Latest news with #Biffa
STV News
12 hours ago
- Business
- STV News
Biffa £166m compensation claim over deposit return scheme 'good to go'
A lawyer acting for a company pursuing a £166m compensation claim against the Scottish Government has told a judge that his case is 'good to go' to court. Roddy Dunlop KC made the statement during a procedural hearing on Thursday in an action brought against Scottish ministers by Biffa Waste Services Ltd. The company has raised an action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh over a decision made by ministers to delay the introduction of the deposit return scheme. It alleges that Lorna Slater – the former minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity – gave negligent assurances to the firm in a letter about the initiative to ensure its participation. Biffa's lawyer Roddy Dunlop KC told judge Lord Clark last year that the correspondence made no reference to how Holyrood would need its Westminster counterpart to give the final go ahead to the scheme. The scheme was later scrapped after the Conservative government in London refused to give the go ahead for it be implemented. The firm believes the Scottish Government 'negligently misrepresented the assurance it gave' to Biffa. Biffa has instructed Mr Dunlop, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, to act for it in the £166.2m compensation claim. Judge Lord Clark gave permission for the action to proceed following a two day hearing last year when the Scottish Government's lawyer Gerry Moynihan KC asked the court to dismiss the action. On Thursday, the case called again for a procedural hearing before judge Lord Sandison. Mr Dunlop said he and his legal team were making preparations for the case which is expected to be heard in the Court of Session over an eight day period in October 2025. Mr Dunlop added: 'The case is now simplified and good to go.' The deposit return scheme was a key policy of the former SNP-Green administration. Under the plans, a 20p deposit was be added to all single-use drinks containers made of PET plastic, metal or glass. Consumers could reclaim the deposit by returning the containers to retailers or to specially-designed reverse vending machines. It was due to be introduced in August 2023 but the launch date was pushed back, with then first minister Humza Yousaf citing concerns from businesses. The Conservative government at Westminster refused to grant the scheme the go-ahead unless it conformed to a UK-wide approach which excluded glass. In June 2023 Slater said she had no choice but to delay the scheme until at least October 2025, accusing the UK government of sabotage. She left government last year following the collapse of the Green-SNP power-sharing agreement. The company have decided to go to the Court of Session in Edinburgh because it believes the Holyrood government is responsible for it incurring a £166.2m loss. It wants compensation for the cash it invested in the collapsed deposit return scheme and the subsequent loss of profit. At the proceedings last year, Mr Moynihan said the Scottish Ministers acted lawfully and that the government did not act a duty of care to Biffa. He also said the letter sent by Ms Slater – which was dated May 17 2022 – did not amount to a 'negligent representation'. Speaking on the final day of a two day long hearing into whether the action should proceed, Mr Dunlop outlined the alleged actions of Ms Slater in dealing with his clients. Mr Dunlop said: 'Our position is that we did sign the contract in a situation of the assumption of responsibility. 'The minister was not required to give an assurance but she voluntarily did. 'She did so because she wanted Biffa on board. She must have known Biffa would act upon what she said. 'It is writing a letter that provides the assurances that not reflect the actuality of the situation. 'We know why she decided to write that letter. She wrote that letter as she needed the deposit return scheme to have a purpose. 'She needed a contractor like Biffa – who was swithering about whether to become involved – to become involved.' Mr Dunlop also claimed that Ms Slater's purpose in writing the letter to Biffa was to ensure the scheme's success. He added: 'The simple fact of the matter is that the Ministers were very keen to have Biffa on board. 'It was important for them politically and logistically to have a well resourced contractor like Biffa on board. 'Without that the deposit return scheme was dead in the water.' On Thursday, Lord Sandison fixed a date for another procedural hearing in the case – this will take place on September 2 2025. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
BBC News
4 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Soaring temperatures prompt earlier bin collections in Leicester
Leicester City Council says it intends to start bin collections earlier to protect staff from soaring authority said it wanted to give collection crews, working for waste firm Biffa, the chance to start earlier with a heatwave anticipated in the coming across the city are being asked to make sure their wheelie bins and orange recycling bags are ready for collection by 06:00 BST, from Wednesday 18 June to Tuesday 24 council has urged people to leave rubbish out the night before collection is due. A council spokesperson said: "Biffa's collection crews do a brilliant job in often challenging circumstances. With some very hot temperatures expected again this week, it's important that we do our bit to help out."That's why we're asking people to remember to put their orange bags and bins out the night before collection day to make sure they are ready for the crews from 06:00."Household waste recycling centres at Gypsum Close and Freemen's Common will be open from 08:00 until 20:00 as normal, the council said.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Plans for new fire prevention system at Plymouth recycling centre
Planning consent is being sought for a new fire prevention and suppression system at Plymouth's largest recycling and waste Waste Services, which runs the Chelson Meadow facility for Plymouth City Council, said the risk of fires at such centres had "greatly increased" because of lithium batteries used in a multitude of products being documents stated a new automated system, Helios, would be used to identify heat spots before fires were noticeable to the human system could automatically deploy water cannons before a blaze could take hold and was designed to be used where sprinkler and spray water systems offered insufficient protection. Adverse noise impacts The planning documents stated the system utilised infrared heat detection cameras which monitored stockpiles. The system required some external plant and machinery to be installed, they said it did not anticipate the proposal, which was in an industrial area, would have adverse noise impacts on neighbours, with the closest property being located 300m (985ft) batteries were able to hold a powerful charge and, when damaged, could cause intense fires that were capable of reigniting because the batteries could effectively create their own oxygen, Biffa said. Six billion batteries Biffa is rolling out a multi-million pound investment programme of Helios fire suppression systems to minimise the risk at its waste management facilities across the its application, Biffa said about six billion batteries were thrown away in the last year nationwide - more than 3,000 a minute - with more than 1.1 billion of electricals potentially containing hidden lithium-ion batteries, such as laptops, mobile phones, electric toothbrushes, vapes and batteries could become crushed or damaged in bin lorries or waste sites if they were not recycled and could cause fires, bosses were more than 1,200 fires in the waste system in the last 12 months nationally, compared to 700 in 2022, they added.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Greenhithe residents hit back at plans for 400 homes
Plans for 400 homes on a former Kent landfill site have been submitted despite villagers saying the area is now "as busy as central London".Developers PMG Regeneration originally mooted proposals for 376 new homes on the Biffa site south of London Road in Greenhithe in in April, the developers submitted an outline planning application to Dartford Borough Council for up to 400 objecting villager wrote: "Greenhithe used to be a lovely little village, now it's become as busy as central London, it seems every little piece of land you can possibly build on, it's built on." The waste site sits next to Knockhall Chase and Mounts Road and has been left empty since the developers said homes had been earmarked on the site for years."The site has been consistently promoted for residential development of between 300 and 500 homes since 2007," they the homes proposed, 35% – or 140 of the 400 – are set to be marketed as affordable housing, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Planning documents submitted by the developers read: "The development would utilise previously developed land to create a modest and contained extension within Greenhithe to accommodate the borough's growing housing needs."The plans have received written objections from 18 villager wrote: "Yes we need more houses, but this area is swamped already."The roads are awful, parking is terrible and the traffic is dreadful as it is." Several of the objections cited the continued closure of the A226 Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe due to a cliff collapse as a reason for is not yet known when Dartford council's planning committee will decide on the bid, but an internal target deadline of 1 August has been an outline planning application, the bid seeks approval for the principle of development on the it were approved, further planning applications would be needed to confirm the exact layout and design of the estate.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brewery aims to reduce waste by 80%
A brewery firm has launched a scheme to reduce the general waste in its 45 managed pubs by 80%. St Austell Brewery, Cornwall, launched the initiative in partnership with Biffa, a waste management company. There are aims to double the amount of waste being recycled as part of the plan and to hit the 80% target by the end of the year. All St Austell Brewery's managed pubs have colour-coded bins which are divided into three sections: dry mixed recycling, food waste and general waste. St Austell Brewery said it would educate colleagues on correct recycling and is rolling out a supporting employee encouragement plan to help drive engagement and participation. It said this included a leaderboard for pubs, where the team with the highest reduction in waste overall would be rewarded with online vouchers to spend every quarter. Helen Sprason, area manager and member of the sustainability steering committee at St Austell Brewery, said: "One of the first things we did when we started the project was to engage our pub teams about proper recycling." She added last year St Austell Brewery successfully reduced total waste by 40%. "We're confident this is one of the biggest waste management schemes to be undertaken by a pub company," she said. Following the launch of the new waste scheme in its pubs, the brewery said it also planned to extend it across St Austell and Hare, its head office and depots across the South West. Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ St Austell Brewery set to cut up to 40 jobs Pub landlord fears Budget may cost him £24K a year St Austell Brewery
