
Singer asks Cambridgeshire councils to stop sending waste
Cambridge City Council in February said Re-Gen had plans to open a materials recovery facility on the UK mainland "within the first half of this year". At city council meeting on 24 July, however, Green Party councillor Jean Glasberg said there were "still no signs that a new UK mainland [material recycling facility] has been acquired by Re-Gen, or that such an acquisition is due to take place".
As reported by the Local Democracy Service, Glasberg went on to ask what steps the authority had taken to "investigate this apparent failure".Labour councillor Rosy Moore, cabinet member for climate action and environment, said there had been no "failure" as the contract had been awarded based on the Newry facility, and that the plans to acquire a mainland facility had only been made known afterwards.She went on to state that Re-Gen was still continuing to pursue acquiring a UK mainland material recovery facility, but said she did not currently have an update on this facility yet.
Mr Sands, who is also part of the campaign group Rostrevor Action Respecting the Environment, said he believed that Re-Gen were "struggling with the amount of waste it was processing". People living near Warrenpoint Port, near Newry, have complained about the smell of compacted rubbish from a Re-Gen facility at the harbour. However, Re-Gen said that the waste from Cambridgeshire was mixed dry recyclables "which is recycled at our state-of-the-art facility and is not stored at Warrenpoint Harbour". Re-Gen added its "strategic goal" was "to acquire a [material recycling facility] in Great Britain".
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Nations will try again on plan to confront world's 'spiraling' plastic pollution mess
Nations gather in Geneva Tuesday to try to complete a landmark treaty aimed at ending the plastic pollution crisis that affects every ecosystem and person on the planet. It's the sixth time negotiators are meeting and they hope the last. A key split is whether the treaty should require cutting plastic production, with powerful oil-producing nations opposed; most plastic is made from fossil fuels. They say redesign, recycling and reuse can solve the problem, while other countries and some major companies say that's not enough. Only a treaty can mobilize the necessary global action, said Angelique Pouponneau, lead ocean negotiator for 39 small island and low-lying coastal developing states. At home in the Seychelles, Pouponneau said, plastic contaminates the fish they eat, piles up on beaches and chokes the ocean to undermine tourism and their way of life. 'It's the world's final opportunity to get this done and to get it done right,' she said. 'It would be a tragedy if we didn't live up to our mandate." United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said the issues are complex but the crisis is 'really spiraling' and there's a narrow pathway to a treaty. She said many countries agree on redesigning plastic products to be recycled and improving waste management, for example. 'We need to get a solution to this problem. Everybody wants it. I've yet to meet somebody who is in favor of plastic pollution,' Andersen said. Between 19 million and 23 million tons of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems annually, that could jump 50% by 2040 without urgent action, according to the UN. Sharp disagreements on whether to limit plastic production In March 2022, 175 nations agreed to make the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution by the end of 2024. It was to address the full life cycle of plastic, including production, design and disposal. Talks last year in South Korea were supposed to be the final round, but they adjourned in December at an impasse over cutting production. Every year, the world makes more than 400 million tons of new plastic, and that could grow by about 70% by 2040 without policy changes. About 100 countries want to limit production as well as tackle cleanup and recycling. Many have said it's essential to address toxic chemicals. Panama led an effort in South Korea to address production in the treaty. Negotiator Debbra Cisneros said they'll do so again in Geneva because they strongly believe in addressing pollution at the source, not just through downstream measures like waste management. 'If we shy away from that ambition now, we risk adopting an agreement that is politically convenient, but environmentally speaking, is ineffective,' she said. About 300 businesses that are members of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty — companies such as Walmart, the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and L'Oréal — support reducing production along with increasing recycling and reuse. The coalition includes major food and beverage companies and retailers who want an effective, binding treaty with global rules to spare them the headaches of differing approaches in different countries. Some plastic-producing and oil and gas countries firmly oppose production limits. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of one common type of plastic, has led that group in asserting there should be no problem producing plastic if the world addresses plastic pollution. US position on the treaty The U.S. doesn't support global production caps or bans on certain plastic products or chemical additives to them. The State Department says it supports provisions to improve waste collection and management, improve product design and drive recycling, reuse and other efforts to cut the plastic dumped into the environment. 'If the negotiations are to succeed, the agreement must be aimed at protecting the environment from plastic pollution, and the agreement should recognize the importance plastics play in our economies,' the State Department said in a statement to The Associated Press. That's similar to the views of the plastics industry, which says that a production cap could have unintended consequences, such as raising the cost of plastics, and that chemicals are best regulated elsewhere. China, the United States and Germany lead the global plastics trade by exports and imports, according to the Plastics Industry Association. How high will negotiators aim? For any proposal to make it into the treaty, every nation must agree. Some countries want to change the process so decisions may be made by a vote if necessary. India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and others have opposed that, arguing consensus is vital to an effective treaty. Negotiators are discussing making some provisions opt-in or opt-out to avoid a stalemate. Bjorn Beeler, international coordinator for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said that would mean a treaty without teeth or obligations, with little value. Cisneros said that if carefully crafted, it's an option to find some common ground. Tracey Campbell, an executive vice president at the plastics and chemicals company LyondellBasell and vice chair of the executive committee of the World Plastics Council, said she'll ask negotiators to 'find a way to agree on a few things and get started' and then build from there. She suggested tackling things like product redesign, recycled content mandates and financing waste collection, waste sorting and recycling technologies. In contrast, Greenpeace will be in Geneva calling for at least a 75% reduction in plastic production by 2040. 'We will never recycle our way out of this problem,' said Graham Forbes, who leads the Greenpeace delegation. Thousands of people participating Delegates from most countries, the plastics industry and businesses that use plastics, environmentalists, scientists, Indigenous leaders and communities affected by plastic pollution are in Geneva. About 80 government ministers are attending talks that will last 10 days — the longest session yet, with adjournment scheduled for Aug. 14. Frankie Orona, executive director of the Texas-based Society of Native Nations, has been to every negotiating session. Indigenous land, water and air are being contaminated as fossil fuels are extracted and plastic is manufactured using hazardous chemicals, said Orona. 'We feel we absolutely have to be present to let them know, and see, who are the people that are really being impacted by the plastics crisis,' he said. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at


Times
7 hours ago
- Times
The ex-soldier who has raised £30k to fund anti-migrant protests
A former soldier has raised more than £30,000 in donations to help fund an anti-migrant movement that is calling for protests to take place outside every hotel housing asylum seekers 'until they are all deported'. Richard Donaldson, 33, from Chester, is the leader of the Great British National Protest (GBNP), a group that has claimed to be behind 20 protests around the country. The group is calling for further protests to take place outside named hotels this Saturday in Liverpool, Canary Wharf, Birmingham, Leeds, Exeter and Bristol. • Why are we seeing anti-immigration protests again? It has also shared a list purporting to show the locations of every hotel housing migrants in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and called on its followers — of which there are almost 150,000 on Facebook — to protest outside them every Saturday 'for the foreseeable future … until they are all deported'. Through a GoFundMe page, Donaldson has raised £31,000, which he says is used to pay for leaflets, megaphones, banners and lawyers fees 'to keep me out of jail'. He added: 'I never intend to break the law but with what I'm doing, I have no option but to push the boundaries as much as possible without crossing the line.' In comments to The Times, he said that the money was also being used to fund 'covert investigations inside hotels'. The group claims to have recruited members of staff in migrant hotels who are willing to wear hidden body cameras to 'catch footage and gather intel'. Neither he nor any members of his team had ever taken 'a penny' of the donated money for personal use, he said. The group is also selling merchandise branded with the GBNP emblem, including caps costing £19.50. Donaldson served in army logistics for seven years and completed tours of duty to the Middle East. Since leaving the army, which he said had 'got quite woke', he has worked in retail management. This year, he began uploading videos of himself to TikTok calling for a 'national strike' in protest against the government's policy on asylum, net zero and farming. A 'strike', whose stated purpose was to 'stop the invasion and get Labour out', was organised in May in 77 towns and cities around the country but failed to attract large numbers. Donaldson said that he started the movement because he was 'angry at the state of rapid decline' in the country and 'scared for my son's future and for all of our kids in the UK'. He has voiced support for Nick Tenconi, leader of Ukip, who has made appearances at GBNP events. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, which was Ukip's original raison d'etre, the party has re-emerged with a more radical agenda and has courted Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, as a potential ally. Ukip has also been involved in organising anti-migrant protests and is calling for three 'mass deportation marches' to take place over the coming months. Protests, organised by a variety of groups including far-right parties such as Homeland, have taken place across the country over the past month. There are concerns that they could spiral out of control as was the case during the race riots of last summer when marauding gangs attempted to set fire to migrant hotels. The Home Office has said that the number of hotels being used for asylum seekers has decreased from more than 400 in summer 2023 to less than 210. It also announced plans to end the use of hotels to house migrants by 2029, which the Treasury says will save £1 billion a year. However, Home Office figures show that more than 25,000 migrants have attempted to cross the Channel to the UK in small boats this year — the earliest the figure has been reached. • Yvette Cooper's fast-track asylum plan revealed as protests erupt again Over the weekend, 15 people were arrested when anti-migrant groups and counter-demonstrators clashed at protests in London and Newcastle, and before a march in Manchester city centre. The protest outside The New Bridge Hotel in Newcastle was organised by GBNP. Four people were arrested and remain in custody, according to Northumbria police. Asked whether he was concerned that the protests he was organising could result in criminality and the stirring of racial tensions, Donaldson said: 'We support peaceful protesting. We have to be peaceful and we have to be lawful. We absolutely do not support any criminality or any law-breaking.'


BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Joe McVey appointed new victims commissioner for Northern Ireland
A new commissioner for victims and survivors in Northern Ireland has been first minister and deputy first minister said Joe McVey would take up the post on 6 October for four McVey, a former chief executive of Brain Injury Matters (NI), was awarded an OBE for services to the voluntary Minister Michelle O'Neill said they were confident Mr McVey would be a "dedicated champion and powerful advocate for the rights and needs of all those who have suffered". O'Neill congratulated Mr McVey on his appointment, and said victims and survivors deserved a "strong, independent voice to ensure their needs are recognised and prioritised".Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: "Ensuring that the needs of victims and survivors is at the heart of our trauma informed, victim-centred service is the key component to this vital work."The principal aim of the commissioner is to safeguard and promote the interests of victims and survivors. The work is categorised under three areas - addressing the past, effective service provision, and building towards a better and more reconciled position is full time for a term of four years with eligibility of one renewal for a second term of office, subject to satisfactory performance. The salary is £79,237 per last victims commissioner Ian Jeffers stepped down at the end of 2023. He took up the post the previous year.