally dumped into the wild, discharges from ponds into ditches and watercourses can carry propagules that may give rise to invasions. If your pond is on the floodplain, the sobering potential exists that the animals and plants within it may one day join the nearest watercourse.

One such plant is Floating Pennywort, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides. This is a recent addition to Schedule9 and is likely to be a leading contender for a ban on sale. Many retailers are already withdrawing this plant from sale.

However, I have just searched an online auction site and had ten hits for ‘Floating Pennywort’, so there is still plenty of it out there for sale.

Floating Pennywort can form a dense carpet over the water. Growth rates of up to 20cm a day have been ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

recorded. The carpets spread out from the margins in which it roots, creating dense mats up to 30cm deep. It is already well established in the wild, particularly in southern England. It is most abundant in canals and slow-flowing nutrient-rich rivers. Where it grows best, the mats often completely cover the watercourse, preventing recreational use such as angling and navigation. The biomass it generates has been estimated at 200 tons/hectare which increases flood risk. If the weed is not removed, it can break off during high flows, accumulating against bridges, sluices and other structures.

a million pounds managing Floating Pennywort. British Waterways also had extensive control programmes, particularly in the Midlands. Most of the money was spent cropping areas dominated by Floating Pennywort to keep waterways open and navigable. In many of these areas, floating pennywort will regrow and require an annual programme of maintenance. Inevitably, the problem is spreading and the annual costs are therefore likely to increase. This is just the sort of commitment that cashstrapped public bodies could do without. This is just one plant.

The dense carpet that Floating Pennywort creates over rivers, canals and lakes may also have implications for public and animal health. The dense weed creates the appearance of a solid substrate, which can tempt children and grazing animals to walk across it. This may expose them to the risk of drowning. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s be honest, even if kids realise itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a mat of weed over deep water, the temptation to walk across it can get the better of them. Because the weed grows out from the margins, the zone in the middle of the canal or river is usually where the weed is least thick.

If you review the literature predicting the impact of climate change on our society, increased flood risk is a common theme. On the positive side, one of the potential benefits of predicted climate scenarios is increased opportunity for watersports. However, Floating Pennywort is likely to prefer the predicted climate scenarios, which may exacerbate flood risk and scupper increased access to watersports. It seems that floating pennywort has all the odds in its favour.

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Japanese Knotweed has also been researching a potential natural solution to Floating Pennywort. Funding has been provided by Defra as part of its commitment to the Water Framework Directive. CABI scientists have been working in close association with scientists from Argentina, home of floating pennywort. Within its native range, Floating Pennywort has been observed to be controlled by a species of fly and a weevil. Research will now ascertain whether these natural enemies pose a risk to UK native plants and crops.

If they pass the rigorous host-specificity testing, they may be suitable to license for release in the UK. It is very encouraging that the potential exists for a natural solution to Floating Pennywort. In the meantime, we will need to carry on using mechanical and chemical methods of control.

We do need to learn an important lesson from Floating Pennywort and from a variety of other invasive non-native plants and animals that are harming our environment.

When we get bored with our pets or our plants, we must dispose of them carefully. If we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, the legacy we leave behind may have profound and irreversible consequences for the environment. ď Ž

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

lêÖ~åáÅë=oÉÅóÅäáåÖ=_äçëëçãë Charlie Trousdell, Chairman AfOR A typical open air windrow site

The Organics recycling sector continues to expand rapidly both as a result of statutory targets to divert biodegradable waste from landfill and Government intervention to support the production of renewable energy in order to assist in meeting the renewable energy target of 15% by 2020.

Since the early 1990’s there has been a steady rise in the number of facilities to process organic wastes along with better collection systems from both improved facilities at Civic Amenity Sites and kerbside collections of both green and green and kitchen wastes combined.

An annual market survey of the UK organics recycling industry has been carried out on behalf of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR) by M•E•L Research. These surveys have been implemented by or on behalf of the AfOR over the past decade. This has shown input tonnages to composting facilities grow steadily year on year to the most recently published figures covering 2007/08 of 4.5 million tonnes, (provisional 08/09 are 5 million).

A dry AD plant in Switzerland

The majority of feedstock currently treated at biowaste facilities is green waste from domestic sources with approximately 50% of this material derived from kerbside collections, and the remaining material coming directly from Civic Amenity sites.

This material is predominantly treated outdoors on open-air windrow facilities. The collection and treatment landscape is changing rapidly with the roll out by many local authorities of separate food waste collections. This feedstock was primarily going to in-vessel composting (IVC) facilities. However in the last couple of years or so there has been a gradual move towards using Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facilities, although the vast majority of food waste still goes to IVC. oìëÜ=Ñçê=^a The last 12 months has seen a significant push by a number of government agencies to increase the pace of AD development.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has recently confirmed that the Government’s climate change targets will not be able to be met without the use of AD. In 2008 the Government introduced double ROC’s (Renewable Obligation Certificates) for commercial biogas production. Since this time there has been the introduction of two additional supporting subsidies, FIT (Feed-in Tariff) and RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive).

The former is the latest financial incentive scheme from DECC which encourages the development of renewable energy. This is in the form of a fixed payment per kilowatt hour of renewable energy generated, currently set at a minimum of 5p/KWh of energy exported to the grid.The RHI incentive is a means of providing cash back for clean energy generation. This scheme which is a driver set to assist the UK in meeting its 15% renewable energy target by 2020 is due to commence in 2011. However the commercial reality is that it is still very difficult to make AD bankable and much more needs to be done before AD plants are built in significant numbers.  ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

cáëÅ~ä=ÇêáîÉêë The majority of collections and treatment of organic waste arisings to date have been focused on the municipal sector.

This however is changing rapidly as the commercial and industrial sector are impacted by the annual landfill tax escalator. This currently stands at £48/tonne and will increase by £8 p.a. until 2013 when it will be £72 per tonne.

With this fiscal driver snapping hard at the heels of waste generators (or resource Managers as we should now call them) the offer of other treatment technologies present an attractive financial alternative. `çåÑáÇÉåÅÉ=ÖêçïáåÖ The other significant change has been with regards to the perception of the output from biological treatment processes. In the past this material had a low status and carried little value. This has changed dramatically over the last five years. The reasons for this are numerous but include the change of status of the output from a waste to a product through the introduction of the Quality Protocol (QP) in 2007 (the QP was an Environment Agency/WRAP initiative focused on defining the point at which waste may become a non-waste in order that it falls outside of regulatory controls).

sure. Planning for facilities is always difficult and as they become more complex in terms of buildings and infrastructure as is the case with AD it is certainly a challenge and a costly exercise to gain the necessary consents.

AfOR wants clarity from the regulator on what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of the construction of facilities. If we are moving to having organic facilities largely enclosed then the industry needs a level playing field across the UK and as a society we have to be prepared to pay for having the best standards and sites that can operate without causing a nuisance to anyone.

Current gate fees for open-air windrow facilities range from £20-25/tonne of input waste. If this was to cover full enclosure and emissions capture and treatment, a more realistic figure would be £40-£55/tonne of waste input material. However this is not as bad as it looks as this range is similar to the current rates charged by those already taking in food wastes.

We need to have the best possible facilities to ensure public acceptance of a doubling of capacity in sites from currently some 5 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes by 2016 and to do this it will cost money.

In addition, the uptake by agriculture which is by far the largest user of outputs from biological treatment to use outputs from organics recycling facilities has been as a result of improved user confidence in the farming sector.

The increase in the cost of artificial fertilisers and a better understanding of the true value of this material has also assisted its use. In excess of 1million tonnes of this material was used by the farming community in 2007/08, predominantly in the production of arable crops.

It is important for both industry and the regulator to set standards to ensure that organic wastes are converted to suitable resources both in terms of energy and carbon back to the soil. It is perfectly possible to run plants that will convert organic wastes in such a way as not to cause a nuisance to neighbours that produce both energy and compost in a carbon efficient manner. All we need is a commitment from government to set a level playing field and to be sensible with the planning system to assist in permitting facilities rather than the current case which seems to be to object to facilities as a matter of principle!

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Living on a small and crowded island poses a number of challenges for waste management operators, not least of which is where to locate all these badly needed facilities.

The main regulator for the organics recycling sector is the Environment Agency (EA) along with the State Veterinary Service (SVS) for facilities taking in food and they are under continued pressure from the general public to ensure that facilities do not pose a health risk to those living in close proximity to them. For this reason there is continued pressure to persuade as many facilities as possible into providing a solution which offers partial or total enclo-

Despite the challenges to the organics industry and whilst a few companies have gone bankrupt and a number are struggling, the industry is surviving the recession quite well.

It has been driven both by bold entrepreneurs within the industry who have had the vision and courage to invest in the future and by the green agenda.

The future is very exciting with the potential for industry to at least double the processing capacity for organic wastes providing the new government helps to facilitate this growth. 

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making the most out of waste ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Waste Shredding For Companies That Didn’t Think it Possible Chris Oldfield, Managing Director of Riverside Waste Machinery Technological innovation, landfill directive pressures and the drive for cost efficiencies have combined to make waste shredding an important consideration for companies that before didn’t even think it possible…

There was a time when the market for industrial waste shredding systems was limited to a specific range of companies with largely heavy duty waste disposal requirements. Not any longer.

As waste technology becomes evermore innovative, revolutionary machines have the capability of shredding a diverse range of materials. Clients with confidential waste, for example, can now physically shred their hard drives rather than just wiping the information clean.

Elsewhere, larger waste companies can now shred historically difficult household materials such as mattresses and carpets, with the same equipment to process their normal waste streams.

But technological advancement is not the only reason that shredders are being used in more and more varying scenarios.

An increasing number of companies are faced with the need to reduce waste storage costs and more importantly alleviate the pressures of landfill charges. So whilst the idea of shredding old wooden pallets perhaps doesn’t stand out as the most pioneering waste management development, when you consider that just 6 to 9 tonnes of shredded woodchip in a biomass burner generates enough energy to heat a 3,000 sqm industrial unit for an entire week, the economic and environmental benefits take on a life of their own.

Wood is a non-hazardous material that should not – and cannot, by law – end up in the general waste stream. So rather than stockpiling pallets as a waste product, factories – armed with information like this – can begin to see the advantages of either creating their own ‘renewable’ energy source or supplying it to a third party as a reduced-size recyclable.

Even where waste is approved for landfill, the associated charges are high. Therefore working towards 100% recyclability now, rather than waiting to be pushed by Government directive, is undoubtedly the cheaper option in the long run.

Of course ‘the long run’ is part of the issue, as it is very tempting to ignore EU landfill diversion initiatives while we struggle for economic stability. But whether or not businesses feel ready and able to exercise their corporate social responsibility and reduce their environmental impact, create unprecedented pressures on the Government and waste management industry to find alternative solutions for utilising waste are not about to disappear.

It is now more than ten years since the EU Landfill Directive set mandatory targets for the UK to cut landfill volumes or face hefty fines, and while some people face the deadlines with optimism, there is concern elsewhere that the UK’s overall approach to waste management is trailing behind continental Europe.

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I read last year for example that the UK, with a population of 60.5 million, has only 24 EfW plants compared to environmentally conscious Denmark, which has 32 plants for a population of five million. A survey by international legal practice Norton Rose has also revealed that more than two thirds (69%) of senior waste sector stakeholders believe the UK will miss the 2013 landfill reduction target.

There is however still chance to catch up. News that France and Germany have already been able to meet their EU targets sends a clear message that it can be done – providing the UK embraces innovative waste processing technologies in the same way.

And encouragingly, there are signs that this is beginning to happen. For example, the excitement surrounding Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) continues to grow, as evermore revolutionary ways to process Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) are sought by clients.

The innovative composting process of anaerobic digestion (AD) also presents significant opportunities for businesses, especially as biogas fuels come into sharper focus as a potential contributor to the future energy mix. After placing used waste food products – that have been shredded and screened at pre-treatment stage – into vats for composting, the resulting rich biomass gas (methane and carbon dioxide) can be harvested for use as fuel.

Clearly, initial capital expenditure on such waste management solutions is sizeable and a difficult cost to bear for a company that may already be struggling with the impact of the current economic downturn.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

What many companies fail to realise, however, is that potentially difficult waste sorting and segregation processes, such as picking out plastics, wood and metals that would have gone to landfill five years ago, can now be handled with relative ease. So a small skip company that sends its municipal solid waste (MSW), construction and demolition waste, and other commercial and industrial waste to a larger waste transfer processor, is effectively throwing money away.

Even if the company picks out the ‘easy recyclables’ before sending it on, it is effectively turning its back on the possibility of extracting further recyclable materials.

A small company could receive up to 40 tonnes of plastic waste a month for example, and with prices rising again, this would in fact provide a welcome additional revenue stream. This would easily cover the cost of the shredding equipment required to make this a profitable recyclable.

Education about the possibilities is crucial to moving forward, yet Government assistance is sporadic – helpful schemes pop up but then quickly fall by the wayside. The responsibility perhaps therefore lies with the waste management and transfer industry, to promote the benefits of advanced technologies and be a constant source of information and advice.

The industry should not exist solely to supply and distribute machinery. Rather, we have a duty of care to share our insight and help clients design efficient and cost-effective waste management processes and solutions. Such advice will not only reap considerable rewards for clients, but it will enable the industry to stake a much deserved claim on the contribution it is making to environmental improvement. 

Clem Spencer, Wood Yew Waste, Chairman, WRA The wood recycling industry is still a relative infant; 20 years ago, it did not exist in the form that we now see it.

However, the infant is now out of diapers and growing up fast. Where 10 years ago something like 95% of all recycled wood found its way to the panel-board mills, that figure has fallen to 55%. This trend does not mean that the delivered tonnages have fallen sharply, although there has been a slight dip recently as the panel-board mills have struggled through a deep and enduring national recession.

No; the fact is that other markets have emerged to provide competition for the panel-board industry and valuable new opportunities for wood recyclers.

Among these new markets we have animal bedding for cattle, horses and poultry. This is a high-quality product which fetches good prices but first requires significant investment in machinery and quality testing procedures.

Meanwhile, land applications – composts, mulches and so on – are also on the increase and, together with animal bedding, account for about 25% of the industry’s output of about 2 million tonnes per year. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, we have the new kid on the block – biomass.

This new market threatens to change the wood recycling industry significantly and I will return to it later.

The same powerful growth curve that we see in the industry applies equally to our trade body, the Wood Recyclers’ Association (or WRA). Formed only 9 years back, in 2001, it has now grown relentlessly – despite the recent recession - to include 65 member companies. These companies cover the whole of the UK and vary considerably in size.

At the one end we have a number of small family-run enterprises, some combining wood recycling with other activities such as composting. At the other end we have large multi-site operations, some of which offer hightechnology products – like the animal bedding to which I have already referred - which meet the most exacting customer standards.

And the WRA is becoming a broad church. Initially consisting only of wood processors, it has expanded to embrace a number of service members who provide plant and

machinery for the industry, most of it ever more complex and capable. Furthermore, we now count among our number some companies who use post-consumer wood to produce energy, and others who are linked directly to panel-board factories. We have specialist consultants of various hues, a widely respected research and development company and have just signed up our first Government agency.

To some, all this might seem to jeopardise the purity of our association. But I see it differently. As a young industry, to have this variety of experience on tap is invaluable, both to the WRA and to its members. We are en route to providing, from within our own ranks, an impressive range of skills and knowledge which will benefit both the industry as a whole and also the individual companies who work in it. From my perspective, membership of the WRA offers value as never before.

That said, there are still many wood recycling businesses who are not WRA members. We estimate that our members probably account, between them, for about 70% of the recycled wood output in the UK, but we remain keen to talk to those who represent the other 30%. Our eligibility criteria for membership are stringent, as you would expect, but any bona fide business which has been in the wood recycling game for 12 months may expect to be accepted.

Details are available on: www.woodrecyclers.org.

There is much going on. One year ago, we won the right, via an EA/WRAP competition, to develop a quality protocol (QP) for post-consumer wood. Work started in November and, all being well, we shall have completed the QP one year from now. The WRA has provided a number of members to the Technical Advisory Group which is central to the QP work, so we have been very closely involved in its development from the word go.

What is the QP all about? In short, a QP defines the point at which wood will cease to be a waste and achieve product status. This status promises considerable benefits, in terms of a reduced administrative workload, improved export opportunities and the general standing of the wood recycling industry. It is still too early to tell how many ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

products the QP will embrace; much depends on the risk assessments and financial impact statements which are currently being formulated. But our aim is to get all our products – panel-board, animal bedding, land applications and even biomass – under the QP umbrella and remove them from the dreaded “waste” tag. If we can achieve this, it will be an enormous fillip for our young industry.

In an ideal world, before we embarked on the QP, we would have already established a set of standards for recycled wood. That we did not do so reflects the newness of wood recycling. However, WRAP – to whom we are indebted in a number of ways – has funded this project, which is currently being undertaken by BSI. Again, the WRA is very closely involved in the work, which should by the end of this year have achieved PAS111, the publicly available specification which will relate purely to postconsumer wood. One of our objectives, as the PAS111 and QP exercises proceed more or less in parallel, must be to ensure that their findings are entirely compatible. This is not as easy as it may sound and we see the presence on both teams of experienced, knowledgeable WRA members as a critical factor in the eventual achievement of this aim.

One of the major benefits which should emerge from this activity, I hope, will be that the confusion that has long existed over wood treatments will be removed, or at least radically reduced, once and for all. The very word “treated”, in the context of post-consumer wood, is often the cause of untold, and unwarranted, alarm. But treatments vary enormously. A tiny few are highly toxic but many more are completely harmless, while in the middle there are many whose environmental impact is a matter of proportional mix. There has been a tendency to ham-string wood recyclers by looking at all treated wood as if it were a serious danger to all forms of life. I only hope that the QP and PAS work will help dispel this myth and make it easier for recyclers to go their lawful business.

Apart from this, change is coming at us from all sides.

The new EA permitting legislation will affect a significant number of wood recyclers because the new tonnage limits will oblige many who operate under an exemption to obtain an environmental permit before April 2012. The WRA believes that, ideally, all wood recyclers should consider obtaining a permit. But without question, this will prove difficult for some because of local environmental and planning difficulties. Wood recyclers do not naturally make good neighbours and, with environmental watchdogs and lobbyists becoming ever more vocal, life is not getting any easier for those whose sites are close to centres of population.

This raises an important point. In my experience, wood recyclers are conscious that their activities are not always welcome and most of us work very hard indeed work hard to be good neighbours. It is important that, going forward, those who have a responsibility to protect the environment do not lose sight of the fact that recycling plays an important role in protecting that very same environment. If strictures on the wood recycling industry become unduly severe, we will all be the losers. And with ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Government currently looking into the feasibility of banning the landfilling of wood (an initiative which the WRA fully supports, by the way), moves to hobble the activities of wood recyclers threaten to work directly against that objective.

Perhaps I can finish by returning to the theme of biomass.

When it first appeared over the horizon, biomass was seen by many in my industry as a golden opportunity to reduce our reliance on the panel-board mills and open up a valuable new market. And what a huge market it promises to be. It is still very early days, of course. Most of the biomass installations which are already operating in this country are “non-WID compliant”. This is another area where too much confusion reigns and the upshot so far has been that recycled wood, even the cleanest, has quite wrongly been widely regarded as unfit for non-WID boilers.

Again, I hope that the QP and PAS work may help correct some very muddled thinking on this score.

But the truth is that, as things stand, recycled wood’s only normal biomass market is the (mainly much larger) WID-compliant installations which have elaborate emission controls and can therefore burn lower quality fuels. At present, there are very few of these up and running in the UK but if all those currently locked into the planning process were to come on-line, they would swamp the UK’s supplies of biomass material. Wood is only one of about 25 materials which can potentially fuel a biomass boiler but it is a significant player in the UK. The demands of large biomass plants will undoubtedly put considerable pressure on our industry, which is already very much supply-driven in many parts of the country.

Furthermore, as I see it, the owners of huge and hungry biomass plants will not wish to do business with their local recycler. They will work through middle-men who can aggregate the output of numerous recycling yards and then deal direct, on a single contract, with the plant.

We are already seeing the effects of this in the way that certain WRA members are developing their operations.

Although I cannot visualise exactly how, or to what extent, it will affect our industry in the longer term, affect us it will. There can be no doubt about this.

So the wood recycling industry has come a long way in a short time. Even so, you ain’t seen nothing yet, as they say! Government work now underway promises to take us to a whole new level of credibility. Meanwhile, new markets open up extraordinary opportunities for us but they also impose the need to reflect on how we do business and to adapt to changing conditions if we are to reap the full benefit. There is much to play for over the years ahead.

Perhaps I can end with another plug for the WRA. In a rapidly developing industry such as ours, only through membership of its trade association can its protagonists hope to keep abreast of what is going on. Knowledge is power and the WRA offers this in abundance. So if any wood recycler reading this is not a WRA member, there is no better time to remedy that situation. Come and join us; I promise you won’t regret it! 

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ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

SUSTAINABLE APPROACH CALLED FOR AS NEW PLASTIC PACKAGING RECYCLING TARGETS ARE PROPOSED

By Stuart Foster, Director, Recoup

Recoup – RECycling Of Used Plastics, the leading UK authority on plastics packaging recycling – is keen to help increase the amount of domestic plastics packaging that can be recycled.

However, there are a number of considerations in relation to the planned increases in plastic packaging targets as set out by Defra in the recent packaging strategy consultation document. In particular, any targets must take into account the current infrastructure for domestic plastics packaging collection, handling and reprocessing, and how it can be sustainably developed without compromising existing activities, particularly plastic bottle recycling.

2008 and 2009 saw an increase both in plastic packaging collection levels and in overall UK MRF capacity. Currently, very few UK MRFs have the ability to sort both plastic bottles and mixed plastics into separate streams – let alone then segregate each of these fractions into designated plastic types. So where mixed plastics are collected from householders, this commonly results in a single lower grade plastic output which cannot be reprocessed by the UK bottle reprocessing infrastructure and will therefore often be exported.

Despite calls from the major players in the bottle reprocessing sector for an improvement in bale quality, the quality of recovered plastic bottles is polarised, and generally deteriorating. This has come as a result of wider collection of non bottle plastics through kerbside and bring schemes, particularly within the past two years.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The progressive inclusion of mixed plastics within baled bottles means that the need for sorting prior to reprocessing is increased. These ‘on costs’ provide an incentive to sell material for reprocessing overseas, due to very competitive material values because of the lower sorting costs.

In 2010 therefore we now see increased levels of baled plastics with a greater proportion of non bottle material occurring. Price reductions for bales with greater proportions of non plastic bottles present are reducing MRF sales values with gate fees and rejected loads of low grade bottles and mixed plastic packaging becoming more frequent.

There are also operational reasons for questioning the proposed increases in plastic packaging recycling. In most sorting facilities/MRFs the incoming material from kerbside (and from bring sites) is screened to remove small fines and contaminants. In practice this means that plastic bottles less than 100 ml are generally removed by trommels/screen systems. This material is usually then directed to landfill.

For non bottle rigid mixed plastic products the likely losses through trommels/screens would be significantly higher than for bottles. This is due to the higher proportion of small products in this packaging sector and the greater tendency for these items to flatten during the collection process and in the material handling and storage stages before entry to the sorting process. A small number of UK MRFs at the present time hand sort a mixed film fraction

at the beginning of their process – usually sacks and carrier bags which are used for kerbside collections in preference to wheel bins or boxes.

In 2009, Recoup produced a ‘Domestic mixed plastic packaging recycling’ position statement supported by AWS Eco Plastics and J & A Young – two of the UK’s largest plastics sorters and reprocessors who have direct experience of plastic bottle handling and also the emerging levels of mixed plastics being collected.

The guide advised that the collection of mixed plastics should only occur if it was clear that it was possible to sort the material and that end markets existed. Mixed flexible packaging formats (plastic film) does not pass this test, so the guide recommends collecting only rigid plastic packaging at the present time.

Black plastics are also excluded given that they cannot be identified or separated using existing commercially available technology.

To test the market options, Recoup has been approaching plastic handlers and reprocessors with bales of good quality mixed baled pots, tubs and trays and also with baled domestic film. Neither attract a positive value, a few reprocessors will charge a gate fee and many others are simply not interested. We have also been advised that the most financially sensible option may be to blend the mixed plastic back together with bottles, re-bale and export.

Increased mixed plastic collections will progressively compromise attempts to segregate bottles at MRFs. Increasing cross contamination of plastic with other recyclables such as newspapers and magazines, cardboard and cans will have a further impact on MRF material quality. In order to maintain quality standards additional near infra-red (NIR) equipment and/or manual inspection will need to be placed on the paper and can elements of sorting lines.

UK MRFs currently do not generally have the capability to retro fit additional equipment, or have space to sort non bottle rigids or film. Recoup believes this is one of the first challenges to overcome.

A key consideration in developing mixed plastics packaging collections from the domestic waste stream is the issue of identifying the right, effective consumer messages and then communicating these to the householder.

There is currently a range of methods of promoting mixed plastic collections to householders. This inconsistency is not helped by the recent attempts to adopt on-pack labeling to denote the recyclability of a wide variety of mixed plastics in a wide range of collection systems. Recoup believes that it should be reprocessors that decide whether any given plastic is recyclable, not manufacturers, retailers, government agencies or waste management companies (via provision of a collection service).

Material specification should be identified initially by the reprocessor/end market. This specification should then be translated by the collection scheme into instructions

suitable for the householders. The collection scheme should work closely with the sorting facility/MRF to ensure that acceptable material quality is collected and, following sorting, is capable of meeting the reprocessor’s specification.

Each year Recoup produces a widely referenced ‘UK household plastics packaging collection survey’ based on local authority supplied information. An email questionnaire to capture the latest data was circulated in May and we would encourage those who have not responded yet to do so. Every respondent receives a copy of the final survey report, which will be launched this year at the RWM exhibition in September where Recoup has a stand.

The 2009 edition showed that 49 local authorities are now actively collecting other plastics in addition to bottles from kerbside. The total weight of other plastics collected was reported at 22,700 tonnes, although this is expected to be an under estimate. The local authorities that are collecting other plastics are increasingly accepting all formats of plastic packaging, because this removes the need for complex consumer messages, and there are an increasing number of contractors and handling facilities accepting this lower quality material on the basis that the valuable plastic bottles are also supplied.

Without a focused effort, there is the danger that the growing plastic bottle recycling infrastructure in the UK, including the recent growth in food grade reprocessing capacity cannot be sustainably supported by UK bottle collections.

However, the latest survey also highlighted some potential improvements for the future. Local authority responses suggest that kerbside schemes will recover 194,000 tonnes of bottles in 2011, representing an additional 25,000 tonnes. If a 10 per cent yearly increase in household plastic bottle kerbside coverage could be achieved in addition to planned developments, the tonnage from kerbside collections in 2011 could reach more than 257,000 tonnes. If a 10 per cent increase in performance was also applied (based on kg/hh/year), the estimated collection could be more than 342,000 tonnes.  ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

to be achieved by a progressive increase in recycling mixed flexible plastics from 2011.

Some operators mix plastic bags with other higher value film to improve prices paid for the material and to achieve the best export price. No provisions exist in UK MRF’s to segregate the huge quantity of small lightweight items which make up the bulk of film within the domestic waste stream. In the event that domestic film was included in household recyclables collection schemes the negative impact on material quality, in particular newspapers and magazines, would be severe.

This suggests that a focus on increasing plastic bottle kerbside infrastructure and performance per household will be key to boosting existing recycling rates and achieve the step change desired. This gives a clear indication that not only do we need to provide every UK household with a kerbside plastic bottle collection service; we also need to develop a strategic communications programme to ensure that householders use the collection service provided. Average participation rates are reported at approximately 60%.

There is also scope to increase plastic bottle collection from other sources – notably from consumer-facing ‘on the go’ initiatives.

Earlier this year, Recoup held a ‘Recycle on the Go’ event in Birmingham that aimed to maximize efficient plastics recycling, increase recycling points and material volumes whilst driving towards a change in current recycling behaviour. The day also aimed to enable those with a new scheme or thinking about a ‘Recycle on the Go’ scheme to get all the information they required to make it a success.

Successful operation of Recycling on the Go schemes across the UK could divert many thousands of tonnes of plastic bottles from landfill, aid resource efficiency and improve carbon management.

Working in partnership with a number of organisations Recoup has been involved in various recycle on the go activities since 2002 through specific projects, conferences and general advice. Recoup now feels that there is a need for a focal point to share learning, provide access to various projects and bring together key stakeholders.

Recoup is inviting key stakeholders from across the Recycle on the Go arena, in the UK and further afield, to become founding members of a new international Recycle on the Go platform (www.recycleonthego.info). This will not be restricted to plastic as the opportunity needs to be considered and developed from a multi material integrated approach.

Recoup understands that within the proposed Defra targets some 250,000 tonnes or 27% of household flexible mixed plastics are to be recycled by 2020. This is planned ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Even the latest laser sorting equipment is currently unable to provide the necessary quality of separation. Unless the majority of plastic film is removed prior to the laser detection unit, sort accuracy is likely to be seriously affected as a result of the shadowing and overlay /underlay of the plastic film near other rigid plastic items.

If the proposed plastic targets are implemented the result is expected to be widespread contamination of other collected materials, significant damage to handling efficiencies in MRFs and reduced values for sorted materials.

It will also result in an increasing amount of plastics being exported to such countries as China, restricting the UK industry opportunity. This is not seen as a sustainable option given the fluctuation in demand and value, changing Chinese legislation and import requirements, and also their ability to not take any UK plastic for extended periods, as last witnessed in late 2008.

Increased targets will encourage increases in the amount of ‘recyclable’ plastics material identified to be collected.

This collection is likely to be at the expense of the material quality required to maintain a viable reprocessing industry.

With the current lack of technology and infrastructure to handle and sort flexible plastic packaging, we believe these materials should not be collected or handled through the existing kerbside and MRF infrastructure, and only form part of the future recycling targets if an alternative collection and handling solution is found.

Looking ahead, Recoup fully supports increased plastics recycling and is keen to ensure that recycling and recovery options are practical, environmentally sound and - as with any business plan - also sustainable. Importantly, any adverse impacts of extending domestic mixed plastic collection infrastructure need to be properly understood.

The key barrier to increasing plastic bottle recycling is collection, whereas the issues surrounding other rigid and flexible plastics packaging recycling are a result of a lack of suitable handling and sorting infrastructure, as well as very limited indigenous end markets that need further development. It is certain that the packaging consultation will result in increased targets for plastic recycling but the level of this increase will dictate whether the required infrastructure and step changes are commercially achievable within the required timeframe.

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AQSIQ Licence No. A826080427 Waste Broker Licence No. TNE/378977/B Accredited Waste Exporter for Plastics, Steel and Aluminium by the environment agency Northern Ireland environment agency accredition no. ROC 3285 NIWO (Netherlands) Licence No. BU511072XXXB

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3-Day Conference programme Debating EU and UK environmental practice & policy

www.futuresourceuk.com Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sustainability event

The wait is almost over for Futuresource 2010, Europe’s sustainability event, which takes place at London ExCeL in June. The show will soon open its doors revealing products, services, plant and equipment from more than 300 exhibitors, which represent the very best available in the environmental and waste sector, as well as a packed conference programme and lots more besides.

The show, now in its 2nd year, is organised by the CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) and the ESA (Environmental Services Association) and covers everything from food waste solutions to finance and from EfW to efficiency savings. The aim is to stimulate dialogue and partnerships that will help the sector to tackle some of the big challenges that lie ahead. Bringing together an expected 9,000 public, private and third sector professionals, it is an ideal platform for debate, knowledge sharing and networking - so if your business is waste, recycling, and resource efficiency then Futuresource is the one show in the UK exhibition calendar you cannot afford to miss.

The three-day conference has ‘More from Less’ as its core theme, with a strong focus on efficiency, value for money and partnerships.

“Our industry, like many others, is facing some tough challenges. Targets and performance expectations are going up, budgets are shrinking and will continue to do so, and access to finance for new infrastructure is harder to come by,” says CIWM Chief Executive Steve Lee. “Difficult decisions will need to be made without compromising our ability to continue to work towards the equally important imperative of delivering a more sustainable approach to waste and resources in the long term.”

Top of the agenda in the opening session will

be the political landscape and future environmental policy. Key speakers from Europe will share the stage with UK Government ministers to provide the big picture on the role of the sustainable waste and resource management sector in tackling climate change and what direction European and UK environmental policy will take in the future. In the afternoon, ministers and senior policy officials from across the British Isles will share their views about what ‘zero waste’ really means and how it can be delivered.

The critical role of local authorities is acknowledged on day two with sessions that explore how partnerships can help to deliver more efficient environmental services across the UK, with speakers looking at good practice support, finance, and forging better relationships with the retail sector. The afternoon session brings together a series of case studies that will give delegates practical insight into some of the UK’s most innovative partnership approaches.

Day three of the conference will see wider resource efficiency issues on the agenda, including the impact of the EU’s Waste Framework Directive, as well as the challenges of choosing, funding and delivering the right treatment infrastructure.

SMART SOLUTIONS In the Futuresource trade fair, meanwhile, over 300 exhibitors will showcase the latest practical solutions, services and products designed to enhance productivity and keep costs down. The free-to-attend exhibition covers six key areas: waste and water management; recycling and composting; professional services; air, energy and climate change; street scene and facilities management; ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Finning/Cat - Finning reported that the D7E uses 10 to 30% fuel

and vehicles and plant. Highlighting the growing links between the waste, water and energy sectors, this year the event is supported by major organisations including the Energy Institute and CIWEM.

Vinci Environment UK, Volker Fitzpatrick, Raymond Brown Group, and BAM Nuttall Ltd have already signed up, as well as financial institutions including Bank of Ireland and Clydesdale Bank plc.

The exhibition boasts some of the industry’s biggest names, from the UK’s leading waste contractors – including Waste Recycling Group, Veolia Environmental Services, SITA UK, Cory Environmental Ltd, and Viridor Waste Ltd – through to technology and equipment suppliers, financial institutions, consultants and vehicle and plant manufacturers. In addition, Government departments and agencies, including the Environment Agency, Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and WRAP will have a presence.

Once again this year, there is plenty of expertise and innovation on show. In the Waste & Water Management Zone (Blue Zone), visitors will find all the big names, including BAM Nuttall, a major player in the water and sewerage industry and Cambi AS, recently awarded a contract for the largest Cambi Thermal Hydrolysis plant ever built.

With infrastructure development being acknowledged as one of the biggest challenges facing the sector, the 2010 exhibitor line-up also underlines the growing interest in the sector from civil engineering and utility companies and the finance sector. Balfour Beatty, Costain Ltd, May Gurney Ltd, United Utilities, ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

For those interested in advanced thermal treatment, Advanced Plasma Power (APP) is returning to Futuresource for the second time.

APP’s process is an advanced conversion technology (Gasplasma) that combines conventional fluid bed gasification, which the company says radically reduces the power consumption and operating costs associated with direct plasmagasification, with plasma arc conversion of the ‘dirty’ syngas. This system produces a clean, 

Sokton - Underground Waste System

hydrogen rich syngas, overcoming, according to APP, the major obstacle to the use of gasification of waste to power gas engines.

Visitors will find Recycling and Composting exhibitors in the green zone, which is the largest area of the show with more than 76 companies offering services ranging from turf renovation to wood recycling and from recycling bins and banks to organic food waste digesters.

Sokton UK is exhibiting a particular innovative system at this year’s show - underground waste containers. The company will also have a working demonstration of the underground container being emptied at the show – the very first time this will have been seen in the UK. Inashco BV, meanwhile, will be promoting its bottom ash recycling service to the municipal waste incineration industry. The company’s aim is to maximize economic and environmental benefits by optimizing recycling effectiveness.

Visitors to the green zone will also be able to see Bywaters’ unique ‘Bycycler’ system in action around the exhibition hall, as Bywaters is providing the recycling service for the event.

In line with the proximity principle, the dry recyclables collected will be taken to Bywaters’ Recycling and Recovery Centre and site visits will be available during the event.

The Professional Services (purple) Zone is

home to a range of exhibitors, including consultancies, financial institutions and IT solution providers. Whitespace Waste Software, for example, will be using Futuresource to launch its hosted delivery service for Power Suite, a market-leading environmental and waste management solution for UK local authorities. According to Whitespace, the outsourced service means that UK councils will no longer have the expense of owning and supporting IT infrastructure – or face the challenge of keeping data safe.

Meltog will be on hand to share its expertise in industrial shredding and waste management solutions, while Peel Environmental will demonstrate to visitors how the company is at the forefront of developing low carbon solutions to the waste and energy challenges in the UK through creation of Resource Recovery Parks.

The Air, Energy and Climate Change Zone is home to a range of leading companies, including Eco Angus Ltd, filtration specialists W L Gore and Associates (UK) Ltd, and Stratus Environmental Ltd, a multidisciplinary planning, design and engineering consultancy specialising in providing development services to waste management and renewable energy companies.

Another key area of the show is the Street Scene & Facilities Management (red) Zone, where visitors can find an exciting array of new ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

concepts, from low emission sweepers to the latest waste containment solutions.

This year Contenur will be displaying a range of wheeled bins modified for the segregation of recyclable materials, together with purpose made lock-down frames with header boards depicting the types of material for separation.

Also new on the stand will be the company’s range of post mounted and free standing litter bins, either moulded in plastic or forged from cast aluminium, and Contenur’s newly designed underground waste system, with stylish disposal columns and available for either crane lift or hydraulic lift using existing refuse collection vehicles.

Look out too for Linpac Environmental which is extending its popular Envirobin range with the introduction of the ‘Midi’. This 82 litre, space saving unit, with WRAP compliant graphics and signage, can be used individually around offices or simply linked with other units to form a ‘recycling zone’ in larger areas.

The Plant & Vehicle (silver) Zone will also be home to cutting edge solutions, with leading manufacturers showing the very latest ‘green machines’, providing solutions to economic and environmental challenges in the automotive and material handling sectors.

Blue Group will be highlighting its latest product developments in the burgeoning field of the pre-treatment of materials for anaerobic digestion and RDF production for energy from waste, and E H Hassell & Sons is launching the new Sennebogen 818 recycling machine to the UK market.

Liebherr-Great Britain will display two materials handling machines, specifically designed and built for municipal and commercial waste management, transfer stations and recycling operations, while JCB will show three of the 25 ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

model Wastemaster range: the popular and unique Teletruk 35D, a 416 HT wheeled loading shovel and a JS160W wheeled excavator complete with hydraulically raised cab.

Finning Caterpillar, meanwhile, is promising an exciting display of a number of specially adapted waste handling machines. The machine that will take centre stage on the company’s stand will be the new D7E electric drive dozer.

Finning Caterpillar report that the D7E uses 10 to 30% less fuel and, on average, moves 10% more material per hour than its industryleading predecessor, the Cat D7R. Refuse collection hasn’t been forgotten either, with Farid Municipal Vehicles showing a whole new concept in recycling in the form of the Micro-Duo, which has two 100% fully sealed leak proof compartments - a body and pod.

This allows flexibility to collect food waste in one compartment, whilst collecting dry recyclables separately in the other.

Dennis Eagle , which recently launched its first new refuse vehicle body design for eight years, will be showing the new range at Futuresource and Terberg Matec UK is back with additional stand space and a very different product from the Terberg design team in the shape of the KTZ underground and over-ground waste collection and transportation system.

Terberg is also showing the Kerbsider® Combi TD, which offers complete, “at the kerbside” segregation of food waste and dry recyclable fractions, providing a single vehicle solution for collection duties that might ordinarily require two vehicles and crews.

Mechanical sweeper manufacturer Dulevo is showing a new machine which produces ‘zero emissions, the 5000 Zero, which is the only mechanical sweeper in the world that runs on methane. The sweeper also guarantees 

Geesink – S500 S500 lift launched last year which has already won Geesink Norba new customers

minimum noise emissions, no emission of dust into the atmosphere and no pollution – an absolute dream machine for local authorities!

with less’. A full seminar programme can be found at www.futuresourceuk.com/seminarprogramme.

Adding to the excitement will be the new ZEV Zone, an interactive demonstration arena dedicated to ‘zero emission’ vehicles and plant for the waste and recycling sector. Offering visitors the chance to inspect the new equipment, see it in action and test their operating skills, the ZEV Zone will have something for everyone from materials handling to street cleansing.

One of the star attractions will be the new allelectric Solmec 360 materials handler. This is very the first time this Italian-built unit has been seen in the UK. At the other end of the scale will be road-going electric vehicles from specialist manufacturers such as Bradshaw, and Johnston Sweepers’ prototype compact electric sweeper, which is still under development.

Sauce Consultancy and CIWM are also teaming up again, this year with the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group, to host the Communications Hub, where visitors can hear an exciting array of speakers debate some of the communications challenges that face our industry. The line-up includes Peter Ainsworth, former Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, FT Environment Correspondent Fiona Harvey, Bobby Duffy, Managing Director of Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute, Michael Warhurst of Friends of the Earth, and Rhion Jones, Programme Director at the Consultation Institute. Former BBC news reporter Steve Bustin will be giving tips on ‘Making the most out of media’ every morning and providing free media training sessions (sessions can be booked by emailing press@ciwm.co.uk).

EXTENSIVE FREE SEMINAR PROGRAMME AND COMMUNICATIONS HUB DEBATES Also on the exhibition floor, visitors can access over 50 free seminar sessions on highly topical issues – from anaerobic digestion to planning, and from exports to energy from waste – at two Information Theatres. As well as speakers from the Environment Agency, WRAP, Valpak, United Utilities, Pathway to Zero Waste and London Thames Gateway, the programme includes a series of seminars by the LGA and RIEPs focused on ‘Helping councils do more

This year, senior public sector professionals can also explore the opportunities for smarter, greener procurement, thanks to a new colocation agreement with Guardian News & Media’s (GNM) sector-leading Public Procurement Show 2010 (www.publicprocurementshow.com).

Full details of the event and online booking for the conference can be found at www.futuresourceuk.com 

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

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Grow your business Make the most of your waste Come to RWM to find out how to make your waste work better for you. RWM will help you see that rather than having a waste problem, you have a resource opportunity.

3 Hear from FREE keynote and conference-level speakers demonstrating ways you can save money and make money from your waste 3 See the future of recycling and waste management technologies, with 1000’s of leading products on display 3 Find out about the new government legislation that is relevant to your organisation

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What’s in a name?

Canadian city lives up to its title of “Alternative Energy Capital of North America”

By Marc Capancioni and John Febbraro In itself, a title like this means little. But in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, it means a lot.

Simply put, it’s substantiated. And every day, the community lives up to the moniker.

From windmills and cogeneration projects, to hydroelectric stations and a waste-to-energy venture, the Ontario city is the epitome of renewable and alternative energy sources.

Grouped together, these initiatives make it the “Alternative Energy Capital of North America.”

process that vaporizes solid waste into a synthetic gas – similar to natural gas – which will then be used to generate more than five megawatts of electricity.

As it’s a non-incineration process in an oxygen-free environment, there are minimal toxic emissions. Simply put, Elementa creates clean energy without the bad greenhouse gas. As such, the company’s cutting-edge technology continues to draw attention from investors around the world. 

Not convinced? Try these on for size:

Wind and Hydro The community is home to the Prince Wind Farm, one of the largest wind energy farms on the continent. The site’s 126 turbines can produce 189 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power two centres the size of Sault Ste. Marie, a city with a population of more than 75,000.

As well, there are five hydroelectric stations in the Sault Ste. Marie area. Together, they produce 203 megawatts of renewable energy. The wind farm and hydro dams are operated by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc.

Waste-to-Energy Meanwhile, Elementa Group is working on a demonstration plant to convert all of Sault Ste. Marie’s curbside garbage into clean energy. The company uses a steam reformation

Part of Elementa Group’s steam reformation system, which vaporizes solid waste into synthetic gas.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

In front of a photovoltaic solar panel are (L to R): Martin Pochtaruk, President of Heliene Canada; Councillor Steve Butland, Co-Chair of the city’s Green Committee; David Orazietti, member of Provincial Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie; and Denis Turcotte, an investor in Heliene Canada.

Solar On the solar energy front, Sault Ste. Marie is also an active player. The first 20 megawatts of Pod Generating Group’s solar farm is scheduled to be in operation by the end of summer. The construction of an additional 40 megawatts will start in the next few months and is expected to be in operation at year’s end. With a 60 megawatt capacity, this project will power 21,000 homes and be one of the largest solar energy farms in North America.

The community recently entered the solar panel manufacturing game as well. With the help of a $2.5-million investment from the Province of Ontario, Heliene Canada is establishing a facility that will assemble enough highefficiency photovoltaic panels to generate 20 megawatts of renewable power each year.

Tyre Recycling

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announces his government’s support of a tyre recycling project from Ellsin Environmental.

Cogeneration On top of all these Green initiatives, Essar Steel Algoma, the largest employer in Sault Ste. Marie, recently established a cogeneration power project that utilises excess gas from the steelmaking process. The $135-million project reduces the company’s reliance on the power grid by an average of 50%. It also reduces Essar’s nitrous oxide emissions by 15%.

Sault Ste. Marie will also be the home of a cutting-edge tyre recycling facility. Ellsin Environmental will use reverse polymerization, a cutting-edge process that breaks down tyres into their original elements: steel, carbon black and oil. Separated, each component is valuable and can be reused for a variety of purposes, including power generation.

Another cogeneration project in Sault Ste. Marie, operated

by Brookfield Renewable Power, consists of two 40 megawatt natural gas turbines and one 30 megawatt steam turbine.

Ellsin’s project is made possible thanks to the ‘Used Tire Program’ from the provincial government’s Waste Diversion Ontario. The initiative aims to divert and clean up existing stockpiles of scrap tyres. Incentives are in place, and Ellsin will be utilising them in its Sault Ste. Marie tyre recycling operation.

Meantime, the municipal government will collect gas from its landfill site by December 2010. The local Public Utilities Commission proposes to then use the gas to generate electricity. This adds to the municipal Green initiatives already in place, including the utilisation of biodiesel buses and heavy equipment, and incorporating hybrid vehicles into its fleet.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Municipal Projects

At the groundbreaking ceremony for Heliene Canada’s solar panel manufacturing facility are (L to R): John Febbraro from the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp., Heliene investor Denis Turcotte, member of Provincial Parliament David Orazietti, Heliene President Martin Pochtaruk, and City Councillor Steve Butland.

What’s on tap for the next Green initiative in Sault Ste. Marie?

Oilseed and Fibre Crop With enough farmland and a suitable climate, the area is a prime location for this industry. And with proper leadership and investment, Sault Ste. Marie can be a leading centre of oilseed and fibre crop production. The alternative energy technology involves harvesting crops and extracting substances from them to generate power. A local firm, SITTM Technologies, is currently working with other organisations to grow this sector in the city and region.

Working Together To have such a wide-range of projects at the table, a team is needed. Along with various private-sector proponents, city council and staff, the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp., Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre and other organisations have been at the forefront of many of these Green initiatives for a number of years.

When you group these projects together, you get the “Alternative Energy Capital of North America”. But in Sault Ste. Marie, it’s not just a name. Rather, it’s a consensus for building a sustainable planet for future generations to enjoy.

And along the way, Green jobs will be created, which will help position the community for long-term growth and prosperity.

For more information, visit www.sault-canada.com.

Marc Capancioni is Communications Co-ordinator for the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Western Ontario. You can reach him at m.capancioni@ssmedc.ca.

John Febbraro is Acting Executive Director of Development Sault Ste. Marie, a division of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. He has more than 20 years experience in industrial marketing and business consulting. You can reach him at j.febbraro@ssmedc.ca. 

It takes a group effort – involving the public, private and non-profit sectors – to be successful in such a progressive area. The community’s progress in recent years is a testament to this.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Train to get ahead

Max Linnemann of NQA looks at the array of professional training options open to those working in the environment sector.

Hold up a mirror to the industry we work in, and you’re reminded of its vibrancy and constantly changing nature.

The environmental sector is growing fast and changing rapidly. The number of people working in the environmental sector is expected to top one million within the next twenty years - more than double the 2008 figures of 400,000. It is also diverse, with an exciting range of jobs and breadth of industry sectors that environmental professionals can work in. Lantra estimates that there are more than 300 skilled and managerial job roles to choose from in the sector.

Being a relatively young sector, environmental jobs tend to attract people who are in the early stages of their working lives. Of the 2,000+ environmental professionals surveyed for IEMA’s 2010 Practitioner’s Survey, almost a quarter are in their twenties and more than two fifths are under 35 years old. This age profile is reflected in the experience profile, as just under three quarters said their experience as an environmental professional amounted to ten years or less and two fifths have clocked up no more than five years.

In such a fast moving sector with huge impacts on all aspects of business performance, reputable professional training is vital for everyone working in the environment sector, whatever their level, business size and type.

Legislation and government targets change rapidly and organisations that help their employees develop new skills will reap the benefit of their enhanced knowledge.

On a personal level, those that invest in professional training will not only be better equipped to do their job but will see their prospects expand hand in hand.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The holistic approach Today environmental professionals should not consider themselves working in isolation but operating within a holistic integrated business process. They therefore need to develop an understanding of how their business operates and work at the appropriate level within the business.

Engagement with the business planning process is key to an environmental professional being effective.

Liz Hopkins is quality and environmental manager at Parkwood Holdings, a provider of support services to public and private sector clients. Employing 6,000 people, Parkwood Holdings services include grounds management, leisure management, healthcare and consultancy services.

Having joined the organisation as a graduate trainee, Liz agrees that business acumen is essential for those working in environmental roles.

“Everyone wants to do the right thing but it has to be linked to business and the bottom line,” comments Liz. “With a basic knowledge of business, the environment manager can justify to the board why environmental concerns must be addressed and why a particular standard is the best for that business. The environment aspect of a firm is inextricably linked to the bottom line and all environmental managers need to recognise this.”

And it’s not just environmental professionals considering the way their responsibilities impact the business as a whole. Senior managers should in turn equip themselves with a basic knowledge of the key environmental factors affecting their business - whether it’s environmental legislation, waste management or producer responsibility.

If the management team is well informed and has bought into the reasons for implementing an EMS, the environmental manager will find their job easier and be more effective.

New to environmental management?

It is common for people working as quality and health & safety managers to find themselves handed environmental responsibility as a bolt-on to their existing job. This may be a unique situation linked to the prominence of the green agenda in all aspects of modern life – and as firms see the need to address environmental concerns an environmental role is created where none existed before. People in this position can give themselves a broad overview of the environmental responsibilities of their role and the requirements of ISO 14001 by taking the New Environmental Manager course. This is a ground level course for people without prior knowledge of the environmental aspects of business.

Managers with prior experience as Quality or H&S Managers will be familiar with the complexities of ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001. In this case, an Environmental Management System Awareness course is an effective route for anyone who needs to enhance an in-depth knowledge of these standards and now wishes to implement ISO 14001.

Management system standards interrelate and an increasing number of environmental professionals are finding that they need to be aware of standards such as ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001 to be able to implement the environmental management system to its fullest extent.

Courses on integrated management systems show how the three systems can be unified to achieve greater efficiency and better business performance.

Networking Andrew Burns Warren is an NQA associate, trainer and experienced environmental professional. He sees a broad range of people attending environmental training courses at all stages of their career. “In the environmental sector, where things change so fast, developing your skills is essential. Professional training keeps you up to date with changes to standards and government legislation and key industry developments. Everyone working in this industry should ensure that they take their personal development through training seriously. It will help them manage the environmental aspects of their organisation more effectively and gain more responsibility.”

Andrew adds: “An important side effect of professional training is the networking opportunity it brings. People often come out of workshop-based training courses having learnt a lot more than the course contents promised – the sharing of ideas and experience with fellow delegates and the course leaders is invaluable. Training should be viewed as a key opportunity for networking alongside exhibitions, conferences and seminars” ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

IEMA backing Auditing is the common thread linking the vast range of environmental careers. Everyone who is serious about their career in the environment should consider developing their skill set in this area.

Internal EMS Auditor training will give environmental managers the skills to perform internal audits of their EMS in compliance to ISO 14001. NQA’s IEMA Approved Foundation Course in Environmental Auditing is an indepth training course in all aspects of environmental auditing.

On completing the course environmental professionals will have achieved IEMA’s standard for professional auditors. For someone passionate about their continuous professional development, it’s a real bonus to have the backing of an organisation with the reputation of IEMA. As in the case of Liz Hopkins, delegates who have completed auditing training often have to pass what they have learnt to colleagues who will be performing audits for particular parts of their organisation. Parkwood Holdings is a multidisciplinary organisation with numerous sites having different environmental impacts. Having completed a five day environmental auditing course, equivalent to NQA’s IEMA Approved Foundation Course in Environmental Auditing, Liz has run four 2-day training courses for colleagues so that they can perform audits at a regional level. She says “I felt really confident delivering the training to my colleagues after having undertaken auditor training and I think it's vital for environmental managers with responsibility for ISO 14001 to undertake the rigorous auditor training”.

Keeping your options open Jobs in the environmental sector can become compartmentalized as they focus on a particular specialism and it can be difficult for environmental professionals to switch between specialisms. Some professional training courses can be viewed as a stepping-stone between sectors or a way to keep a working knowledge of a number of different niche areas. This can be a more viable option for many than undertaking a sector specific MSC both in terms of cost and time commitment.

One of the challenges of our work at NQA is to provide clear guidance to those working in the sector and this is particularly important when changes are made to standards or new standards are introduced. We are currently developing a training course on BS-EN 16001 – the energy management standard launched in late 2009 – which will be a key tool for businesses wishing to manage an increasingly expensive resource effectively.

NQA advisors are happy to discuss the best development routes for you, please get in touch on training@nqa.com.

Max Linnemann is Environmental Sector Manager at NQA. 

Short courses for environmental professionals Strengthen your CV and increase your skills base, employability and experience.

Courses run throughout the year.

Upcoming courses: t Marine Planning t Aquatic Invasive Species t GIS for Environmental Managers t Introduction to Statistics in R t Field Skills

As an added bonus, a number of our short courses allow you to gain academic credits – so you can also build your own tailored postgraduate qualification at the same time.

Full details can be found online: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/environmental University of Oxford Continuing Professional Development Centre and Future Energy Group

Oxford Energy Futures

GIS Online Learning

11 June 2010

Are you currently working full-time but want to study for a postgraduate qualification?

A conference focusing on cutting-edge energy topics given by researchers at Oxford University and with contributions from scientists and practitioners at other organisations and businesses. It is an opportunity to meet and discuss with those working at the forefront of energy research and to find out more about the science, planning, policy and business of future energy.

The conference is particularly relevant to Local Authorities, NGOs, research organisations, business and industry.

Our Geographical Information System (GIS) online courses can help you develop your career potential across a broad range of employment sectors from business and environment, to health and retail planning.

The event will be opened by Professor Steve Rayner of the Said Business School.

Fee: £75 per person; free to Oxford postgraduate students who present a poster Venue: Rewley House, Oxford Tel.: +44 (0)1865 286953

Find out how to capture, analyse and manage geospatial data for modelling, mapping and planning purposes, in a changing world.

Study where you want and when you want

Learn with the assistance of online tutor support

Access a wide range of online materials, including journals and reference databases

Choose from short courses to a full Masters (MSc) qualification

Benefit from the collaboration with the universities of Southampton and Penn State For further information on this course and the range of study options that are available please call 0113 343 6635 or visit our website at:

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Email: climate@conted.ox.ac.uk Register: at our website

www.conted.ox.ac.uk/turbine For more lifelong-learning opportunities visit www.conted.ox.ac.uk

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qáãÉ=íç=í~âÉ=íÜÉ=êáëâ=çìí=çÑ=ÉåÉêÖó Dave Cockshott, corporate markets director at npower says it’s more important than ever to have a strategy in place to manage energy risks.

The recession may well be over, but the modest rate of growth so far is leaving many feeling that we’re not quite out of the woods yet. Perhaps understandably, it is causing many businesses to be cautious in their financial planning and more risk averse in decisions on purchasing and investment.

As an energy business, we’ve wanted to understand how this is translating into businesses’ decisions on energy, particularly at a time when the potential risks associated with energy are growing. Whereas 20 years ago energy was nothing more than a financial consideration (and even then not a primary one), price volatility, the need to reduce carbon emissions, and growing legislative demands mean energy now has wider implications.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

It is perhaps little surprise therefore, that our seventh npower Business Energy Index (nBEI7), an annual report which canvasses business opinion on energy use and carbon emissions, found a marked change in attitudes towards energy. Half of businesses say that energy risks have become higher profile in their organisation over the last three years as the considerations around energy use multiply.

What has come as a surprise, however, is where energy ranks in businesses’ risks. For major energy users, energy is now the primary risk they face in their business ranked at 7.3 out 10 in terms of its risk level. This outranks even cash flow, health and safety, and legislative risks.

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The reasons for this became clearer when we asked businesses about where they perceive most risk in their energy use. Supply costs, rated at 7.9, were considered to place the greatest risks on operations, but legislative compliance, associated CO2 emissions, and reputational risks also ranked highly.

Yet, despite this acknowledgement, 20% also said they do not have a strategy in place to manage these energy risks, and of those that do, most believe it can be improved.

A failure to manage risks effectively could lead to financial and reputational consequences, both as a result of poor purchasing decisions or as a failure to manage legislative requirements.

Take the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) as an example. For the 25,000 or so organisations the scheme applies to, they have only until 30th September to prepare and submit an information disclosure on their electricity consumption. This must be an accurate report on electricity use through half hourly meters (HHM) in 2008, which is being used as the qualification year. Any organisation whose consumption was 6,000 MWh through one or more half hourly settled meters or AMR qualifies for the scheme in full, which means they will need to submit more detailed information on their total carbon emissions.

From April 2011, full participants will need to purchase allowances to cover CO2 emissions for the year ahead; the higher their emissions, the greater the number of allowances required.

For all involved there are potentially significant financial and reputational implications. The financial penalties come in missing the September 30th deadline and by failing to manage carbon emission allowance purchasing adequately.

Late registrants will face a fixed fine of £5,000, plus an additional £500 per working day per HHM for every day past deadline, up to a maximum of 80 days. While participants who mismanage allowance purchasing and reporting could potentially face an impact on cash flow of hundreds of thousands of pounds, depending on the size of their organisation.

And this does not even consider the impact on corporate reputation of a low position in the CRC’s league table, which will rank participants on how successful they’ve been in reducing their carbon emissions. For some sectors, such as retail which is firmly in the public eye, league table position could be more important than the financial implications of the scheme.

With the months fast running out to the registration deadline, it is these risks that we believe will lead businesses to look at solutions to manage the CRC. A similar scenario is true of energy purchasing. Many businesses have taken the decision to buy energy flexibly in recent years to take advantage of peaks and troughs in ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

the energy markets, but often they do not have a strategy to manage purchasing decisions.

We’ve known examples of when businesses have made a purchase concerned that market prices would continue to rise, only for energy prices to drop a week later. This situation might have been better managed had there been a strategy in place, based on the detailed understanding of the risks the business was prepared to take with benchmarks set against which to make purchasing decisions.

Given the combined considerations of purchasing and carbon reduction, brought about by schemes like the CRC, we believe it is now essential that businesses have such a strategy that brings together both the supply and demand side of energy use. In this way, decisions can be made that benefit the business as a whole – investments in energy efficiency will reduce carbon emissions but will also reduce purchasing requirements, for example.

For many businesses this may require a step change in how energy is managed. All too often decisions on purchasing and carbon reduction are dealt with by different departments making it difficult to make cohesive decisions.

We believe it will also change how businesses work with their energy suppliers and are already seeing this first hand.

Many businesses are now turning to us to manage their CRC obligations under our new ‘CRC Assist’ service, for example. The service is designed to help businesses understand the CRC; assist them with the development of an energy management strategy; and manage their participation in the scheme including preparation of registration information, compilation of the year end ‘footprint reports’, plus forecasting and guidance on the purchasing of emissions allowances.

There are very good reasons for working in this way.

Quite aside from the peace of mind it provides, it could prove to be time and cost effective, negating the need to recruit and train new staff for the task and avoiding the need to establish a suite of processes and procedures or compliance with CRC, thus freeing up valuable internal resources.

It could also prove to be more productive in the long term as the CRC strategy would be based not only on compliance, but on long term goals to deliver energy savings and carbon reductions focused on performing well under the scheme, which can then be linked to energy purchasing decisions.

If you don’t have plans to develop a strategy like this, there are two very good reasons for talking to your energy supplier sooner rather than later. The CRC deadline is fast approaching and, after a relatively benign period, there is some movement in wholesale energy costs.

If you want to make sure you are managing the risks ahead, now is the time to take action. 

CRC Assist - helping you comply, ensuring you perform npowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CRC Assist offers a comprehensive service to help manage each stage of the CRC. A team of experts is on hand to help you with: Ě? Â&#x2020;Â&#x201C;Â&#x2020;Â&#x152;Â&#x17D;Â&#x201C;Â&#x152; Â&#x2022;Â&#x2020;Â&#x2014;Â&#x2122;Â&#x17D;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x17D;Â&#x2022;Â&#x2020;Â&#x2122;Â&#x17D;Â&#x201D;Â&#x201C; Â&#x17D;Â&#x201C; Â&#x2122;Â?Â&#x160; Â&#x2DC;Â&#x2C6;Â?Â&#x160;Â&#x2019;Â&#x160; Ě? Â&#x201D;Â&#x2019;Â&#x2022;Â&#x2018;Â&#x17D;Â&#x2020;Â&#x201C;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x160; Â&#x2020;Â&#x2030;Â&#x203A;Â&#x17D;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x160; Ě? Â&#x201D;Â&#x2014;Â&#x2122;Â&#x2039;Â&#x201D;Â&#x2018;Â&#x17D;Â&#x201D; Â&#x2019;Â&#x2020;Â&#x201C;Â&#x2020;Â&#x152;Â&#x160;Â&#x2019;Â&#x160;Â&#x201C;Â&#x2122; Ě? Â&#x201C;Â&#x2030;Â&#x161;Â&#x2014;Â&#x17D;Â&#x201C;Â&#x152; Â&#x2014;Â&#x160;Â&#x2030;Â&#x161;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2122;Â&#x17D;Â&#x201D;Â&#x201C; Â&#x2022;Â&#x2014;Â&#x201D;Â&#x152;Â&#x2014;Â&#x2020;Â&#x2019;Â&#x2019;Â&#x160;Â&#x2DC; Ě? Â&#x160;Â&#x2020;Â&#x152;Â&#x161;Â&#x160; Â&#x2122;Â&#x2020;Â&#x2021;Â&#x2018;Â&#x160; Â&#x2DC;Â&#x2122;Â&#x2014;Â&#x2020;Â&#x2122;Â&#x160;Â&#x152;Â&#x17D;Â&#x160;Â&#x2DC;

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npower.com/CRC

Provision of the CRC Assist service by npower is subject to contract. See npower.com/assist for more details.

Telephone calls: We may monitor and /or record calls for security, quality or training purposes. The costs of calls to 0845 and 0800 numbers will vary so please check with your provider for exact charges. npower is a registered trademark and the trading name of Npower Limited (registration number: 3653277), Npower Direct Limited (registration number: 3782443), Npower Northern Limited (registration number: 3432100), Npower Commercial Gas Limited (registration number: 3768856) and associated companies. Registered ofďŹ ce: Windmill Hill Business Park, Whitehill Way, Swindon, SN5 6PB.

Reintroducing Dr Derek Yalden Ex-School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester.

We have, in Britain, lost much biodiversity. We fear we are currently losing much more. However, we have also replaced, deliberately, a little of what we have lost. A few species have returned on their own, or illicitly. So what opportunities do we have to replace some more of the lost species, and what are the restrictions?

Amongst our losses have been our 7 largest mammals â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3 large herbivores, 3 large carnivores and our largest rodent. Amongst our birds, we probably lost our largest bird of prey, owl and auk, as well as a pelican, crane and stork. In terms of numbers of individuals, these losses were, in some cases, relatively small. In terms of charismatic species, they were enormous.

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Vertebrates Irreplaceable losses Two species are gone forever: The Great Auk, a huge flightless Razorbill, the prototype for the southern oceans’ penguins (called in French le pingouine, its name was transferred to them), nested on flat coastal rocks around the North Atlantic. Around the British Isles, it nested historically on the Calf of Man, St Kilda and probably Holm of Papa Westray, Orkney.

Archaeological evidence shows that it also nested near Jarlshof, Shetland; Knap of Howar, Toft’s Ness, Links of Notland and Knowe of Ramsay, Orkney; Oronsay, Risga, The Udal , Cnip and Sollas, Hebrides; and possibly other sites around Scotland, as well as the Isles of Scilly. In other words, it was widespread at one time and, the numbers of skeletons suggest, abundant as well. The last known around Britain was killed on St Kilda, in 1840; the last in the world were a pair killed south of Iceland in 1844.

The Aurochs is a slightly different case. As a wild mammal, it is extinct; the last small herd lived in Poland’s Jaktorowa

Forest, where the last cow died in 1627. However, some 9,000 years ago, a population in the Middle East, perhaps in Turkey, had been domesticated, and the domestic cattle from that source spread throughout Europe and Africa over the next 4,000 years or so. Thus, though the European Aurochs is extinct, the genes, or most of them, of its Asian relatives should survive in its domesticated descendants.

Attempts have been made, especially by the Heck brothers at Munich and Berlin zoos in the 1920s-30s, to recreate the Aurochs by crossing various less specialised domestic breeds (Carmargue fighting bulls, Highland cattle, Hungarian steppe cattle, etc.). The apparent Aurochs colouration has reappeared: calves and cows are chestnut brown, with a light eel stripe, and the bulls turn very dark, almost black, with age. However, the size and horn shape of extinct Aurochsen have not returned. Even so, the Dutch have experimented with restoring ancient grazing patterns by releasing Heck cattle into a large nature reserve, Oostvaardersplassen, and the idea of trying something similar in Great Britain has been discussed.  ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Lost, and perhaps returned One of the large mammals we lost was the Wild Boar.

Henry III had 20 from the Forest of Dean at Christmas 1260, and 80 were taken from Pendle Forest to Pontefract Castle in 1295. These seem to be the last records of genuine Wild Boar in Britain. However, in the 1970s, certain enterprising farmers took to importing Wild Boar from Europe, to supply a specialist venison market. Some of their stock is genuine Wild Boar, some of it hybrids with domestic pigs. Boars are difficult to confine, prolific when breeding and catholic in their diet. Almost inevitably, some have escaped, either because fences were broken by falling trees during storms, or en route to market.

Equally inevitable, free-living breeding populations have been established in the Weald in Sussex, in Dorset and, appropriately, in the Forest of Dean. Early reports of these populations concentrated on the danger they presented to people and their dogs, the damage they might do to farmland and golf courses, and the impossibility of such a crowded island hosting (again!) such large mammals. As the novelty has worn off, acceptance of their presence has increased, though stalking them for their venison has limited their numbers and their spread. Since Germans and French manage to live with many thousand Wild Boar loose in their countryside, there is no reason why they should not survive in Britain. Certainly they can be a hazard – to vehicles and their drivers, as are deer.

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Large birds might manage to return of their own volition.

Several of the smaller birds that became extinct around a century ago have done so; among them are famous examples of returns, trumpeted as conservation successes, including Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Bittern and Avocet. Most spectacular is the return of the Crane. A single pair returned to breed in Norfolk in 1981. As they only have one or two chicks a year, their increase has been very slow. A considerable degree of protection, legal and discrete, helped in the early years. Now it is possible to see 10 or 20 in a day but they are still confined to a small area of East Anglia. There are proposals to breed extra birds in captivity and encourage their return to other wetland areas, including the Somerset Levels.

The White-tailed Eagle might also have returned on its own, but failed. It was increasingly scarce over much of Europe through the 20th Century, limiting the source of colonisers. After a false start or two, a serious and official reintroduction programme brought 82 young birds from Norway to Rhum during 1975-85, and the first eaglet was reared in the wild in 1985. Population increase was very slow, barely matching natural and illegal deaths, and a further batch of young birds was imported in the 1990s.

Because these eagles came from coastal Norway to the Hebrides, the notion that this is a sea eagle has been reinforced. But it isn’t, necessarily, and wasn’t. In Eastern Europe, it lives along wooded river valleys, and did so in

England in Saxon times, as indicated both by place-names and archaeological records. It should become more widespread again. Likewise Red Kites became extinct in England and Scotland by 1900, though a very few (< 6 pairs) survived in Wales. They might have spread back from that nucleus but increased very slowly.

Birds were reintroduced to England and Scotland from Spain and Sweden. They now number around 100 pairs, and the Welsh population has also now increased to that level.

Possibilities for mammals While birds might be able to re-colonise on their own, mammals would need our help. Going backwards, we lost Wolves around 1700, Beavers around 1600, Boar around 1300 and Lynx and Bear around 500 A.D.. Probably Elk and Aurochs were lost around 2000 B.C.. Boar remain widespread across western Europe, even the outskirts of Paris, so it is not surprising

that they have prospered here. Beavers and Lynx have been reintroduced to many countries, Lynx mostly to mountainous areas with good deer (prey) populations, Beavers to lowlands, as near as Brittany and the Netherlands. Wolves have spread, naturally, from Finland to Norway, Italy to France, and Poland to Germany. Neither farming nor the forestry interests have collapsed. Sure, there have been local problems. Sheep cannot be left untended on the hills in Wolf range and guard dogs are needed. Beavers sometimes cause damage to orchards, occasionally flood buildings. If Wolves killed more Red Deer hinds in Scotland, it would improve the value of sporting estates by leaving them to concentrate on stag stalking. Tourists flock to Yellowstone National Park in the hope of seeing the reintroduced Wolves there; they would to Scotland, too. They already travel to Mull to see White-tailed Eagles. ď Ž

creative ecological solutions

www.elm.uk.net mail@elm.uk.net Mobile: 07960 570777 Based in the North West, Ecological Land Management Ltd delivers conservation and wildlife protection services. This includes wildlife translocation and mitigation schemes, management of nature reserves and the control of invasive weeds. Please contact us to discuss any requirement you may have.

At Middlemarch Environmental we aim to be the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading biodiversity consultancy, offering help and support whatever your ecological needs.

We can assist with everything from company strategy in the boardroom through to practical on-site habitat creation... z Biodiversity policy and support z Survey and assessment z Planning and design z Implementation and management z Site monitoring and ecological research

To find out more please visit our website or call our Managing Director Dr Phil Fermor on 01676 525880.

www.middlemarch-environmental.com Middlemarch Environmental Ltd, Triumph House, Birmingham Rd, Allesley, Coventry CV5 9AZ Telephone: 01676 525880 Fax: 01676 521400 Email: enquiries@middlemarch-environmental.com Supporting The Wildlife Trusts

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Fishing village near Chennai, India.

Rapid assessment of marine pollution

Tim Fileman and David Lowe from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) Rapid Assessment of Marine Pollution (RAMP) is a cost effective, simple to use ‘toolkit’ for identifying environmental impacts and threats in aquatic environments, but its use is far more than purely analytical. In the developing countries where the approach has been applied, it has laid the foundations for and encouraged sustainable environmental management and cross border cooperation.

Tim Fileman and David Lowe from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), explain the concept and some of its successes…

There is increasing awareness that the environment plays an essential role in ensuring good human health. According to the World Health Organisation, the major risks include “…climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity, changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of freshwater, land degradation and stresses on food-producing systems.” This may seem to be stating the obvious, but sadly, the environment has for too long been ignored in considerations of our health. Interactions between living things and the environment are incredibly complex and we are only now beginning to comprehend ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

the magnitude of the problems that human activities have created for our future wellbeing.

Currently the Earth is home to nearly 7 billion people and this is expected to increase to 9 billion by 2050 (http://esa.un.org/unpp/). Approximately 50% of the population currently live within sixty kilometres of the coast and in areas, such as Asia and India, the ocean provides about a third of consumed animal protein.

Consequently, any degradation or unsustainable use of socially and economically important marine environments will have direct impacts upon human health.

In recognition of rapid population growth and increasing water pollution, representatives of Africa's 38 maritime countries met in July 1998 in Maputo, Mozambique, to consider ways to "protect, manage, and value" the continent's coastal environment in the face of limited resources, poor sanitation and development needs. In particular, the United Nations established that 2.64 billion people had inadequate sewage treatment and/or disposal.

This value represented 44% of the global population, but

in Africa and Asia approximately half of the population had no access whatsoever to wastewater treatment services. This situation is getting worse, resulting in increasing degradation of the very source of much of our food. It can be avoided, or at least ameliorated, by appropriate environmental management actions. However, conventional measures are too costly and require a higher level of expertise than is widely available. Therefore, a need was identified for rapid, easy to use, inexpensive and ecologically relevant environmental assessment and management procedures. PML has been a pioneer in determining marine ecosystem health for more than 30 years, developing novel techniques that are now routinely applied around the world.

The RAMP concept has grown out of a desire to train other scientists in emerging economies in the use and application of techniques to assess the quality of their environments. The ethos for RAMP methods is that they must be easy to learn, cost effective, transferrable between species, robust, technically simple and relevant to a country’s needs.

“Designing and delivering RAMP across the world has been very rewarding and fulfilling”, commented Tim Fileman. “It’s great to see the personal and regional benefits of RAMP on follow-up visits and to see how it evolves into environmental monitoring programs. One particularly exciting aspect of RAMP is the development of new techniques and technologies which I think will provide great potential additions to the RAMP ‘toolbox’. I am looking forward to continuing the development of RAMP and assisting developing countries in the management of their ecosystems.”

PML, with partners, have developed a Rapid Assessment of Marine Pollution “toolkit” as a pragmatic, cost-effective approach for detecting, monitoring and assessing impacts of human activities in aquatic ecosystems. It also provides a means of detecting threats from the environment to human health and well-being. RAMP comprises a set of procedures and tools (including rapid, simple chemical measurements, bioassays, biomarkers, socio-economic and health assessment methods) that allow scientists and environmental managers to determine ecological status, take action to protect or restore the environment and work towards sustainable development.

The RAMP team is dedicated to capacity building and knowledge sharing in developing countries. By empowering local scientists and managers, RAMP generates local and regional support for, and commitment to, sustainable environmental management for the protection of human and environmental health.

The approach has been deployed recently in Chennai, India, and Hanoi, Vietnam (EU-Asia Pro ECO II Programme – “Sound Chemicals management for a Healthier Environment in India and Vietnam”), as well as being used in Costa Rica, Brazil, Thailand, Black Sea and Caspian Sea states. Additionally training workshops have been under-

taken under the RAMP ethos above in Bermuda, Thailand, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ukraine, Romania and the UK. Of these, half were funded by the European Union and the remainder by the UN. The workshop in the UK had delegates from all littoral states around the Black Sea and the workshops in Thailand and Ukraine had delegates from neighbouring countries, which is to be encouraged as it helps to formulate cross-boundary regional monitoring programs. In the Beibu Gulf region of the South China Sea (known in Vietnam as the Gulf of Tonkin), RAMP has been introduced where there is an intention to use it along the entire coast. RAMP is also about to be introduced to neighbouring China’s Guangxi region. There is interest here too in the two regions working together to protect what is a common resource for both countries.

As already stated one of the objectives of RAMP is to provide training in methods relevant to a country’s needs such as hydrocarbon, pesticide, metal and radiation pollution as well as methods indicative of a decline in animal health status. Local species are used during the course of the training programs and adapted as necessary to address physiological differences with the species on which the methods were originally developed. Other areas covered by the training programs have included sampling protocols to ensure that samples are not compromised, unbiased sampling design, data handling, socioeconomics and biodiversity analysis.

In the first stage of engagement with a new RAMP project we will evaluate the national policy framework within which marine monitoring might be incorporated. We will then identify and address key politicians and decision-makers before engaging at a science level. A number of the people we talk to might become part of a reference user group or advisory council that tracks the science and adapts it for national needs. With such political ownership, the chance of the science continuing after training funding has expired is greatly improved.

Initial policy-level discussions will also alert RAMP scientists to national sensitivities and priorities. Our approach will help to reassure policy makers that they are not being exposed to a one-size-fits-all approach to monitoring but one that is tailored to their national needs and existing planning.

Overall, RAMP aims to promote the efficient management of the aquatic environment by promoting the use of rapid, simple assessment methods that allow scientists and environmental managers to determine ecological status, take action to protect or restore the environment and work towards sustainable development. RAMP contributes directly, significantly and cost-effectively to the identification of ecosystems under threat and the nature of that threat.

For more information contact Tim Fileman (twf@pml.ac.uk) or David Lowe (dml@pml.ac.uk) at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (www.pml.ac.uk) 

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Case Study 1

Ellsin Environmental Ltd. Ellsin Environmental Ltd. Inc. (Ellsin), a privately owned Canadian Corporation, is in the business of converting waste tyres into reusable raw materials in an environmentally “clean” manner. Ellsin holds the exclusive US and Canadian rights to utilize the patented Reverse Polymerization™ process developed by Environmental Waste International (EWS), a public company located in Ajax, Ontario that owns 37.5% of Ellsin. Ellsin is currently constructing a proof of concept pilot plant designed by EWS that will process up to 900 scrap tyres per day, the TR900.

Scrap tyres have been a practical and environmental problem for decades. In North America, 330 million scrap passenger tyres are produced annually. Since they are not biodegradable 40% of these tyres are usually discarded in landfills or other non-regulated areas, which threaten the environment with water pollution and other health risks.

Some local governments in the US and Canada have gone so far as to ban the disposal of tyres. Payments to processors to take the scrap tyres (“tipping fees”) are common.

Approximately 50% of scrap tyres are burned as fuel in cement kilns and paper mills, which creates other hazardous air pollution issues. The remaining tyres are mechanically processed in shredding operations to manufacture non-essential items. There is no true recycling system available for tyres.

Ellsin’s goal is to establish itself as the North American leader in the recycling and conversion of scrap tyres into reusable raw materials in an environmentally safe process. The company does not believe this is being done anywhere in the world today.

The patented EWS technology uses high efficiency microwaves in a low temperature nitrogen environment to prevent combustion. A short video of the EWS technology can be seen on their web site www.ellsin.com. Eliminating combustion in the molecular restructuring process does not result in any noxious oxides, dioxins or other green house gases being produced. Saleable raw material

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

products produced from the facility include carbon black, tyre oil, tyre gas and steel. The system will generate its own electrical power thru the use of high-efficient, clean bio-gas engines, which in larger units, will produce excess electrical energy that could be sold to the local power grid.

Ellsin’s pilot plant will be located in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, which has been called the Alternative Energy Capital of North America. The site is near the harbour and will allow for expansion by acquisition of adjacent land. The City is at the apex of the Great Lakes, permitting barge delivery of tyres from the entyre region and access to shipping of the end products produced.

Ellsin has obtained all Ontario Ministry of the Environment and City permits to operate the TR900 plant and has begun construction of the 10,000 square foot building that will house the equipment. The building is fully financed and will be owned by Ellsin.

The TR900 will serve as a proof-of-concept pilot plant system. It will showcase the efficiency and revenue generating capability of this advanced technology for the next stage of investment required. The process will provide a sustainable environmental solution that not only contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but is a green solution to the environmental problem of tyre disposal. This project also plays a role in the reduction of our dependence on depleting oil reserves by generating clean energy.

Ellsin will sell facilities across the US and Canada that utilises the licensed patented process to convert scrap tyres into usable by-products. The 20-year project plan includes the construction of up to 40 TR6000 facilities and the potential establishment of several carbon black re-processing facilities and tyre oil refining centers. Ellsin will initially build tyre facilities for third parties, although it may ultimately operate some for its own account. 

Case Study 2

Archaeologists to pave way for UK-Ireland underwater energy link Headland Archaeology (UK and Ireland) has been awarded a £50K contract to provide transboundary marine archaeology consultancy services for a 260km underwater electric power cable linking Ireland with the UK. The large scale energy project is being developed by EirGrid Plc, the commercially run semi state company which manages and operates the Irish electricity transmission system, will be the first electricity link between Ireland and Wales. It will create a two-way power transmission between the nations by the end of 2012 supplying enough energy to power 300,000 homes.

The EirGrid East West Interconnector will improve the security of energy supplies, promote competition in the electricity sector and encourage the growth of renewable energy.

The UK and Irish subsidiaries of Headland Archaeology were appointed to the project following a procurement process and have already begun work on the project conducting a cultural heritage assessment within Irish waters. The firm will continue to provide specialist marine archaeological services to EirGrid right through to installation in 2012, which will include Environmental Impact Assessments (EIS), site survey supervision, procurement advice and stakeholder liaison.

Headland Archaeology is the perfect fit for this type of project due to its wealth of experience and knowledge in the marine, infrastructure and renewable sectors as well as its ability to work in two countries and in two currencies.

Manager, who will manage the project said: “This joint project between our UK and Irish subsidiaries is a major coup for the company and will enable EirGrid to benefit from the specialist marine archaeology expertise held by the teams located in both countries. It also highlights the capacity of our business to undertake large transboundary infrastructure projects.

“This is a growing sector for us and the first of its kind for Headland. However, with European developments in the renewable and energy sector steadily on the increase, this type of project will become more frequent as the requirement for improved transboundary grid connections emerge.

“This is a very specialist field and Headland is one of very few companies with the required expertise, capacity and resources to carry out consultancy for a project of this scale.”

Formed in 1996 in a former lemonade factory in Edinburgh, Headland Archaeology has grown to become one of the biggest archaeological companies in the UK and Ireland.

Flagship projects in Scotland include Clyde Windfarm, South Lanarkshire and the Camster Windfarm, Caithness, the Western Isles Interconnector, the M80 and M74 roads’ projects, Edinburgh Trams and Forth crossing at Kincardine.

Whilst in the Republic of Ireland projects include major road schemes such as Shannon LNG and Metro North in Dublin and the Kish and Bray Banks Offshore Windfarm.

For further information visit www.headlandarchaeology.com 

Dr Dan Atkinson, Headland Archaeology’s Maritime ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Case Study 3

Building owners and designers have an increasing number of factors to take into account when considering which materials to specify for use in window fabrication within their buildings. These factors include Durability and Life expectancy, Air and Weather tightness, Stability throughout changing seasons, Energy efficiency, Future Maintenance cycles and both Initial and Whole Life costs. In addition sustainability and the impact on the environment of materials chosen is increasingly at the forefront of the decision making process.

These decisions become even more critical in exposed and coastal locations and this was evident to David Shaw when he purchased the Iconic 178 year old Belle Toute Lighthouse perched on the cliffs above the sea at Beachy Head, Eastbourne, Sussex.

Belle Toute has a long and varied history.

Originally build in 1832 to replace a temporary wooden structure, the location of the lighthouse was carefully planned so that the light was visible for 20 miles out to sea.

In 1902 it was decommissioned and a new lighthouse built at the base of the cliffs. It changed hands a number of times from this point until 1948 when Eastbourne Borough Council took it over due to its historical significance. The council leased the building to a number of tenants over the ensuing years, many of whom added their ‘mark’ to the building, until 1986, when it was bought by the BBC who used it in the making a number of films.

By the late 90’s the building was becoming dangerously close to the cliff edge as a result of continuing erosion and an impressive engineering challenge was completed in 1999 to move the lighthouse 17 metres back from the edge of the cliff.

The building was put up for sale once again and in 2008 local businessman David Shaw purchased the building with the intention of opening it to the public as a Guest House and tourist centre.

A number of challenges now faced Mr. Shaw in his quest to refurbish the building and an important one was the need to replace the various windows in the building.

The Belle Toute Lighthouse ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

With the exception of the metal windows around the top of the tower, enclosing the area where the light was once housed, the remaining existing windows were of timber construction in a mixture of styles and timber species and were generally in very poor condition, letting in both wind and rain. They were also inefficient in terms of energy conservation being in the main, single glazed.

Following on from discussions with the Local Authority planning and conservation department, Mr Shaw made the decision to replace all the windows and set about researching suitable replacements. Bearing in mind the age and location of the building, the local conservation officer expressed a preference that the replacement windows should be constructed in timber if at all possible and whilst Mr Shaw in principal was happy to go along with this preference, he was keen to ensure that if possible the manufacturer was UK based and ideally local to Sussex.

He also insisted that the following main criteria were adhered to by this final choice of window manufacturer….

• The windows should be of proven design, air and watertight • As energy efficient as possible • Require limited ongoing maintenance • Be cost effective both in terms of initial and whole life cost • Be manufactured from timber species which are as durable as possible but also from certified sustainable sources

Mr. Shaw settled on Sussex joinery and timber window manufacturer, Westgate Joinery using the revolutionary timber ‘species’ Accoya® for his windows.

Mr. Shaw considers Accoya® to be an ideal choice for the Belle Toute Lighthouse windows. He commented that in addition to the benefits afforded by Accoya® the replacement windows now installed have the added benefit of high quality multipoint locking systems together with an ‘A’ rating under the BFRC’s Energy Rating scheme, demonstrating the energy saving credentials of the product.

Accoya® uses plantation grown sustainable timber which undergoes a chemical modification process known as acetylation using non-toxic acetic acid to change the cell structure throughout the timber. Invisible to the naked eye, the change creates the most moisture resistant and durable timber available for joinery and window production.

It comes with a minimum service life of 60 years according to the Building Research Establishment (BRE), which combined with extended maintenance cycles gives significantly lower whole life cost. It also offers class one durability together with exceptional coatings performance and stability. 

• Have secure and reliable hinge and locking systems After discussing the project with a number of companies ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Case Study 4

Canadian Company Leading The World With Patented Non-Incineration EFW Process A Canadian company is leading the way for the world with its’ patented Elementa Process®. Over $6 million has been invested over the past eight years in the development and optimization of the innovative non-incineration energyfrom-waste conversion technology and proprietary processes. There is no other complete system like it in the world and recently, delegations from over ten countries have been flocking to the pilot plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada to view the unique Elementa Process and place orders.

The Elementa Process solves landfill problems, creates clean renewable base-load distributed energy and significantly reduces green house gases.

Since 2007, Elementa Group Inc. has operated a 1,000 tonne pilot plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada which served to put the technology together, as well as to develop and optimize the intellectual property and processes. The Elementa Process has received independent third party verification by SNC Lavalin, one of the largest project and engineering firms in the world.

The Elementa Process uses municipal solid waste (MSW) as the feedstock and through steam reformation, the chemical breakdown of materials under high temperatures in a oxygen deprived combustion-free environment, clean renewable energy is produced. The MSW volume is reduced by 98% with a 2% inert residual (to be used as an aggregate in cement). The reformation process converts organic (carbonaceous) materials into a synthesis gas that is fed into a turbine/engine to generate electrical power or can be used as a bio-fuel. Elementa’s commercially viable, single continuous process of core conversion technology is based on the chemistry of steam reforming augmented by the company’s patents, licenses and intellectual property.

The process significantly outperforms emission guidelines, ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

including some of the toughest in the world of the European Union, California and Ontario, Canada.

The City of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada in a landmark first of its kind in Canada 20-year agreement effective in 2011, has committed to supply and divert all of its curbside municipal solid waste to Elementa’s new fullscale plant. This will be a seamless transition as municipal trucks will continue to collect refuse as usual, but instead of dumping the contents at the landfill, they will deliver the contents to Elementa’s $33.6 million facility and pay Elementa a $60/tonne tipping fee. Elementa will utilize its patented clean energy non-incineration conversion technology and proprietary processess to reform 35,000 tonnes annually of MSW into clean renewable energy. This facility will generate an estimated six megawatts of electrical power for the grid, enough electricity to power approximately 6,000 homes. It will also contribute to cleaner air by reducing green house gases by over 24,000 tonnes annually, which is the equivalent to taking 4,800 cars off the road. Eliminating landfill activities also contributes to cleaner land and water by eliminating leaching and related problems.

The landfill site in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada has an estimated 8-10 years left at which estimates indicate the costs to replace the landfill at well over $100 million.

The Elementa solution will eliminate the need for a new landfill site. Furthermore, it offers the ultimate opportunity, to mine garbage, which would actually reduce and eliminate waste at existing landfill sites.

The Elementa solution is timely as societies around the world have three pressing needs - the need for an environmentally friendly alternative to land fill sites, the need for base-load distributed sources of clean renewable energy and the need to reduce greenhouse gases.

Elementa Group Inc. company founder, President and CEO Jayson Zwierschke stated, “We are excited to be able to commercialize the Elementa Process. We have Phd’s, scientists and engineers from Hong Kong, Japan, Russia and France including expertise from the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo collaborating on an onging basis. My team and I have been working on this project for many years and it’s the right product, at the right time for the right reasons. Elementa is excited to be able to affect positive change on the world.”

Kevin Johnson, Consul General, United States Consulate, recently visited Elementa’s pilot plant in Sault Ste. Marie.

Michael Wozny, Vice President, Business Development for Elementa Group Inc., said, “The Consul General was very interested in the Elementa Process. He was extremely impressed and rather surprised that this unique world class technology and process was developed and optimized in a small Canadian city. The fact is, given the right circumstances, technology and intellectual property can be developed anywhere. After his tour, the Consul General commented that colleagues in Washington need to be aware of the Elementa Process. ” There is tremendous growing global interest in the Elementa Process. The Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation and Elementa Group Inc. has hosted delegations from over ten countries in the past 18 months.

This includes St. Lucia, United States including New York and Chicago, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Slovakia, Dubai, Panama, Australia, private sector companies, senior government and elected officials.

After signing the first of its kind in Canada EFW agreement with Elementa, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada Mayor John Rowswell stated, “Elementa has taken a responsible approach in verifying the technology and putting together a business model that is cost effective and results oriented. The city has been a great supporter all the way through the development process and this agreement is a demonstration of our continued commitment.

We have hosted delegations from over 10 countries who are interested in the Elementa process. This is clearly another example of why Sault Ste. Marie is the Alternative Energy Capital of North America.”

David Orazietti, Member of Provincial Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada added, “Our government continues to support the cutting-edge work performed by Elementa because we recognize the need to find innovative solutions to deal with our garbage while increasing energy supply and spurring economic growth. This initiative will further Sault Ste. Marie’s reputation as a national green energy leader by bringing the community closer to becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to have all of its curbside waste diverted from the municipal landfill.“ The customer business model for Elementa Group Inc. includes sales and arrangements that will include municipalities and jurisdictions around the world that operate landfills, private sector industries and manufacturers, as

well as utilities & power generators.

“Elementa is willing to engage in a variety of commercialization schemes in any country which would include any variation of the Design Build Operate model, joint ventures, technology sales, franchises and other viable business arrangement that makes sense,” said Wozny.

After successful establishment of the full-sized plant, Elementa Group Inc. further plans to establish manufacturing facilities of proprietary plant equipment in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Elementa Group Inc. has had negotiations with major international manufacturers who are interested in joint ventures to subsequently set up manufacturing facilities for key capital components of the Elementa system such as kilns, scrubbers, shredders, gas cleaning equipment, fabrication and manufacturing of proprietary equipment. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada is at the heart of the Great Lakes and has a deep water port. Scalable plant equipment would be packaged and exported via the St. Lawrence Seaway, and other modes, to countries throughout the world. This would be worth billions of dollars of exports for Canada.

Elementa Group Inc. continues to be repeatedly featured in prominent international media. The world is anxiously awaiting the proliferation of this innovative Canadian technology and process to address key global problems associated with landfills and greenhouse gases while producing clean renewable base-load energy. 

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Xtract™ - the eco alternative for the immediate eradication of Japanese Knotweed Environet was recently featured on the BBC The One Show, talking about the nightmare scenarios faced by owners of land infested with the dreaded Japanese Knotweed. We spoke to Nic Seal of Environet to find out more about Xtract™, their ground breaking eco method for rapid and complete eradication of knotweed.

Case Study 5

Alarms should be ringing loudly if you own or occupy land infested with Japanese Knotweed. Notwithstanding the possible damage caused to property by this highly invasive weed, now all leading banks refuse to offer mortgages on land infested with Knotweed. This makes any future sale of your property very difficult, undoubtedly affecting the value of your property investment.

Japanese Knotweed is not constrained by property boundaries so spreads into adjoining land causing disputes between neighbours, sometimes ending in costly litigation.

The plant is supported by an extensive underground rhizome system of roots and stems. The system extends deep into the ground, typically 2m, sometimes deeper. In order to eradicate Japanese Knotweed, you either need to kill or remove the entyre rhizome system, and there lies the difficulty. If any viable rhizome remains, new shoots will return and gradually spread to re-infest further. It’s easy to make the above ground part of the plant look dead but what is important is what lurks below the surface.

Don’t be fooled into thinking the Knotweed problem has simply disappeared just because you can’t see any growth.

Knotweed rhizome can remain dormant in the ground for many years, ready to strike when you least expect it.

It is difficult to kill all rhizome using herbicides, so if you are serious about achieving eradication rather than simple control, treatment is best left to specialists, who may be able to eradicate Knotweed in one growing season if conditions are right, otherwise it could take two years or more.

Delaying development whilst one waits for eradication using herbicides is clearly not an option any developer would happily choose, and now with the advent of Xtract™ an attractive alternative exists, that is considerably less costly to the wallet and environment than “dig & dump” or other physical methods.

The area of infestation is mapped out, and excavated using a 360 tracked excavator under expert supervision, usually to a depth of 2m or more. The excavated infested soils are loaded into the Xtract™ machine, a mobile piece of plant designed by Environet, specifically for removing Japanese Knotweed rhizome from soil.

Processed soils, now with all viable Knotweed rhizome removed, are stockpiled by two sets of conveyors ready for re-use on site. The collected rhizome is bagged up and removed from site, for off site energy recovery or disposal.

Having now operated Xtract™ for 3 years, the company is so confident of its results that it offers a market leading 20 year guarantee on this method as standard.

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

The advantages that this method provides are numerous.

For the developer, immediate eradication can be achieved at a highly competitive price, without delays to the construction programme and with peace of mind backed by guarantee.

For the eco-minded, Knotweed is cleared with negligible environmental impact, no harmful herbicides are required, and no infested soils are consigned as waste to landfill.

Being an on-site remediation method, all costs are eligible for tax relief under the Land Remediation Tax Relief scheme introduced by the Government to encourage the clean up of contaminated land using sustainable methods.

Xtract™ is not suited to every Knotweed situation, for example where time permits eradication by herbicide treatment, but is a superb alternative to any other physical removal or containment method, such as “Dig & Dump” and “On site burial”.

To watch the BBC One Show feature see Useful Links at www.environet-uk.co.uk/japanese-knotweed.php 

Revolutionary Technology for smaller scale Vertical Farming

AlphaCrop™’s triangular design ensures that all the plants on the shelving storage system receive optimum light as the shelves revolve up and down. The AlphaCrop™ is fully scalable, and can be built to any height, and any length from 2m to 6m or more. It can be scaled up from one module to any number of modules, all operating off the same motor and the same watering station – it is therefore suitable for the business that plans to grow incrementally, as the cost of each additional module decreases proportionately, because the drive system and much of the structure needed is already in place. The growing trays can be adapted to the customer’s own requirements, whether for a ‘floating raft’ system, NFT (Nutrient Film Technique), or a flood and drain system.

Non-hydroponic conventional media such as compost, peat, and coir can also be used.

The plants receive abundant light - as they rotate downwards 50% of them are in natural light, and on the upward rotation the other 50% are in natural light. So in one full rotation the plants receive 100% exposure to natural light. It is possible to install artificial lighting in the core of the frame, which will again reach all plants over a complete cycle. The irrigation and feeding is applied at the apex of the frame, and excess water drains away at the bottom of the rotation, so that the increased weight on the downward movement and the decreased weight on the upward movement create a ‘waterwheel’ effect which minimizes wear on the motor and drive system, and increases the efficiency and longevity of the system.

AlphaCrop™ was developed by Grahame Dunling, a leading vertical farming specialist with a lifetime’s experience in commercial growing. Dunling explains; ‘I have designed AlphaCrop™ from the perspective of the grower, and versatility is at the heart of the design. It is possible to grow organically and with compost in AlphaCrop™, and this is ideal for baby root crops, carrots, leeks, or even small potatoes. Likewise, if a large scale commercial growing operation is required, the AlphaCrop™ design can be custom made to fill a large production area. The system is ideal for crops, like strawberries, which need constant cropping, as the plant shelves can be positioned at the right height, and harvested without the need to bend or stretch. Because of its ease of scalability, AlphaCrop™ can be adapted for the needs of both the small and the larger scale grower. The units can be delivered flat packed, for compact storage and to enable the systems to be easily moved from one location to another.’

Like VertiCrop™, AlphaCrop™ offers a very high output for the footprint it occupies, and a strong return on investment with many types of crops. Designed with the small to medium scale producers in mind, it is suitable for growing a wide range of crops, including strawberries, leaf crops, herbs, microherbs and baby vegetables of all kinds.

Advantages of Vertical Farming The environmental and economic benefits of AlphaCrop™ are essentially the same as those of its larger sibling, VertiCrop™: no need for pesticides, water usage reduced to 5% of open field growing, optimal growing environment with faster crop cycles, and high quality, nutritious output.

In addition much less land is needed for a given output, reducing capital costs and also energy usage, which means reduced GHG’s in food production. But most of all, AlphaCrop™ presents an economically viable way to supply fresh, nutritious produce where it is consumed, with minimal food miles – whether in a city centre, a harsh climate where normal growing is not possible, or even co-located within an organization, be it hotel, hospital, school, campus or military base where the consumers are already in place. Further information and contact details are available on the company’s website www.valcent.eu  ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Case Study 6

As the company that has been leading the field in the development of advanced Vertical Farming systems, Valcent Products (eu) Ltd, of Launceston, Cornwall, has recently launched an important new addition to its range: AlphaCrop™. During its successful development of the much publicised VertiCrop™ high density vertical growing system – which can be viewed in a full scale 150m2 working installation at Paignton Zoo in Devon – the company was constantly being asked if the benefits of vertical farming could be experienced by the smaller scale grower, or even the amateur gardener wishing to boost crop production.

The answer was yes, and the result is the A-framed AlphaCrop™.

BaleHaus at Bath is a cutting edge project to construct a highly sustainable domestic property at the University of Bath. The BaleHaus at Bath is an upside down house.

The living room and kitchen are on the first floor and offer stunning views across the University campus.

BaleHaus is a new design methodology in housing providing an entirely renewable way to construct homes made from natural materials that are beautiful, affordable and sustainable.

The BaleHaus provides many solutions to help people effectively reduce their CO2 emissions without compromising how they choose to live their lives.

The reason for building the BaleHaus at Bath is to encourage a convenient means to help people live more sustainably by developing ways to:  Live within our environmental means - especially in relation to our carbon footprint;  Maintain a healthy and comfortable quality of life;  Build strong communities.

BaleHaus addresses these three challenges in a number of ways and offers a straightforward and practical way to reduce our footprint on the earth.

BaleHaus reduces heating bills by up to 85% BaleHaus reduces CO2 emissions by up to 60% BaleHaus is a less than Zero Carbon housing solution

Case Study 7

BaleHaus meets Code 4 for Sustainable Homes without the need for additional renewables.

BaleHaus at Bath has achieved an air tightness of 0.86m3/hr.m2.

BaleHaus utilises the revolutionary ModCell prefabricated straw bale construction system. ModCell uses replenishable, virtually unprocessed and where possible locally sourced materials including engineered timber, straw and lime to create walls that breathe, have a less than Zero Carbon Footprint (each 3m x 3.2m panel sequesters 1400kg of atmospheric CO2 ) and has a thermal performance (u-Value of 0.19) over two times higher than the current Building Regulations require.

BaleHaus at Bath uses a minimum of highly processed ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

materials, thus reducing energy and pollution. Also there is minimal use of extra finishing materials such as paint, plaster, wallpaper etc. Structural systems are exposed – allowing us to see beautiful materials that are doing more than one ‘job’ for us.

The use of straw on construction sites has, to date, been limited to dedicated individuals and smaller groups who have the desire and determination to see the project through and the challenges of protecting it from the elements as well as seasonal limitations. ModCell has, by the use of prefabrication, removed the main reasons for the construction industry not to use straw bales in buildings.

All ModCell panels are delivered to site as a sealed module.

This removes any site objections while also delivering an efficient and sustainable building material.

The ModCell frames, made from precision engineered sustainable FSC and PEFC wood, are fabricated as close as possible to the project site using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in a ‘Flying Factory’, specifically created for each project. They are then in-filled with locally sourced straw as the insulation material. The BaleHaus at Bath’s ‘Flying Factory’ was located within 5 miles of the site, minimising the carbon footprint. Local people were employed to assemble the panels. The assembled, straw

filled and lime rendered panels, were then delivered the short distance to site for simple and rapid installation; the BaleHaus at Bath was structurally complete within 4 days.

Sustainable materials like straw, timber and lime do most of the work i.e. are structural, act as insulation and the render supplies the internal and external finishes.

Large elements of building such as the roof and floor plates are manufactured from engineered timber. The engineered timber is a solid, durable, low carbon building material, which sequesters carbon from the atmosphere and can, be easily reused or recycled at the end of the building’s life. The roof uses a black single layer roofing membrane. The membrane is made from 75% recycled bitumen material.

The project has undergone extensive testing at the University of Bath, part funded by the DTi, BERR, Carbon Connections and the Technology Strategy Board. The load bearing panels not only support the weight of the building but also provide racking strength to stabilise the structure.

The racking tests have given us the confidence to develop the system into a load bearing system, which we are introducing into the mainstream commercial and housing market. 

ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

however the first time a whole house made of straw bale panels has been tested in this way.

Professor Pete Walker said: “Straw is a very environmentally-friendly building material because it is renewable and uses a co-product of farming.

The crop used to make the straw locks in carbon dioxide as it grows and can be sourced from local farms, saving on transport and minimising the carbon footprint of the building.

The recent test result is excellent as it has both confirmed the robustness of BaleHaus and validated the computer model, so avoiding the need for further tests and providing basis the for safe and efficient structural design.

We hope the data we’re collecting on the BaleHaus will help strengthen the case for the mainstream building industry switching to using more sustainable building materials like straw.”

The results of the research will be beneficial to many:  The farming industry will benefit from large-scale value-added use of the common agricultural by-product, straw.  Homeowners will also benefit from high performance low carbon healthy homes, and more broadly the general public, through the delivery of healthier buildings and reduced carbon emissions and lower pollution.

Recent tests have confirmed it is more than strong enough to withstand hurricane force winds so turns the children’s fairytale of the three pigs on its head!

In the children’s story, the pigs hide in a house of straw, only to be blown down by the big bad wolf. However the research at Bath proves that straw is a sturdy sustainable building material after all.

The research team, led by Professor Pete Walker, Director of the University’s BRE* Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, has been monitoring the house since October 2009 for thermal performance and humidity levels and has now tested the structure of the house for resisting winds up to 120mph.

The wind load was simulated using hydraulic jacks, which pushed horizontally against the walls with a total force exceeding four tonnes, equivalent to the dynamic force of a hurricane. During the tests, the walls moved no more than four millimetres under peak loads, well within design requirements and as predicted.

The researchers will use this data to develop a theoretical computer model of the house to simulate how a three storey, or even higher, BaleHaus building would withstand such winds.

The research team, including Dan Maskell and Dr Katharine Beadle, had previously conducted similar tests for racking strength on the individual wall panels. This is ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

We relished this important opportunity to create one of the first prefabricated houses in Europe to be made entirely from eco-friendly materials - a typology that directly affected the aesthetics and form of the house. We have combined heavy weight materials with lots of thermal mass ensuring a constant, pleasing environment.

This house uses the most high-tech computer designed timber frame technologies that ensure precision and a huge saving in materials. All roofs, ceilings and internal walls utilise FSC or PEFC solid timber.  The BaleHaus at Bath will have a lasting impact on how residential properties can be built together with the sustainable materials used within its construction. The local community has gained in a number areas:  By bringing local employment,  Injecting cash back into the community  Using locally sourced materials.

We have proved to the construction industry that there are sustainable, low carbon, prefabricated materials available that offer a choice in how to build today and in the future.

The project also starts to address the zero carbon-housing target set by the government and is an excellent demonstration of modern methods of construction using traditional building materials. The design and construction of the building incorporated a plethora of innovative products, many of which will become future mainstream building components. 

Good clean fun with our green neighbours I

SHIFTER that again uses a concentrated and controllable airstream combined with a rotating drum to separate stones, glass and heavy contamination from the organics.

The separation drum takes the long pieces of wood out and over with the organics. Negative pressure is maintained in the discharge hood by recirculating the air back to the fan.

The Windshifter parameters can be adjusted by variable speed air flow, angle of air flow, speed of separation drum, height and distance of drum to the vibrating table.

By controlling these items the dynamics of the Windshifter can be changed to suit different separation techniques.

Energy is of paramount importance, these machines can use only 25% of the power requirement of equivalent suction and cyclone systems. Any airbourne dust is collected by concentrated reverse jet filters and discharged into a bigbag.

have previously reported on the high-tech solution to cleaning and screening compost, to remove satisfactorily the plastics and other contamination which is one of the major problems faced by the growing number of composting companies in the UK today.

The whole process can be run unmanned and in a controlled atmosphere, thus it is well on the way to combating the problems encountered by airbourne bio-aerosols that are facing legislation.

Input, be it pre-shredded and maturing green waste taken from the windrow area or aforementioned residues, are fed into the start of the line, a high capacity deposit hopper.

This can be loaded up with about 20 minutes running time so as not to tie up the front loader. Triple shaft agitation devices break up the clumps of material to ensure an even and homogenous dosing onto the line.

REDOX Windshifters are proven and well established within the recycling industries with many installations in construction, commercial, municipal and compost facilities. The flexibility of uses is ever growing with now metal fragmentiser residues and WTE applications. In production at the moment is a plant that diverts residues en route to the landfill and processes it into a fuel (SRF).

A magbelt takes any ferrous before the double stretch-deck screening at 5mm and12mm. The flexible screen mats stretch and flex alternately thus working sticky material and keeping the screen mesh open. The 5-12 fraction passes over a highly controllable Airstream Device to take any small plastic foils. 5-12mm clean product is combined with the 0-5mm and discharged to a final finished product bunker.

For these new applications, REDOX have test units that UK facilities are now trialling on site with the first full-size installation due this year.

Maybe recyclate quality is a language that the Dutch can share with us!

Talk to them at Futuresource 2010, Stand number G38.

Simon Ingleby, Redox-Alfatek UK ď Ž

The +12mm material is then presented to a REDOX WINDENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Case Study 8

Now, this innovative but practical solution by Dutch Company REDOX RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY BV has resulted in new applications for this type of equipment. In addition to the cleaning of the many different green waste processes, cleaning of residues from thermal treatments, such as Autoclaves and Digestion Towers, can now be successfully carried out. Compost-like-output and fibrous residue has been a focus for quality issues recently and REDOX have the solution with their equipment.

The organic fraction passes over a levelling deck, to evenly spread the material to fall as a curtain, where a state of the art triple-laser optical sorter is installed.

Each laser has twenty channels each that can be tuned to different parameters enabling the optical sorter to identify different colours and eject them by compressed air jets.

Bottle tops, plastics and even mouldy pieces are removed.

The cleaned oversize organics are then returned to the shredding and maturing process and will be returned back through the plant to obtain a clean final fine product.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

The case for green business

By Dr. Keith Rutherford – Unilever’s Global Program Director for Sustainability & Operational Excellence No business can afford to ignore the green agenda. Climate change is the most serious environmental challenge we face in the 21st century. It touches every aspect of our professional and personal lives.

The good news is that business can really benefit from green thinking. Traditionally, this has focused on making supply chains and factories more efficient, but these benefits are small compared with creating better products for new ways of living. And brands can help by educating and influencing consumers across the globe on more sustainable patterns of consumption.

We should not be surprised that many experts believe those companies that make sustainability part of their core strategy and tackle it systematically will be rewarded with higher rates of growth and lower costs. Equally, those who choose to wait until forced by regulation or view this agenda solely in terms of reputation management and CSR will do too little too late and might not even survive.

Unilever has committed to double the size of its business without increasing its environmental impact. In fact, we intend to go further and actually reduce our imprint. This is not just a hugely challenging target but one that is inspiring to everyone who works in the company. We are determined to do this across our entyre value chains from the sourcing of raw materials, their conversion into products, transportation & storage and in consumer use and disposal.

Our laundry business is a good example of ensuring that all stages are covered.

In manufacturing, businesses can readily take direct control to reduce their carbon footprint, by optimising packaging and decreasing the amount of electricity, water and fuel needed to make and transport products. We have focused for many years on taking actions that make a difference at scale and in so doing have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions from our own factories by 43% since 1995.

But we can do more. In developed markets over 80% of the environmental impact occurs after the product is purchased and taken home. It is the energy required to the heat water and to power washing machines and tumble dryers that contributes most to the environmental footprint from washing clothes in the UK. So there is clearly a benefit from ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

washing laundry with eco appliances, at lower temperatures and on shorter cycles to reduce water and save energy.

The laundry products that are being used to wash the clothes are also important. Indeed, if we can address both consumer use and products together then we have the best chance of success and will achieve something that adds up to a significant global affect.

This is the crux of the Cleaner Planet Plan. Every hour around 14 million people around the world use a Unilever product to wash their clothes, equal to over 125 billion washes each year. By developing products with superior concentrated formulations and using these to engage with consumers we can help people keep their clothes clean with much less water, packaging and fewer greenhouse gases.

Concentrated detergent products are a great start because they offer advantages at every stage of the cycle. They require less packaging, reduced transport, shelving efficiency in stores, are easier to carry home and to use.

This all adds up to a win for the consumer, a win for the retailer and a win for the planet. If everyone doing a wash uses one of our compact washing powders or concentrated liquids instead of a traditional powder then we estimate that it would save the same amount of CO2 as removing over a million cars globally from our roads.

Once people buy the right products the next thing to do is to help them to do their laundry in the most efficient fashion. This is where brands and communication come in.

How to get the best from the quick wash cycle? When to wash at lower temperatures? Should you use the cap to measure the correct dose or just chuck in ‘the right amount’? Why use the tumble dryer when it is warm and you can dry clothes outside?

Small individual actions like this can make a huge difference when they become a common habit.

We all share responsibility for acting to reduce the impact of climate change businesses, individuals and governments.

And consumers and business are beginning to appreciate just how much they can achieve and the benefits that can be secured from acting first. The excuse of waiting for others just doesn’t wash. 

Envirenergy North West 2010 24 June 2010 Old Trafford Manchester

The event Envirenergy North West 2010 is the region’s flagship energy and environmental management conference presenting innovative technologies and best practice.

Managed by Envirolink Northwest this year will build on the success of last year’s event which welcomed over 300 delegates and over fifty exhibitors.

The audience The exhibition and conference is a must for those responsible for energy, carbon reduction, sustainable procurement, environmental compliance, climate change, corporate social responsibility, waste management, water management, building design and sustainability.

Book your FREE delegate place Places and stands are limited. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

24 June 2010 9.00 am—3.30pm Manchester Suite, Manchester United, OldTrafford Stadium, Sir Matt Busby Way Manchester M16 0RA For information events@envirolinknorthwest.co.uk telephone 01925 813200 www.envirenergynorthwest.co.uk