TV recycling in Shropshire

All types of TV's can be recycled in Shropshire simply by taking them to the Council's Recycling Centres.

And its not just TVs they accept any type of display screens for recycling, including:

• Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors
• Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens
• Plasma screens
• Personal Computer (PC) monitors
• Calculators
• Sat navs
• Laptops

All monitors are taken to Recycling Lives (www.recyclinglives.com) in Lancashire for recycling.  Recycling Lives is a charitable organisation who use recycling to create income to support people in need - literally recycling lives.


From humble beginnings as a small local charity repairing furniture and trading a bit of scrap metal, they have now grown into a large social enterprise and expanded their operations to include a fully licenced TV recycling factory which allows them to safely handle hazardous waste including PC monitors and TV sreens which contain cathode ray tubes.

Once staff in the main area of the recycling centre have removed the plastic and metal components from the units, the remaining screen and mercury-filled fluorescent tubes enter the sealed mercury-safe room.

Did you know almost 99% of the material in the TV can now be recycled, including the glass from the screen and the hard plastics used, almost nothing goes to waste and this is one of the highest / most efficient for any recycling process.

Can I compost cork?

Sometimes when we are out promoting composting with Shropshire Master Composters we get asked can I compost the cork from a wine bottle?



To clarify by this we mean you know a proper old fashioned natural cork, not the plastic ones obviously.  Well the answer is yes because cork is just a type of bark from a tree and so it will ultimately rot down too.  Although we would caution composting alot of them because they will take an incredibly long time to break down, corks are used because they are naturally impermeable - which makes it perfect for plugging a bottle of vino but makes composting a bit tricky.  Chopping the cork up a bit (tricky as this may be) will speed up the decomposition a little but overall in small amounts you can add them in and they do rot eventually and are (eventually) a valuable addition to the finished compost.

Improving soil with compost

Many of us have inherited gardens that are inherently poor for growing plants, whether this is down to the underlying geology of the area or historic management there is a simple way to overcome the challenges of low fertility and poor soil, its simply to add compost.  

Compost improves your soil in a number of ways.  Crucially compost returns nutrients to the soil such as phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, and many trace minerals, all to be released slowly over 1-2 years for optimal plant growth & health.

• Compost is a natural fertilizer that improves soil aeration, tilth & drainage.
• Compost, as a top-dressing, promotes weed control by suppressing growth. Furthermore, improved tilth makes it more difficult for weeds to anchor roots.
• Compost controls erosion by creating good tilth.
• Compost protects plant roots from sun and wind damage.
• Compost conserves water, when used as a mulch: the soil retains moisture beneath it.
• Compost increases water retention when absorbed into loose or sandy soils. It aids drainage in clay or other heavy soils.
• Compost reduces soil diseases because of its high nutrient content.

All in all if you want a healthy garden you need healthy soil and if you want healthy soil you need to compost.  With rising food prices and a crisis of biodiversity around the globe, we need to improve our soils health and so we all need to get more composting going on.  For more information on how to get started with composting visit getcomposting.com

Windfall fruit

As the nights draw in and we enter the season of 'mists and mellow fruitfulness' many of us will find our gardens and driveways carpeted in windfall fruit. 

We have had a few queries of late about this relating to this issue because whilst of course the best thing to do with windfall fruit is a) Eat it! and b) home compost it some folk seem to be unsure about if you can include this with your garden waste for the council collections.

Yes windfall fruit and vegetables from the garden are garden waste not food waste.  So it is perfectly OK to add this to the Councils garden waste collection service.

The confusion seems to have arisen because most garden waste in Shropshire goes for on-farm composting and following the BSE & Foot & Mouth strict Animal Byproduct Regulations were introduced which mean that food waste cannot be composted on farms.
Whilst of course fruit and vegetables are not an animal byproduct, the ban applies to anything from the kitchen so captures all food waste.  The distinction with material from your garden (whether edible or not) is clearly laid out in guidelines produced by the Department for the Environment.  The point at which this would change would be if you brought the items into your kitchen.  Anything which has been in the kitchen, could potentially be cross contaminated with pathogens from other foodstuffs and thus would then be deemed to be kitchen waste which cannot currently be composted on farms due to the Animal Byproduct Regulations.

Hopefully that clears up any confusion? Because looking around my area I can see tonnes of fruit all over the ground right now and I would hate to think that might end up in landfill when it is perfectly OK to compost it with your garden waste.

Fluorescent lighting recycling in Shropshire

Did you know that low energy light bulbs can be considered hazardous waste and should be handled with caution?  Although they are not immediately dangerous, all fluorescent lighting contains tiny amounts of mercury and so when they reached the end of their life or get broken they should not be put in your general rubbish for disposal.

If you do need to get rid of a low energy light bulb or the long fluorescent tubes then you should take them to the Councils Household Recycling Centre instead.

The good news is that mercury within the bulbs can be safely recovered and the glass gets recycled. They can't go in the normal glass recycling though because they're Phosphor coated glass, so please don’t place them in bottle banks or your kerbside glass recycling box.   Its also reassuring to know that the tiny amounts of mercury used in these lamps is much less that the amount of mercury which gets pumped out by coal fired power stations every year!

So low energy lightbulbs are an environmentally friendly solution they use less power, they save you money, they reduce mercury in the environment overall and they can be recycled, a win, win, win, win!

There is a special area set aside for these lamps, look our for the signage or ask the site attendants if you are unsure or need help, they are always very helpful there.  

Shropshire composting site invests in green energy

Wind turbine adds fuel to farm’s sustainable energy targets

A Shropshire farming & composting business is making sustainability a top priority on its mixed farming unit and adding wind power to a growing list of renewable energy sources.

Gethin and Co has erected a 50kw single wind turbine at Lower House near Cardeston near Shrewsbury for commissioning in April. The turbine is 36.4m (120ft) tall with three 9.6m (31ft) blades.

Lower House Farm is a mixed farming enterprise comprising arable crops, poultry rearing and a green waste composting facility. With energy prices increasing, Mark and Claire Gethin and next generation Sophie and Matthew are keen to adopt a variety of energy sources to meet their ambition to become more self sufficient in energy.

Although planning permission was granted in 2011 for a 2160 solar panel array mounted on the roofs of the existing poultry units, only about half the solar panels were erected because the feed in tariff rate changed and it became uneconomic to erect the remainder.

“The Gethins realised that other complementary renewable energy systems were needed particularly to provide energy at night time,” explained Peter Fenwick, a planning consultant with Berrys who has been advising the Gethins on renewable energy and planning options.

“The overall power needs of the poultry unit is some 300,000kw per annum. The solar panels provide approximately half of this, depending on the amount of daylight, sunshine and season. The proposed wind turbine will generate between 144,000 to 170,000 kw per year and in particular will generate electricity in winter and at night when the poultry units are net users of non PV energy.

“The size of the wind turbine was chosen deliberately to generate the shortfall in renewable energy for the farm business,” Peter added.

As is often the case, there was local opposition to the planning application and Shropshire Council rejected the wind turbine at first, but after a successful planning appeal presented by Berrys permission was granted.

The council originally rejected the scheme because it felt the siting would have a detrimental effect on the landscape and be intrusive to neighbours.

“We argued that the chosen site has a good wind resource location and since the nearest non involved residential property was some 600 metres away there would be no noise or shadow flicker effect. The turbine is a single slim structure so the slim aerofoil shaped turbine blades will blend into the environment and not move quickly enough to disturb the general tranquillity of the landscape,” he added.

Wind energy will be a vital contributor to the energy demands of the farming operation at Lower House Farm , complementing the solar panels and biomass boiler producing heat in the poultry houses. Methane from the green waste is used in a combined heat and power unit to breakdown the waste in a closed loop system.

“With energy prices set to rise further farmers need to consider all their options and adopt renewable technology where possible to become more energy self sufficient,” Peter added.

Sophie Gethin says the turbine project ran relatively smoothly, once the original objections from neighbours had been overcome. The slim body of the Endurance turbine was installed by Dulas the second week of March with the Nacelle and Blades being added the following week, after the concrete had set. It will hopefully be commissioned the first week of April.

“We are aiming to become carbon neutral on the farm and the turbine is another way for us to generate our own electricity, complementing the solar panels perfectly. When the sun isn’t out we will have wind power,” said Sophie.

“We are also building an in-vessel composting facility to take green waste and food waste and an anaerobic digester to take food waste, slurry and chicken litter,” she added.

Homemade food – home and away – is a winner for a tasty, cheap summer

A surge in demand for self-catering holidays coupled with Met Office predictions of more settled warm weather over July could give us all a chance to save money this summer by getting clever with our food.  Tips from Love Food Hate Waste show us how.

While a recent survey shows demand for self-catering holidays in England is up by a third, with 42 per cent of those questioned citing ‘money saving’ as the reason, better summer weather coming our way will also provide lots of opportunities for those at home to dust off the picnic hamper and fire up the barbecue. 

Times are tough and we’re all feeling the pinch at the moment.  But the good news is summer food tips from www.lovefoodhatewaste.com will help all of us going on a self-catering break – or simply enjoying the long light days at home – to turn leftover food we already have into some truly fabulous seasonal dishes and save money at the same time.

With a little planning before you leave, together with a cool box and supply of freezer packs, its easy to take key ingredients with you and be well equipped for picnics and days out while you’re away.

Tips include:

• If you have cooked too much for a meal such as fish pie, chilli or lasagne, simply pop it in an airtight container and store in the freezer as a homemade ‘ready meal’ or take with you for an easy first night supper.
• If you take some lettuce or salad leaves with you and they’re looking tired and wilted after the journey, put them in a bowl of water with a couple of ice-cubes and they will become nice and crisp again.
• Quiches are an ideal way to help use up eggs and spare cream before you go. Add flaked, cooked fish or fry that last rasher of bacon and some onion for classic quiche Lorraine; a perfect, simple dish to take with you, in your cool box, for the first meal of your holiday - lunch or supper.
• Filling sandwiches filled with tasty and unexpected combinations of leftovers, such as chicken, bacon and mayonnaise, lamb and mint sauce or cheese and coleslaw.
• Making leftover potatoes into a tasty potato salad with sliced red or spring onions and mayonnaise – a tasty salad that also travels well.

For more invaluable tips for a cost-effective enjoyable summer home or away, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for recipes and inspiration!