London, Hackney - Get your subsidised composting unit

The recycling team in Hackney Council is subsidizing compost bins, wormeries and bokashi bins to help residents reduce their food waste and to get valuable compost for their gardens, now that the food growing bug is around!

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Dig IN Campaign - Wormery Video

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USA, DC- Shopping Bag Tax Brings In Nearly US$1 Million

This past January, retailers and restaurants in Washington, DC were required to charge a 5 cent fee per paper or plastic bag, reports Earth911.

One of the less discussed alternatives to plastic bag bans is providing disposable bags as a taxed good. In Washington D. C., the first U. S. city to enforce a bag tax, the revenue generated has approached US$1 million in the first six months, according to ABC News.

This past January, every D. C. retailer and restaurant that "sells food items" was required to charge a 5 cent fee per paper or plastic bag. The tax was expected to generate US$10 million over the next four years, meaning it is currently behind projections - the total was US$942,000 through May.

So, what happens to all the money raised? One cent goes to the retailer, or 2 cents if it offers a rebate for bringing your own ba! g.

The remainder is going to the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund, which will use it for public education campaigns on the affect of trash in the nation's capital, as well as for monitoring water pollution, funding cleanup events and providing reusable bags to District residents so they have an alternative to disposables. It's estimated that 20 percent of the trash in the Anacostia River is plastic bags.

In addition to the financial impact, the city has dramatically cut the amount of bags in distribution. The D. C. Office of Tax and Revenue estimates the amount of bags given out has been reduced from 22.5 million per month in 2009 to 3 million in January 2010.

The bag tax has raised some issues though with consumers who don't want to pay the fee. At least one D. C. Safeway store had to remove its plastic bag recycling bins after customers were found stealing bags to avoid the fee. Others have opted to carry groceries by hand when they forget to ! bring a reusable bag.

Grocery stores are one of the primary outlets for plastic bag recycling. Most D. C. residents are also able to recycle plastic bags in the city's curbside recycling programme.


From http://www.resourcesnotwaste.org/

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UK London - £8 million for world largest reuse network

Mayor Boris Johnson and actress Joanna Lumley OBE today announced £8m funding from the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) to create the world's largest 'reuse network', helping household items find a new home rather than being chucked away.

The funding will go to the London Community Resource Network (LCRN), a charitable social enterprise who will set up the network to address the 65,000 tonnes of household products are thrown out by Londoners each year, ending up in costly landfill sites and adding both to carbon emissions and council bills, when most of them could be reused or repaired.

The London Reuse Network will be made up of ‘clusters’ of organisations , including local authorities and charities who will work together to deliver an easy-to-access and consistent reuse service to residents and businesses within their area. It will collect, store, refurbish and sell on everything from furniture, books, carpets and bikes through to cookers and fridges. It aims to divert 17,000 tonnes of reusable products from landfill over the first two years of the project saving over 80,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. It will provide a single ‘reuse hotline’ and web portal serving the whole of London. By 2015 the network aims to be diverting over a million items from the waste stream every year, training thousands and employing hundreds of people.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: ‘It is a common sense use of our natural resources that we provide ways for people to hand in items they no longer need, but which still have plenty of useful life in them. This funding is really welcome news, helping to create a service for Londoners to do exactly that and help to slash the mountain of waste being sent unnecessarily to landfill and cut the heavy economic costs of doing so.’

James Cleverly, Chair of LWARB added ‘Re-using products saves the energy associated with manufacturing new ones, which has an enormous and positive impact on reducing carbon emissions and stops objects and materials from entering the waste stream. This innovative project not only diverts waste from landfill but provides social benefits and perfectly demonstrates partnerships working.’

LCRN’s Chief Executive Matthew Thomson said: "We are very proud of our partnerships and their unique ability to deliver high quality reuse services in London. We are delighted that the Mayor and LWaRB recognise the value and potential of our network and are excited about the transformation this significant investment promises.

For more info:http://bit.ly/9Qd0Rr

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