1. Healthcare waste conference June 3-4, 2015
The Healthcare Waste Institute’s Annual Healthcare Waste Conference, in Las Vegas.
See conference details here: Healthcare waste conference
2. Plymouth University’s Nursing Sustainability by Design project
See video here: Plymouth University’ Nursing sustainability project
3. Wales goes ahead with separation rules for businesses
The Welsh Environment Minister has confirmed that proposals requiring businesses to separate recyclable materials will become law next year. The measure will be included in an Environment Bill, which is due to be laid before the Welsh Assembly in spring 2015. Natural Resource Minister Carl Sargeant said: “New laws requiring those who collect waste to collect paper, glass, plastics and metals separately, in order to achieve high quality recycling, come into effect on 1 January 2015. In the spring we shall be introducing proposals for further legislation that will require businesses and the public sector to separate their wastes. This will help to ensure a more circular economy for Wales so that the inherent financial value of waste materials is protected.” The proposals were first put forward in a white paper submitted for consultation between October 2013 and January 2014.
See link for more details: Welsh Government
4.Defra to rewrite environmental regulations affecting businesses
As part of ongoing efforts to make them easier to follow, Defra will rewrite environmental regulations affecting businesses by March 2015. The date was announced in a progress report on the Environment Agency’s (EA) triennial review. Defra said that, under its Smarter Environmental Regulation Review (SERR) programme, businesses will find the new system “simpler, quicker and clearer to find the information they need to be able to comply with environmental regulations”. The report also applauded a new service set up by the EA in December 2013 to make it easier for businesses to register as lower-tier waste carriers.
5.DECC unveils changes to energy subsidies
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has unveiled changes to renewable energy subsidies and additional funding to support the development of community-scale renewables, including energy-from-waste projects. “I want to give more people the power to generate their own electricity and by supporting community energy projects we can help them drive down their energy bills at the same time,” said energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey. Also announced were changes to DECC’s Feed in Tariff (FIT) Scheme that will allow more community-scale renewables developers to access the subsidies.