The latest news from Agripa.
It was an extremely close competition but Cherwell District Council managed to hold on to their lead to win our July ‘Photo of the Month’ competition by just 2% of the votes. We would like to say a big well done to all three of our finalists Cherwell District Council, Edinburgh City Council, and Noblet Municipal Services for making it through to the final public vote.
If you would like to submit a photo to our August ‘Photo of the Month competition for a chance to win £100 it’s not too late, simply email us your entry and if you would like to find out more about the competition visit our Facebook page.
It was a close run competition but there can only be one winner (unless it was a draw!). We will be announcing the results on our Twitter, Facebook, and here on our website on Monday morning once the closing votes have been verified. Good luck to all who made it through to the final vote!
Congratulations to Edinburgh City Council, Cherwell District Council, and Noblet Municipal Services for making it through to the final of our July ‘Photo of the Month’ competition. Voting closes at 5pm on Friday 12th August 2011 so don’t delay, get your vote in now (see poll to the right). If you are a local authority, or represent a local authority, and would like to submit a photo for the August competition please do so through our Facebook.
Agripa is proud to announce the launch of our FREE Ultra system to all local authorities. The Agripa® Ultra system is now available at no cost when you commit to changing the panels once every three months during the first year. To find out more about this fantastic offer click here…
Bedford Borough Council is currently trialling a next generation refuse collection vehicle from British manufacturer Heil-Europe as part of an ongoing commitment to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint.
The vehicle is fitted with an electric hydraulic system which means it is quieter, more efficient, uses less fuel and therefore produces fewer carbon emissions.
The Council currently has a fleet of 10 refuse and 8 recycling collection vehicles. They collect from 63,000 households in the borough each week. It is therefore important the Council investigates the most efficient technologies available and seeks to improve the fleet wherever possible.
Councillor Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “Our refuse and collection lorries play a vital role, covering hundreds of miles every week, to collect our refuse and recycling.
It is therefore important that we investigate the latest technology so when the time comes to replace our vehicles we have assessed a number of options and can make the best possible choice for local residents and the environment.
We hope to carry out further trials later this year as we continue to modernise the service we provide.”
Gosport Borough Council has received positive feedback from residents since handing over the contract for its refuse collection and cleansing to Urbaser, the waste collection, cleansing and treatment services provider.
Urbaser’s vehicle partner is contract hire and fleet management company, Specialist Fleet Services (SFS) and the 10-year contract encompasses refuse collection and street cleansing.
SFS is providing more than 30 vehicles, including seven Dennis Eagle rear steer RCVs (two standard width, and five narrow width), Scarab sweepers, tippers and various maintenance vehicles.
“We were very specific about what we were looking for and the whole process was transparent,” comments Stevyn Ricketts, head of Streetscene, Gosport Borough Council. “Our aim is to deliver the contract under budget, and, because it is performance-related, it is in both parties interests to work efficiently.”
Javier Peiro, director at Urbaser comments: “We have been working in this sector forover 20 years and we can bring new and innovative ways of working. We are also very grateful to our vehicle partners, SFS, whose in-depth knowledge and expertise was invaluable in securing the contract.”
Bob Sweetland, managing director, SFS says: “We are delighted that Urbaser has chosen us as its vehicle partner for this prestigious contract. It’s great to hear that the new and improved fleet is already having a positive impact on the collection and cleansing service in the Borough.”
Source: Transport Engineer
Two charities have teamed up with the police to launch a campaign targeting violent crime in South Lanarkshire.
Crimestoppers and Victim Support Scotland are urging residents to get in touch with information and help crackdown on locals who carry weapons.
As part of the new ‘Be Fearless about violence in South Lanarkshire’ campaign the charities will be driving home the message that information about violent criminals in the area can be passed on anonymously through the Crimestoppers hotline.
The six week campaign, which launched on Monday, will see Crimestoppers posters plastered on bin lorries, bus stations and bus shelters across South Lanarkshire, until August.
Chief Superintendent Alan Gall, the Divisional Commander of South Lanarkshire Division endorsed the campaign.
He said: “Officers in South Lanarkshire work hard to detect violent offenders who are hell bent on carrying knives or other weapons in order to cause harm.
“Let’s be brutally honest, anyone who leaves their house carrying a knife or a weapon does so with the sole intention of possibly using the weapon against someone.
“We have devised this campaign to speak directly to our communities that they have the power to do something about it. That power is to report information that they may have on offenders and potential offenders – not to the police, which can cause fear of repercussion – but straight to Crimestoppers, whilst remaining completely anonymous.
“We need local people to fill in the missing gaps of information so we can lock these people up.”
Victim Support Scotland, one of the partners of the new campaign deals with more than 80,000 victims of crime every year and sees what impact knife or weapons crime can have on the community every day.
Heather Dickson, Lanarkshire’s business delivery manager at the voluntary organisation, said: “This campaign empowers communities to show that they will not tolerate weapons crime, and enables Crimestoppers and the Police to work with communities to try and eradicate it from the streets of South Lanarkshire and ultimately reduce the number of victims of weapons crime.”
Crimestoppers is an independent charity, and anyone who provides information on crime will remain anonymous with all calls are treated with the strictest confidence.
Kate Jackson, the assistant manager of Scotland Crimestoppers, said: “We provide a completely anonymous way for members of the public to give information about violent criminals in South Lanarkshire, knowing that they will never have to go to court or give a statement to the Police.
“Just one call could provide the missing piece in the jigsaw in locating a violent criminal in South Lanarkshire.”
Source: STV
Lambeth has become the first London borough to team up with Recyclebank to offer incentives for household recycling.
The rewards scheme, which launched in Brixton today (16 May), will initially target harder-to-reach households, such as those in flats or multi-occupancy dwellings on estates.
It is being implemented in partnership with Veolia, and is a key part of Lambeth Council’s plans to improve its recycling rate of 22%. The initial scheme will cover 51,000 households before being rolled out to all residents within the borough within 12 months.
The launch was attended by edie where Lambeth’s council leader Steve Reed said he was “absolutely delighted” to be involved in the “pioneering” scheme which heralded a more sustainable future for the borough.
Lambeth’s cabinet member for Environment & sustainability, Cllr Lorna Campbell, added: “This scheme is an important part of our plans to reduce waste costs, boost recycling and make Lambeth a cleaner and greener place to live.”
Recyclebank will be deploying a new version of its programme in the borough, in which residents can keep a record of their recycling points online, by phone or through a free iPhone app.
So far over 100 local reward partners have been recruited to take part in the initiative, along with national partners such as Coca-Cola and Marks & Spencer.
RecycleBank’s UK managing director, Sue Igoe, said: “As well as being the first London borough to offer a recycling rewards scheme to its residents, Lambeth will be the first to introduce our new community solution, which has been developed to tackle the challenging issues of recycling in flats head on.”
Source: Lambeth Council
Malvern Hills residents might well have seen the newly revamped refuse collection vehicles out on the streets this week.
To complement the forthcoming launch of the new recycling service in April, Malvern Hills District Council has redesigned the livery on its vehicles to help promote the recycling message. The new design, which is carried by nine vehicles, includes a striking bright blue banner and pictures illustrating all the sorts of materials that can be recycled in the new cherry coloured sacks. It also includes a big thank you to residents for all their support for the new recycling service which is being launched on the 5th April.
The new design has been funded by the Waste Resources Action Programme, a national organisation that supports positive recycling initiatives and has been fixed to the vehicles using unique technology designed by the company Agripa. The panels are interchangeable meaning that the vehicles can be continually updated as and when required.
Source: Malvern Hills District Council
Designer bin wagons are now hitting the streets of Rotherham courtesy of a group of artistic local youngsters.
Five Council recycling vehicles will feature winning posters created by youngsters from local primary and infant schools, while 23 waste wagons will sport the first names of children who won second prizes.
At 5.30 pm on Tuesday March 29, the Mayor of Rotherham, Cllr Rose McNeely, will be presenting certificates to the artistic group of youngsters, who will be accompanied by their parents, at a special afternoon tea at Rotherham Town Hall.
The Mayor judged the art competition – organised last year by the authority’s Waste Management Unit – which received some incredibly high quality entries from the borough’s infant and primary schools.
The Mayor was very impressed with the quality of the posters saying that education is a key element in promoting sustainability in Rotherham and the poster competition hoped to engage children in considering local environmental issues.
She added: “The results were wonderful. It is marvellous to see the range of ideas and enthusiasm that children have about protecting the environment. It is really good to know that the future of Rotherham is in good hands.”
The five winning entries are being turned into full-sized Agripa recycling posters that will go on the side of five of the six kerbsider recycling vehicles that collect glass, tins and paper.
The rest of the waste fleet have already hit the road with a whole variety of names, including Anastasia, Max H., Cody, Keira, Matilda and Charlie P.
Source: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
A Campaign is being launched to get Bromsgrove residents to waste less food.
The West Midland’s ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign, a joint project of local authorities in the region including Bromsgrove District Council, aims to help people to make the most of the food they buy, and save money.
As part of the campaign a number of the council’s vehicles have been branded with brand new Love Food Hate Waste Agripa panels.
Events offering advice and information are also being held, including talks and cookery workshops.
A drop in session is being run at Bromsgrove’s Customer Service Centre, in School Drive, on March 8 between 2pm-4pm. Experts will be attending the event, with top tips on how to cut food bills and the amount of waste, just by making a few easy changes.
Research released by the Waste and Resources Action Programme in 2009 showed more than eight million tonnes of food and drink is wasted in UK homes every year – enough to fill Wembley Stadium eight times.
The council want people to make the most of the food bought and avoid throwing it away, as it saves money in not having to dispose of it.
Bromsgrove District Council’s portfolio holder for environmental services, Councillor Mike Webb, said: “We throw food out for two main reasons: we cook or prepare too much, or food goes off before we’re able to eat it.
“By making just a few changes like planning what we are going to eat in the following week or making a meal out of leftovers, we can save money and cut down on the food that we literally throw in the bin!”
For more information visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.
Don’t forget to add yourself on Twitter and Facebook to be instantly kept up-to-date on what we are doing, who we are working with and the latest news from Agripa. Also, if you are looking for a bit of creative inspiration you can check out our campaign portfolio on Flickr and see just how easy it is to change a panel with the Agripa® system on YouTube.
A new method of promoting crime prevention messages across the community is being launched in Bury.
Greater Manchester Police’s Bury Division and Bury Metro Environmental and Development Services have joined forces to help keep residents focused on keeping themselves safe and their property secure.
Signs will be attached to the side of six Bury Metro bin wagons, providing valuable crime prevention and contact information to a borough-wide audience.
There are 12 sign designs relating to various issues such as burglary, domestic violence, vehicle crime and doorstep crime. They will remain on the wagons for three years as part of the agreement with Bury Metro.
Gaynor Mason, Crime Reduction Advisor for Greater Manchester Police’s Bury Division said: “The bin wagons travel the length and breadth of the town and are often stationary or slow moving. This makes them an excellent and cost effective way to promote important information on public safety and crime prevention as they go about their daily business.
“We hope many will take on board the information, take the simple steps to protect themselves and their property and help us drive crime down even further across Bury.”
St Albans District Council has awarded Agripa with a contract to provide 22 advertising banners for use on 11 refuse vehicles provided by contractor Enterprise.
The aim is to use the posters to improve communications with local residents, particularly in the winter.
Enterprise offered to pay for half of the cost of the system and two sets of banners. The second set will carry a different message and will be used during the summer months.
St Albans’ principal waste management officer, Moira Wollington, said: “We were looking for a new way to communicate with our residents during the winter when adverse weather conditions cause road closures and affect refuse collections. Traditionally we relied upon leafleting and press ads, but these didn’t enable us to communicate quickly and efficiently at short notice.”
“The Agripa system will enable us to continually promote our website address for online updates and our disruption information hotline should people prefer to speak with someone,” she continued.
The new system will also save the council money as the display posters can be stored and re-used year after year.
In the face of austerity measures, the need for effective communication between local authorities and residents is arguably greater than ever.
Mark Hendry, Sales and Marketing Director at Agripa, discusses the importance of conveying the right messages to the general public in challenging financial times and explains how local authorities can maximise their existing resources to make their budgets work harder.
According to a survey by Hull city council, winner of ‘The Best Local Authority Recycling Initiative’ category in the 2010 Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management, 95% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that it was important to know how much the city is recycling.
Statistics like this clearly demonstrate the importance of effective communication with local residents but, despite this, marketing and advertising is often one of the first areas to feel the pinch when it comes to budget cuts.
However, while some local authorities are making dramatic reductions in communications activity, others are simply becoming more resourceful, finding new and innovative ways to get their message across to the local community.
It is councils like these who will be in the strongest position to weather the storm and maintain the support of their communities. This is particularly true in today’s challenging economic times, where people need to be convinced now more than ever that their taxes are being spent wisely.
Multi-media society
In today’s multi-media society, it is questionable whether traditional advertising routes alone offer the best value for money. As a result, we are seeing an increasing number of authorities adopting channels such as Twitter as a cost-effective means of updating local residents regarding activities and initiatives.
Another area growing in popularity is that of vehicle-side advertising. With councils being challenged to make the most of their own assets, what better way to maximise the value of fleets by turning their vehicles into mobile billboards?
Refuse and recycling vehicles tend to operate exclusively in the local community and will be out on the road five days a week, through town and city centres as well as in more rural areas. Bold and eye catching advertising on the side of these vehicles therefore offers a high-visibility, timely and relevant local communication tool with proven results.
Campaign
For instance, when Cambridgeshire county council wanted to promote ‘Slim Your Bin’, a county-wide campaign to increase recycling and reduce waste, they adopted a multi-media approach across several channels including vehicles.
After the campaign, they carried out an advertising awareness survey and discovered that, of the 72% of respondents aware of the campaign, 59% had first become aware of the new service through the signs on refuse collection vehicles.
Last year, Charnwood borough council used the side of their vehicles to promote their reduced rate garden waste collection service. They monitored the number of sign-ups to the service and discovered that the week after the campaign advertisements were put up on their vehicles – a week in which there was no other promotional activity – 409 people signed-up. The only higher number of recruits – 464 – was achieved following a series of roadshows, where people were actually signed up to the service on the day.
Results such as these highlight the effectiveness of vehicle side advertising but, until recent years, vehicle livery involved stickers or painting. Both of these methods are timely, messy and costly to update. However, systems such as Agripa’s simple yet innovative frame and mesh solution provide a more cost effective solution.
Graphics can be supplied on patented aerodynamic mesh panels or solid vinyl and can be changed frequently to promote new campaigns, products or services. They can also be stored and re-used at a later date, helping local authorities to add value and maximise the effectiveness of their campaigns without breaking the bank.”
Agripa’s unique vehicle advertising system which is now used on more than 3,500 refuse and recycling vehicles, serving over 220 UK-based local authorities. For more information join us on Twitter or visit www.agripa.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com
Tower Hamlets refuse collection vehicles are helping to spread the recycling message as they drive around the borough’s streets.
The vehicles have new Agripa® panels on their sides which say ‘Keep your recycling out of this rubbish truck”. The panels appear on 10 refuse collection vehicles.
Councillor Shahed Ali, Lead Member for the Environment at Tower Hamlets Council, said: “While our recycling rates are on the up we still need to do more to ensure that we send less waste to landfill.
“Around 40 per cent of the waste we produce can be easily recycled in the borough’s pink bags and purple recycling bins, and that’s the message we want to get across. Residents are already doing a great job at recycling their waste, we’re just asking people to recycle even more.”
Last month Tower Hamlets won the Local Authority Target Success award at the MRW National Recycling Awards 2010.
Over the past two years recycling rates have nearly doubled in Tower Hamlets, rising from just 13 per cent in 2007/08 to well above 26 per cent in 2009/10.
Along with waste management contractors, Veolia Environmental Services, the council introduced an innovative £1.5 million recycling improvement plan.
Improvements included recycling of litter, a new weekly garden waste service for all kerbside properties, a food waste collection service for all houses, 6,000 flats and all schools in the borough.
The target for 2010/11 is 32 per cent, so Tower Hamlets Council is working with Veolia to encourage residents to recycle even more of their waste.
In Tower Hamlets, residents can recycle mixed glass bottles and jars, food and drink cans, plastic bottles, mixed card, mixed paper, food and drink cartons, aerosols and telephone directories in their pink sacks or purple recycling bins.
Source: Tower Hamlets Council
Britain’s landfills will be full in less than eight years unless we see a major shift in recycling rates.
This is the verdict of the Local Government Association (LGA), which says the public needs to be aware of the urgency of the situation, and the financial bite they will feel if the problem is not addressed.
The UK is sending more waste to landfill than any other country in Europe and is heading for huge fines if it fails to rein in the amount of waste it is burying in the ground.
Council tax payers are likely to pick up the bill if this happens. Radical reforms are needed, say council leaders.
Householders, shops, businesses and manufacturers all have a vital role to play in protecting the environment and in cutting the amount of rubbish that is produced and thrown away.
LGA figures suggest at current rates of waste disposal Britain will hit its landfill limit in 2018.
Councillor Gary Porter, chairman of the LGA Environment Board, said: “For decades people used to be able to throw away their rubbish without worrying about the environmental or financial consequences.
“Those days have gone. Taxpayers face huge financial penalties if targets to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill are not met.
“Householders should be congratulated for the efforts they have made in recent years to increase the amount of rubbish they recycle.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that Britain is fast running out of space to dump rubbish in the ground.
“With the current financial squeeze that all councils are facing, it is more important than ever that they work with residents to make sure as much rubbish as possible is recycled to avoid being hit by heavy fines.”
Source: edie newsroom
This month marks the 2nd anniversary of the very successful waste management and street cleansing partnership between South Bucks District Council and Verdant Group Plc. To celebrate, a new refuse, recycling and street cleansing campaign is being launched called ‘We Want You To Help Us…’ utilising the Agripa® system.
The campaign will give residents the information and encouragement they need to start recycling, or for those that recycle regularly to increase their effort that little bit more to ensure they recycle as much of their waste as possible. Look out for newly branded refuse and recycling vehicles, poster, information leaflets and campaign material throughout the district.
Since Verdant Plc began the seven year refuse, recycling and street cleansing contract in November 2007, they have taken over 25,000 tonnes of domestic refuse to landfill, and sent over 15,000 tonnes of waste for recycling and composting, and cleared nearly 3000 tonnes of rubbish off the streets. It is hoped this campaign will highlight the impact of dropping litter on our streets, as well as help South Bucks reach the County’s challenging recycling target of 40% by 2010.
South Bucks District Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, Councillor Bill Lidgate, says, “South Bucks residents are now recycling over a third of their waste. This is a fantastic achievement, however we face challenging recycling targets and want to ensure our district stays clean and clear of litter. A lot of money is spent picking litter up off our streets, which could be better spent on other improvements.”
“We want to build on our successes and see this new campaign as an extension of our commitment to make South Bucks a sustainable and clean place to live. We are hoping that all residents will take part and do their bit to reduce their waste, keep our streets clear of litter and go that little bit further to recycle as much as possible.”
What is Edenburgh
The Edenburgh campaign promotes pro-environmental behaviour like recycling and reducing the amount of waste we produce. It will also challenge negative environmental behaviour by showing the results of illegal dumping, not recycling and littering.
The campaign will raise awareness of the need to protect our beautiful environment by recycling more and asks Edinburgh residents to choose whether they contribute towards a clean, green and safe Edenburgh or dirty, littered, wasteful EdinbURGH.
Why an Edenburgh campaign
What we do with our waste in Edinburgh has a big impact on our quality of life and the success of our city.
We’re all working to reduce the amount of the city’s waste sent to landfill sites, improve the cleanliness of the city’s streets and improve parks, gardens and open spaces.
To help us keep Edinburgh a safe, green, clean and attractive city, we’ve launched the Edenburgh public awareness campaign to encourage pride and public involvement.
How you can help?
If each Edinburgh household recycled an extra 1kg a week – the equivalent of a bag of sugar – we would reach the city’s recycling target set by the Scottish Government. You can do this by:
• taking responsibility for the amount of waste you produce and what you throw in your waste bin
• reduce, reuse or recycle as much of your waste as possible
• finding out what recycling and reuse facilities are available in your area and using them
Need advice on Edinburgh’s recycling services?
Community Recycling Centres
Garden waste
Recycling advice
Recycling points
Red and blue box kerbside collections
Tenement recycling
Agripa’s patented advertising system has been included as part of the specification for FOCSA Services new contract with Herefordshire Council.
32 brand new refuse & recycling vehicles have been kitted out with Agripa’s innovative advertising system, with the initial designs highlighting the council’s new collection service, offering mixed collections to the council’s residents.
The Herefordshire contract was preceded by Agripa’s recently celebrated milestone in recieving an order to install their 200th council through Kingston upon Hull. This was followed by orders from Mid Suffolk & Babergh Council, Wirral Metro Borough Council, Lancaster City Council, Wandsworth Council and Shropshire County Council, proving more and more authorities are realising the cost saving involved in using their own vehicles to communicate with their residents in challenging financial times.
Agripa and Focsa now work together on a number of their contracts, including Cheshire West & Chester, Harborough and Wychavon and most recently Herefordshire.
Alan Sherlock, Focsa Services National Fleet Manager, who was on hand to receive the keys to the vehicles from Dennis Eagle MD Norman Thoday said “We have worked with Agripa on a number of different contracts now and I am still impressed by the innovation of the system. We included the system as part of the Herefordshire tender to help the council communicate with their residents. Indirectly these residents are our customers too, so with the current focus towards recycling and re-use it’s really important that these key messages are taken down every street within the district. Vinyl’s are now a thing of the past and when you think of how easy the Agripa banners are to change, it really shows just how outdated vinyl’s now are. Agripa have really helped us out as vehicle down time just doesn’t exist anymore as the banners can be changed in 10minutes in any conditions. The banners that have been taken off can then be rolled up and stored to be put back on the truck later, so this massively helps the council with their marketing spend. We’ve used Agripa’s patented reflective frame on all the vehicles we’ve had installed so far which really helps visibility and safety for the trucks. This and the actual banners themselves make our vehicles look so much better than before.”
Paul Morris, Focsa Services Contract Manager for the Herefordshire contract added “Dealing with Agripa was very good. They helped us through our requirements and dealt with the various stages of getting them fitted to the vehicles in the fleet. From our point of view the system looks great as the reflective boarder highlights the side of the vehicles in the dark and the advertising on the sides can easily be changed relative to what’s going on locally or nationally.”
Joining Alan and Paul on the day of the handover was Norman Thoday – MD of Dennis Eagle, Jonathon Thomas – Dennis Eagle Regional Sales Manager, John Harris – Focsa Services Operations Director, Richard Wood – Herefordshire Council Waste Services Manager, Grant Harvey – Focsa Services Contract Senior Supervisor, Steve Suffolk – Focsa Services Head of Business Development, Lindsay Cairns – Agripa and Stephen Leishman – Agripa.
A year’s free subscription to Charnwood Borough Council’s garden waste collection service can be won by 10 lucky residents who enter a special contest.
The council is encouraging more people to do their bit for the environment, sign up to the scheme and prevent their garden waste being dumped in landfill.
Last year more than 6,000 tonnes of garden waste was composted by Charnwood Borough Council thanks to its garden waste collection service.
Now it is urging more people to sign up to the scheme which costs £15 a year – that’s just 60p per collection. For those who enter a special contest, detailed below, there is a chance of winning a year’s subscription to the scheme.
In order to communicate this message with as many residents as possible, the Council is using the patented Agripa system on their vehicles, meaning this message and many others can be taken down every street within the borough.
Kath Kay, Waste Policy Manager said “We’re currently using the Agripa panels to promote our garden waste collection service, for which we’ve recently reduced the price. We’ve recently compiled a table which shows the number of new subscribers to the service, by week, against key promotional events. We’ve noticed that the week following installation of the Agripa vehicle panels, the number of new subscriptions shot up, and have continued to be considerably higher than before installation.
“We’ve been delighted with the success of the panels” she continued “and whilst our other promotional events will have an impact on the subscription rates, I strongly believe that residents continue to be influenced by the panels being out and about every day.”
The service means people don’t have to load their cars up with garden refuse and take it to Recycling and Household Waste sites.
It also means less garden rubbish is taken to landfill sites where it produces methane and contributes to climate change. By composting the waste instead, this is avoided.
The garden waste collected by the council is composted into a soil conditioner, which is also available to buy from the Recycling and Household Waste Sites across Leicestershire.
On Thursday, August 27, the council’s Environmental Services Team will be at Leicester Rowena Garden Centre, Loughborough Road, Rothley, where people can get more information about the scheme and sign up.
Cllr Hilary Fryer, Lead Member for the Environment at Charnwood Borough Council, said: “At the moment nearly 30 per cent of Charnwood residents use the garden waste collection service, which is fantastic. I would like to congratulate them for enabling more than 6,000 tonnes of garden waste to be composted last year alone.
“However, we would love to see even more people take advantage of this service and do their bit for the environment as well.”
In September, all properties which don’t already subscribe to the service will receive information through the door about how to subscribe. To find out more please visit www.charnwood.gov.uk/gardenwaste.
The council has 10 garden waste bins available to residents for one year’s free subscription to the garden waste service.
If you live in Charnwood, don’t already subscribe to the service, have a garden and would like to enter the competition, please answer the following question, and post your answer to Garden Waste Competition, Environmental Services, Charnwood Borough Council, Southfield Road, Loughborough, LE11 2TN.
‘What gas is produced when garden waste rots in a landfill site, and how is this harmful to our environment?’
Correct entries will be drawn out of a hat on 17 September 2009.
Three Rivers District Council’s fleet of refuse and recycling lorries have undergone a special makeover this week, to promote key environmental messages.
The lorries are now equipped with patented Agripa signage boards promoting the 4Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle and recover. The current signs raise awareness of food waste issues, encouraging residents to re-use and recycle food scraps. All food scraps, from peelings to raw or cooked meat, can be placed in the brown bins collected by the Council. Residents can wrap scraps in newspaper if concerned about flies or smells.
The signs can be re-used to brand the lorries with new messages as required; helping to save money but keep the image fresh.
Councillor Phil Brading, Portfolio Holder for Public Services and Health, said: “We’re really pleased with the lorries’ new look. These important recycling messages will be seen by residents all over the district and we hope they’ll help to increase Three Rivers’ already impressive recycling rate of 49.3 per cent. Plus, they’re much more interesting to look at than plain lorry sides!”
For more information on recycling services in Three Rivers or the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, residents can visit www.threerivers.gov.uk or ring 01923 776611.
Lewisham’s refuse trucks are sporting new ‘Starve Your Bin’ Agripa posters, as part of a city-wide campaign to get Londoners to reduce waste and recycle more.
The Agripa system is installed to 16 of the council’s refuse and recycling trucks, which means the council can brand their vehicles with any design they like, as the banners can be changed in only 5 minutes, stored and re-used when required.
The ‘Starve your Bin’ banners are the latest to be used by the council, after using the Agripa system to promote messages such as ‘Clean Streets’, ‘Garden Waste’, ‘In Bloom’, ‘You can Recycle’ and a Children’s competition were the winning design was printed on to banners for the trucks.
Noel Everest, Fleet Manager said “In today’s age of instance communication the need to get information to residents which is timely and therefore useful presents a problem when using conventional methods of signage such as long lead in times, costs of bespoke vinyl, difficult and time consuming to apply, the need for a strong corporate brand etc.”
“The Agripa system has answered all of these problems in Lewisham and we can now respond to campaigns quickly and offer and fast, flexible and cost effective service to our communications team while improving the aesthetics of the vehicle Fleet”.
Councillor Susan Wise, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, added “We hope that the new Agripa posters will grab everyone’s attention and encourage residents to think about both reducing waste and how and what we can recycle.
“Lewisham is upping its efforts to get this important waste reduction message across, and to further increase our composting and recycling rates. We are working with businesses, residents and schools on this, and our recent initiatives include a green waste collection, real nappy promotion and street litter recycling.”
Remember that everyone in Lewisham can recycle glass, cans and paper at the very least. But with most London boroughs collecting a far wider range of materials, it is easier than ever to recycle and make London a greener place to live.
Bournemouth’s recycling vehicles are sporting new designs thanks to the artistic talents of an 11-year-old local girl.
Following a competition, run in conjunction with 2CR (soon to be Heart), to come up with an appropriate design to feature on three of the Council’s recycling trucks, the winning entry chosen was drawn by Tiana Jade Moran.
Her design featuring an image of the world accompanied by a strong message about the risks run globally if we fail to recycle our waste was selected for its powerful environmental theme.
The design was printed on to patented Agripa banners, with the Agripa system currently installed on to 41 vehicles of the council’s fleet. The system will allow the design to be removed and swapped with another advert in only 5 minutes, and can put back on the vehicles whenever required.
And the youngster will be amongst the first to see the new designs when a lorry sporting her design turns up at her school, Kinson Primary, for its official launch on Monday 1 June.
Georgina Lamb, Waste Minimisation and Recycling Officer, said: “I’d like to say a big well done and congratulations to Tiana for her fantastic design. It shows exactly why we should all be recycling. Her use of colourful images together with the picture of the world and strong message provide a very visual statement and one we are all too happy to feature on our recycling lorries.”
People who dump their rubbish illegally in Lichfield are being targeted with a new mobile campaign.Lichfield District Council have put up new Agripa banners on the side of their fleet of six waste trucks, which can now be seen travelling all over the district spreading the anti-littering message.
The council hope the travelling advert slogan - fly-tipping is a crime - will make people think twice about dumping rubbish illegally, while encouraging people to report it, if they see anyone breaking the law.Posters and flyers, carrying the hard hitting message, will also help to reinforce the council’s crack down on fly-tipping.
Ruth Plant, Director of Operational Services, said: “It is totally unfair that we all end up paying to dispose of other peoples’ rubbish properly. This campaign warns those who think they can get away with it, that if we catch them, they could face a fine of up to £50,000 or six months in prison. Rubbish dumped on our verges and country lanes is not just unsightly it is also expensive to clear up. This is why we’re also urging anyone who sees this criminal behaviour to report it to us.”
Councillor Louise Flowith, Cabinet Member for Operational Services at Lichfield District Council, added: “The Agripa system will allow us to get our message out to lots of people because our recycling vehicles travel the length and breadth of our district. The sheer size of the advertising space means the designs will have a huge impact, making sure no one misses our message. The novelty of this form of advertising is we will have control over when we want to change the adverts so that what we are saying is always relevant.”
On top of the promotional campaign, the council has recently stepped up efforts to catch fly-tippers in the act.
Following investigations by Environmental Health Officers, the local authority successfully prosecuted four people for waste offences, and formally cautioned a further three people.
Council officers will continue their zero tolerance approach to investigating fly-tipping, uncovering offenders by conducting surveillance at hot-spot dumping sites, and carrying out stop and searches of waste carrying vehicles, in partnership with the Police.
Ruth added “We hope our enforcement work, coupled with this high profile campaign, will make people think twice about fly-tipping, helping us to keep Lichfield District tidy for everyone.”
To help stamp out fly-tipping, report it by calling Lichfield District Council on 01543 308999 or visiting www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/reportit.
A young Leamington school pupil will have her art work displayed around Warwickshire from now until Christmas after winning a competition to help encourage people to recycle their waste.
Charlotte Clulee’s design, on the general theme of ‘recycling’, was chosen from more than a hundred entries and is being used as a poster on the back of Warwick District Council’s recycling lorries using the patented Agripa system.
The council has the Agripa system installed to 17 vehicles in total, including 5 kerbside vehicles. This allows unique advert panels to be slid in and out of their frame, meaning the designs can be changed in minutes. The banners can also be reused, so Charlotte’s design may be used again next year.
The 12-year-old from The Kingsley School in Beauchamp Avenue created a bold and simple design of the Earth with the words ‘Please save me – recycle’.
The competition was open to all under 18s as part of a new campaign to encourage all district residents to recycle their waste using the council’s fortnightly red box collections.
The council had a terrific response, and all of the entries were fantastic but Charlotte’s stood out with a design that was bold and colourful and with a message that was short and snappy.
Charlotte and runners up, Chloe Bromilow, 12, also from The Kingsley School, and Mollie Aldersley, 10, from Warwick Preparatory School received a bag of recycled ‘goodies’ including a pencil case and note book made out of recycled car tyres.
Warwick District has one of the highest recycling rates in the country – currently around 53% of rubbish is recycled.
Becky Davies, Recycling and Waste Minimisation Officer said “The original intention was to use adhesive vinyl on the sides of our vehicles with one permanent message and the Council and contractor logos. I then learnt about the Agripa system which would allow us to change our message to tie in with particular campaigns. It was seen as another way of communicating with residents of Warwick District especially considering the vehicles visit every household in the district on a weekly/fortnightly basis.”
“We did look at other options in terms of branding vehicles but decided that the Agripa system was the best option for us as it wouldn’t leave a permanent mark/scar on the vehicle if it ever had to be removed”
Perth & Kinross Council is highlighting the importance of Child Protection by installing 5 of their vehicles with the Agripa system.
The first banners installed to the trucks have been printed with the message: “It’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure children are safe from harm”
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From Monday 8 September, Winchester City Council is launching its first ever food waste campaign with the slogan “Taste it don’t waste it”.
The campaign will be taken to the streets on the sides of the Council’s 16 refuse freighters, which between them cover 8,000 miles each week, using the patented Agripa advertising system.
The campaign is being supported by top Winchester chef, Andy Mackenzie from Lainston House Hotel, who is offering a local resident the chance to win a night at the 4 star hotel – dinner included – and a personal cooking tutorial!
The council collects around 3,000 tonnes of food waste from people’s bins each year – the equivalent of 206 double decker buses. On average, families waste around £610 worth of food each year. Mr Mackenzie, Executive Chef at Lainston House Hotel, said: “I am really pleased to support this campaign. As a chef, you learn about food planning and buying – and they are very important skills for anyone running a kitchen. “It doesn’t take long to plan a week’s menu in advance – but it saves you a lot of time and money in the long run!”
The main reasons for throwing away food can be grouped into “cooking or preparing too much” (for example cooking too much rice or pasta, which gets left in the saucepan or on the plate) or “not using food in time” – for example having to throw out fruit and vegetables because they’ve gone off in the fruit bowl or in the fridge, or not eating food before it goes past its use-by date.
Cllr Frank Pearson, Winchester’s Environment Portfolio Holder, said it was the first time the refuse trucks have been used as advertising boards. “This is a really exciting venture for us – using our own fleet of vehicles to spread important messages.The ‘taste it, don’t waste it’ posters are designed to be fun and eye catching – and I hope people will enjoy them!”
The people of Renfrewshire have been urged to do their bit in keeping their local area clean, with the launch on Thursday 15 May, of a new campaign.
At the official launch of ‘Clean Renfrewshire’ at Paisley Town Hall, Renfrewshire Council displayed the nine tonnes of litter – enough to fill nine refuse trucks – that are lifted from the streets and roads every weekend.
Clean Renfrewshire, which has a total funding package of £2.7m, is aimed at instilling pride across the local area and taking enforcement action against people who break the law by littering, fly tipping, spraying graffiti and allowing their dogs to foul the streets and parks.
As part of the campaign, 36 of the councils refuse and recycling trucks have been branded with the patented Agripa system, with the first banners printed with the ‘Clean Renfrewshire’ message. The system will then also be used in the plan to tackle and promote the anti litter, fly tipping, graffiti and dog fouling initiatives.
Crucially, the Council will form partnerships with local neighbourhoods, school pupils and the business community in Renfrewshire to reduce the amount of litter dropped and increase the amount which is cleaned up. The campaign will focus on reducing the amount of street litter, graffiti, chewing gum, fly tipping, fly posting and dog fouling – which cost Renfrewshire taxpayers a staggering £3m every year to remove, taking the total the council spends on keeping Renfrewshire’s streets clean to £5.7m.
Clean Renfrewshire will combine an initial ‘hearts and minds’ programme aimed at instilling pride in the local environment, followed by a get-tough zero tolerance clampdown on litter crime – including uniformed environmental wardens who will issue offenders with on-the-spot £50 fixed penalty notices – set to launch in October of this year.
The initial phase of the campaign will see households across Renfrewshire being issued with a Clean Renfrewshire Charter. The council recently completed a ‘Spring Clean’ of Renfrewshire’s streets to ensure that residents are encouraged to keep their local area clean and free from litter.
The council is also piloting a £250k Community Caretakers scheme in Paisley South in June of this year. The eight caretakers will work in local areas to provide a hands-on approach to maintaining open spaces such as parks and streets. They will play an ‘eyes and ears’ role in reporting graffiti and fly tipping and local people will be encouraged to approach them with their community issues.
Council leader Derek Mackay, speaking at the launch at Paisley Town Hall, said:
“The amount of litter discarded by people in Renfrewshire each weekend – enough to fill nine refuse trucks – is unacceptable.
“By launching the Clean Renfrewshire campaign we hope to engage with those people who want to live and work in a clean and pleasant environment and deter those who have no respect for their local environment by issuing fixed penalty notices.
“It is impossible for a local authority to keep the streets of its towns and villages clean on its own. What we need is for the people who live, work and play in Renfrewshire to get involved in our campaign, encourage their friends and family not to drop litter and report other anti-social behaviour such as fly tipping and graffiti when they see it.
“We are investing in keeping Renfrewshire tidy but we need the full support of our local residents if we’re truly to make our campaign a success.”
Residents across Sandwell will notice a change to garden waste collection vehicles when the wheeled bin collection service resumes this month.
The garden waste collection vehicles have this week been fitted with brand new Agripa panels.
The new panels illustrate the composting cycle and encourage residents to use the service with the message “Recycle your garden waste to help the environment”.
Cllr Mahboob Hussain, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and housing, said: “Now that this service is borough wide we have updated collection vehicles to display a consistent message. This new design is eye-catching and encourages residents to think about the importance of recycling garden waste.”
Sandwell’s garden waste collection vehicles are fitted with a state-of-the-art advertising system, known as the Agripa system, which is a globally patented design allowing display panels on the side of the vehicles to be changed quickly.
Traditionally, the sides of vehicles are painted with details of the collection service but need to be re-painted every time the information needs updating.
The Agripa system allows the sides of vehicles to be changed more quickly and professionally.
For further information on recycling in Sandwell go to www.recycling.sandwell.gov.uk or call Contact Sandwell on 0845 359 7501 or email contact@sandwell.gov.uk.
“South Norfolk is a great place, and we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We need the community’s help to keep it that way”
Councillor David Bills
Best selling author and travel writer Bill Bryson has given his backing to a new high-profile South Norfolk Council publicity campaign to fight environmental crime and promote the area.
On Friday (July 6) he will be visiting the Council’s Ketteringham depot just off the A11 to see for himself the councils dramatic and eye-catching bin lorry adverts.
Across the normally empty sides of the familiar orange, four and six wheel refuse and recycling lorries, are Agripa banners with pictures of everything from mattresses and settees dumped in green fields to big yellow sunflowers and bright red strawberry plants.
The lorries have all been installed with a brand new patented vehicle advertising system, from Agripa. All are digitally printed onto high quality, PVC mesh panels, which then slide into place. These tour the district every week, visiting over 50,000 households collecting refuse and recycling.
The pictures also carry strong messages calling on people to “wake up … fly-tipping is a crime” and “compost at home…for a bloomin marvellous garden”.
But the top line message of the campaign is hammered home on almost every one: “Help keep South Norfolk a great place.”
Bill Bryson, who has travelled the world as a writer and broadcaster, before choosing to settle in beautiful South Norfolk, believes the campaign is worth his support and wanted to see all the lorry liveries for himself.
So South Norfolk Council invited him to Ketteringham depot.
On Monday July 9, he takes over the Presidency of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) from journalist, broadcaster and former newspaper editor, Sir Max Hastings.
Both South Norfolk Council and the CPRE have a number of concerns in common – including tackling litter and fly-tipping.
Although the district is largely safe, clean and green, the council has said it will not become complacent, but tackle incidents quickly and effectively.
As part of that campaign, it has just launched a new freephone number for residents to report environmental crime and anti-social behaviour.
South Norfolk Council Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor David Bills, and Deputy Leader, Councillor Martin Wilby will give Bill Bryson a guided tour of the depot and the bin lorry liveries
Cllr Bills said “South Norfolk is a great place, and we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We need the community’s help to keep it that way.
“To support them in combating environmental crime, we announced this week our 0808 168 2999 freephone number for people to report incidents. I am sure this will help all of us in this task.”
Cllr Wilby, Deputy Leader, and a working farmer in South Norfolk, said “We put our environment first in everything we do. I get fed up with finding fly-tipping in my fields, gateways and ditches. By putting these adverts on our 15 bin lorries we are clearly getting the message across.
“The lorries are out and about South Norfolk five and sometimes six days of the week, 52 weeks of the year, so it makes sense to make use of their high level, visible impact.”
The freephone number will be used by people to report anti-social behaviour, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping, littering, graffiti, vandalism or dog fouling.
0808 168 2999 will also be publicised in the community on the sides of street cleaning vehicles and in the council’s community magazine The Link, which goes to over 50,000 homes twice a year.
info@agripa.com or phone
+44 (0)141 810 8782