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!

What to do with your old Argos catelogues

Residents in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin are being encouraged to help reduce waste to landfill by recycling their old Argos catalogues, when the new one is launched in July 2013.
It is estimated that there are over 30 million Argos catalogues in circulation across the country, each weighing 2kg each – a combined weight equivalent to more than 10,000 double decker buses!!!!
In Shropshire and Telford, people can recycle old and unwanted Argos catalogues in their kerbside collection box with their paper. They also compost down well eventually but you may need to tear them up a bit first.

Paper based catelogues are a carbon rich source of 'brown' fibrous material for your compost heap which help to mop up moist food waste and other 'green' materials.
All Argos catalogues collected in Shropshire will be sent to the UPM paper mill at Shotton, Deeside where they are turned into newsprint paper and used to make newspapers.

The Indore Composting Method

The Indore Composting method was based on ancient agricultural practices in India but was developed and written about by the late great, Sir Albert Howard in his 1940 epic 'An Agricultural Testament'.  At the time he was working as an agricultural advisor to the Indian government and so he studied alot of aspects of what was then a very low intensive system of farming in India.  But the thing that really fascinated him and to which he devoted most of the writing was the local composting method in Indore.  His scientific experiments showed quite clearly that the compost they made was special and resulted in higher plant productivity than either fertilizer or raw manure.




With the Indore method, a compost heap is built up in 6 inch layers, like a sandwich.  The first layer is made up of green plant matter such as grass clippings or crops. The next layer is a layer of manure, and then its capped off with a thin layer of topsoil. This layering system is  repeated until the pile reaches a height of about 1.5 meters (5 feet) and the heap is doused with water if neccessary to kept it moist.
This technique has been adapted and applied widely and much of the basics of home composting which will still preach today are based on the fundamental tenets of layering & mixing and using a combination of Nitrogen rich materials and Carbon based materials. 


On of the key things with the Indore Composting Method is that the pile needs to be turned over to fire up the microbes and ensure it heats up.  This is done atleast twice in the traditional method using a spade or fork.  Of course in India, the climatic conditions in particular speeds up the composting process, but this technique can still be applied in any country because the microbes themselves create heat anyway.

Recycling Gas Bottles

As the summer barbecue season approaches many people in Shropshire will be making use of gas bottles to power their modern barbecues or perhaps getting out the caravan for the summer.  In fact in many Shropshire homes off the gas network these things are common place, so one way or another it is possible that you may end up with a LPG gas cylinder to dispose of at some point. 

Used gas bottles are considered hazardous waste and must be treated with caution because although unlikely they are potentially explosive. The best option is to take them back to where you got them from.  Most companies which sell them take them back free of charge as part of the service and so hopefully you wont have to deal with them yourself, but there are also facilities for the safe recycling of gas bottles at each of the five Council run Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) in Shropshire.

What type of gas bottles do they accept?

Any pressurized metal containers including: -

• LPG (propane or butane) gas bottles
• Gas fire cylinders
• Diving tanks
• Helium cansisters
• Fire extinguishers
• Beer kegs

How should I recycle them?

Ideally you should take the bottles back to the company that makes them, which can normally be identified from the label. It is important that you handle used gas bottles with care. If you take them to a HRC please ask the site staff for assistance. There is a lockable cage at each of the sites where used bottles can be safely stored.

What happens to the gas bottles?

The aim is to reunite orphaned bottles with the company which makes them. They are collected by the LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) Association and wherever possible they are refilled with more gas and reused again.  As a back up where this is not possible the containers are safely depressurized and then they can be recycled for the scrap metal content. 

Why recycle gas bottles?

Primarily it is a health and safety issue, these things can be dangerous and so it is important to follow the correct disposal instructions and ensure that they get taken for professional reuse / recycling.  Not only is it reducing waste to landfill but by allowing bottles to be reused it is reducing the need for more gas bottles to be manufactured. This is reducing the need for metal to be made which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information on recycling gas bottles visit: - 

• Health and Safety Executive
• UK LPG Association

Britain’s households stash 17 part used paint cans

The Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association is urging the public to take their metal paint cans for recycling after research found that Britain’s households are hoarding 17 part used paint cans each on average.

Britain’s households have 17 part used paint cans each on average and half of these are estimated to be made of metal equating to 39,500 tonnes of scrap metal which could be potentially all be recycled.

The problem is many householders don’t know what to do with the paint left in them.  The Association recommends a number of ways including being donated to local repaint schemes or soaked up in absorbent material like sand and then disposed of.

Nick Mullen, MPMA’s chief executive said: “Why not take your empty metal paint can hoard, to your recycling centre and free up some overlooked storage space?”

In Shropshire you can take unwanted paint to any of the main Household Recycling Centres for disposal and (empty) metal paint tins can be recycled in the scrap metal area.