UK business briefs: Emissions enquiry, Rethinking London campaign, Liverpool gateway, Sheffield movie message, Crime clamp-down, Bridge protest, Digital drive.

Professor Roland Clift, Director of the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey, has been appointed a Specialist Adviser to a sub-committee conducting an inquiry into the Government's policies on energy efficiency. The inquiry will investigate the likelihood that existing government policies will meet the 2010 target of a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions announced in the 2003 Energy White Paper, and will look at ways of improving the efficacy of current policies, potential technological improvements and behavioural aspects of energy efficiency.


Recycle Western Riverside is the new name for a successful campaign in London. Formerly Rethink Rubbish Western Riverside, the campaign has embraced the new national Recycle Now identity and continues to build on its success to date, as shown in a recent Open University report Public Attitudes and Behaviour in Western Riverside. During 2004/05 the campaign will research and run pilots to aid improved recycling services on housing estates and mansion blocks, further boosting recycling rates and providing recycling access to all residents. Thanks to all these initiatives, it is expected that the Western Riverside boroughs will go on to meet their recycling targets in 2005/06 and will continue to establish innovative communications campaigns driving recycling awareness and attitude rates higher.

Plans have been unveiled for the multi-million-pound transformation of Liverpool’s Lime Street Gateway into a world-class entrance to the city in time for European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008. The Gateway area encompasses the railway station and the landmark Concourse Tower, which was recently acquired by national regeneration agency English Partnerships on behalf of City Centre Regeneration Company Liverpool Vision.

The Let’s Sort It& Sheffield campaign has turned to the city’s legendary cinematic strippers from The Full Monty as inspiration for its new recycling drive, The Full Monthly. From next week (October 4) eye-catching posters will be emblazoned across the city’s buses and trams featuring a half-naked male dropping recyclables into one of Sheffield’s distinctive blue recycling bins. The Full Monthly message aims to remind residents that they can leave waste paper and card products in their blue recycling bin for collection by Sheffield City Council every four weeks. Margaret Cobbold, General Manager of The Onyx Environmental Trust who awarded £162,000 towards the campaign, said: “Waste awareness campaigns by their very nature need to capture the attention of as many people as possible to educate the community about recycling and waste management issues.”

Local government leaders have welcomed proposed new powers to help councils to clamp down on environmental crime. The Local Government Association (LGA) submission to the government’s Clean Neighbourhoods Consultation says new powers to crack down on fly-tippers and other environmental criminals will help councils boost their role in cleaning up local neighbourhoods. The LGA is asking the government to develop a national anti-litter campaign to support the proposed new powers and educate the public to behave more responsibly and do their bit to care for the environment.

Campaigners against plans for a Second Forth Road Bridge this week took their protest directly to those bridge commuters currently disadvantaged by the current bridge set-up and least likely to gain from any new road bridge. The Alliance has chosen to target public transport users because they are currently being penalised: trucks and cars receive frequent-user discounts while buses do not.

And finally, Cable & Wireless this week announced a two-year partnership to establish an after-school Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Academy for young people. The academy will use digital animation techniques to teach children in a creative and fun manner how to make their own short films. It is the largest partnership of its kind undertaken by the Bracknell Forest Education Department. The initiative is part of the Cable & Wireless community investment programme, which aims to address the ‘digital divide’ by extending the benefits of ICT to individuals and communities who have little or no access to computers and the internet.

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