Recycling Roundup 9th April

Recycling Roundup 9^th April

A deposit return scheme for most people is a way that they can do their bit for the environment, but some criminals in Germany have found that it can make them rich.

One 27-year-old man appeared in court in Bochum to face charges of fraud related to making a massive £1.1 million through manipulating reverse vending machines. The man allegedly disabled the shredding mechanism on 2 machines which meant that he was able to claim back deposits for the same bottles continuously.

His lawyer claimed that the man had taken over a retail outlet on behalf of a relative and that he had no idea that the machines had been tampered with.

German authorities say they are aware that incidents of fraud that have occurred since the introduction of the scheme in 2016.

Recycling Lives, a recycling and waste management business, has invested £250,000 into a scrap buying and processing facility in Workington in Cumbria which has created a number of jobs for local people. They plan to invest more money and to help charities and community groups in the local area.

Recycling Lives operates 8 more recycling sites across England, and the company provides a full waste management service as well as running social programmes in the areas where it operates.

The company currently works across Cumbria with 22 charitable groups. It provides them with food and other goods via a Food Redistribution Centre, and it also distributes surplus items from supermarkets and food suppliers to people in need, including people who attend local community centres and school breakfast clubs.

They also run an offender rehabilitation programme in 9 prisons and have residential facilities that work to tackle homelessness.

The company moved into Cumbria last year after they won a contract with Sellafield to process scrap metal from their nuclear fuel facility.

The drinks can recycling awareness programme Every Can Counts team was there to engage hundreds of spectators and visitors at the finish line of the Tour of Flanders in Belgium. Now cycling fans are being encouraged to join in a ‘Recycle Race’ at the next major European cycling race, the Amstel Gold Race in Valkenburg, Holland. Spectators will get to demonstrate their recycling and cycling prowess in the ‘Recycle Race,” an interactive game where pedal power is used to move cans around a recycling loop track. They will be able to race against family and friends for prizes including racing merchandise and even a seat in a racing team car.

The ‘Recycle Race’ delivers the message that the drinks can you recycle today could be made into a new can or even a racing bike tomorrow, and that metals like aluminium and steel can be recycled indefinitely with no reduction in quality. Every Can Counts also aims to encourage people to recycle drinks cans when they are on the go. The initiative was launched in 2009 and it’s now active in 12 European countries.