Waste Stories 19/11/2014

 Healthcare

1. WMAHSN Health+Wealth Economic Summit

Presentations are now available from the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network Health and Wealth Summit in October. The summit was organised by the NHS European Office to look at how regional health economies are successfully using EU funds to lead the local regeneration agenda and was timed to help AHSNs, Local Education and Training Boards and other NHS bodies understand the opportunities offered by EU Structural and Investment Funds over the next seven years.

See copies of the presentations here: WMAHSN Health+Wealth Economic Summit

2. International Conference on Environmental Pollution and Public Health, 2015

The 2015 Conference on Environmental Pollution and Public Health (EPPH 2015) will be held from April 10-12, 2015 in Beijing, China.

See conference website here: EPPH 2015

3. Partnership to help Welsh businesses become more efficient

The Carbon Trust and WRAP Cymru announced that they are to work in partnership to help Welsh public sector organisations and businesses of all sizes to become more resource efficient. The collaboration will deliver Client Manager Services to businesses (including third sector businesses) and public sector organisations as part of the Welsh Government’s Resource Efficient Wales service.

The two contracts are worth a total of £1.03m across an initial 18-month period. Participating organisations will receive support to reduce their energy, water, resource use and waste, helping them take advantage of the opportunities of resource efficiency. They will also be able to learn about additional sources of support from the Welsh Government.

4. UK’s first waste brokerage launched

The Scottish Government is to fund a new remanufacturing centre and a brokerage service for recyclates, it has been announced. The Scottish Institute of Remanufacture, which will focus on recouping the value of the materials and components that are lost through disposal and/or the recycling process, will be hosted by the University of Strathclyde and run in partnership with Heriot-Watt University.

Zero Waste Scotland, which delivers the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Plan, has committed £300,000 to the project, while the Scottish Funding Council, which distributes funding from the Scottish Government to the country’s colleges and universities, will provide £1 million to the centre. The funding will be spread over three years.

Read the story here: Scottish Government waste brokerage service

5. Waste sector sees fall in fatalities

According to the latest injury and ill health statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the number of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the waste and recycling sector has fallen. The overall trend for injury numbers in waste and recycling over the last few years is falling, the HSE confirmed. But it is still “much higher” than in the agriculture and construction sectors, it said. In 2013/14p the waste industry saw four fatal injuries to workers, including two fatal injuries to self-employed people. This compares with an average of nine over the previous five years.

Read the story here: HSE data

5. LWARB and WRAP funding for recycling by London boroughs

The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) and WRAP are looking to join forces to help London boroughs deliver more consistent and efficient waste and recycling services..

See article here: LWARB funding for recycling