Work related news of little interest to anybody else other than you
Count Basie
Thu, 19/01/2012 - 14:17
Possibly the most diverse industry publication on DJH...
What's of interest workwise to you but few others here? The more topically interesting (to you) the better, just to give a flavour of your own Maslow's Hierarchy (music-related only if your main profession). Articles in trade press or other publically available information? Quotes from colleagues?
For example, this altered my mood this morning:
SCA Recycling's MRF will belong to DS Smith
19 January 2012
In the wake of the agreement yesterday for DS Smith to purchase SCA’s packaging business, it has emerged that SCA Recycling’s MRF in Southampton, will pass into DS Smith ownership. The acquisition is also expected to include SCA's 50% share in the Casepak MRF in Leicester.
Opened in October 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), the £15 million SCA materials recycling facility (MRF) in Southampton is designed to handle 200,000 tonnes of recyclables a year. Material is currently sourced from collections in Plymouth, Cardiff, Monmouth, Essex and the West Midlands.
The £21 million Casepak MRF was officially opened by recycling minister Lord Taylor on January 16 2012, and has the capacity to process 150,000 tonnes-a-year of commingled dry recyclables from businesses and households across the Midlands. Casepak is jointly owned by SCA and G.A.E Smith (Holdings) Limited.
As part of the proposed DS Smith acquisition of SCA’s packaging operations, (see letsrecycle.com story) the MRF facilities would represent DS Smith’s first move into sorting multi-material streams and help the company to secure feedstock for its UK paper mills.
SCA had been striving to fill the capacity at the Southampton MRF and was hoping to reach full capacity in early 2012 – over two years after opening.
SCA Recycling could not be reached today for comment on the specific impacts of the proposed sale.
For DS Smith the purchase of materials recycling facilities will bring it into an arena where there has been much discussion over quality of the material from MRFs with company taking a strong stance on quality and generally not favouring MRF material.
Yesterday’s announcement about the proposed sale of SCA’s packaging division to DS Smith contained no reference to SCA's Publication Papers division which includes Aylesford Newsprint, the Kent mill which produces about 400,000 tonnes of recycled newsprint each year.
While SCA's is now looking to shift its focus primarily on its hygiene products tissue business which will make up 80% of SCA's net sales, it still has a Publication Papers division which consists of three paper mills, Ortviken in Sweden, Laakirchen in Austria and a 50% share in Kent-based Aylesford Newsprint (the balance is owned by Mondi).
SCA Graphic Sundsvall and SCA Graphic Laakirchen are part of SCA’s Forest Products business area and some in the paper sector now consider that Aylesford’s position within the SCA empire is becoming more exposed and it might be the next part of SCA to see an ownership change.
In late 2011 Mondi noted that “The very weak European newsprint market continues to impact on Aylesford Newsprint’s ability to return to profitability.” And, a recent decision to appoint an external contractor to sort newspapers and magazines for Aylesford has caused some surprise as SCA Recycling was not involved.
The contract award went to Printwaste Recycling & Shredding of Cheltenham which revealed earlier this month that it had “invested more than £100,000 in new paper sorting equipment to improve the quality of material sent for recycling at one of the UK’s largest newsprint manufacturers.”
Printwaste said that a six-tonne per hour paper processing facility “has been installed at Printwaste’s Stoke Orchard site near Cheltenham, handling newspapers and magazines from local authority kerbside collections across the country. Contaminants are removed from the waste stream by hand, and the recycled paper is then used by Kent-based Aylesford Newsprint to be manufactured into newspaper.”
What's of interest workwise to you but few others here? The more topically interesting (to you) the better, just to give a flavour of your own Maslow's Hierarchy (music-related only if your main profession). Articles in trade press or other publically available information? Quotes from colleagues?
For example, this altered my mood this morning:
SCA Recycling's MRF will belong to DS Smith
19 January 2012
In the wake of the agreement yesterday for DS Smith to purchase SCA’s packaging business, it has emerged that SCA Recycling’s MRF in Southampton, will pass into DS Smith ownership. The acquisition is also expected to include SCA's 50% share in the Casepak MRF in Leicester.
Opened in October 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), the £15 million SCA materials recycling facility (MRF) in Southampton is designed to handle 200,000 tonnes of recyclables a year. Material is currently sourced from collections in Plymouth, Cardiff, Monmouth, Essex and the West Midlands.
The £21 million Casepak MRF was officially opened by recycling minister Lord Taylor on January 16 2012, and has the capacity to process 150,000 tonnes-a-year of commingled dry recyclables from businesses and households across the Midlands. Casepak is jointly owned by SCA and G.A.E Smith (Holdings) Limited.
As part of the proposed DS Smith acquisition of SCA’s packaging operations, (see letsrecycle.com story) the MRF facilities would represent DS Smith’s first move into sorting multi-material streams and help the company to secure feedstock for its UK paper mills.
SCA had been striving to fill the capacity at the Southampton MRF and was hoping to reach full capacity in early 2012 – over two years after opening.
SCA Recycling could not be reached today for comment on the specific impacts of the proposed sale.
For DS Smith the purchase of materials recycling facilities will bring it into an arena where there has been much discussion over quality of the material from MRFs with company taking a strong stance on quality and generally not favouring MRF material.
Yesterday’s announcement about the proposed sale of SCA’s packaging division to DS Smith contained no reference to SCA's Publication Papers division which includes Aylesford Newsprint, the Kent mill which produces about 400,000 tonnes of recycled newsprint each year.
While SCA's is now looking to shift its focus primarily on its hygiene products tissue business which will make up 80% of SCA's net sales, it still has a Publication Papers division which consists of three paper mills, Ortviken in Sweden, Laakirchen in Austria and a 50% share in Kent-based Aylesford Newsprint (the balance is owned by Mondi).
SCA Graphic Sundsvall and SCA Graphic Laakirchen are part of SCA’s Forest Products business area and some in the paper sector now consider that Aylesford’s position within the SCA empire is becoming more exposed and it might be the next part of SCA to see an ownership change.
In late 2011 Mondi noted that “The very weak European newsprint market continues to impact on Aylesford Newsprint’s ability to return to profitability.” And, a recent decision to appoint an external contractor to sort newspapers and magazines for Aylesford has caused some surprise as SCA Recycling was not involved.
The contract award went to Printwaste Recycling & Shredding of Cheltenham which revealed earlier this month that it had “invested more than £100,000 in new paper sorting equipment to improve the quality of material sent for recycling at one of the UK’s largest newsprint manufacturers.”
Printwaste said that a six-tonne per hour paper processing facility “has been installed at Printwaste’s Stoke Orchard site near Cheltenham, handling newspapers and magazines from local authority kerbside collections across the country. Contaminants are removed from the waste stream by hand, and the recycled paper is then used by Kent-based Aylesford Newsprint to be manufactured into newspaper.”
This seems to be a step in the right direction...
Education Secretary Michael Gove today announced he was scrapping the existing ICT curriculum.
In its place, he will introduce new courses of study in Computer Science.
The move, which is being supported by industry experts including Ian Livingstone – co-founder of Games Workshop, would give schools the freedom to create their own ICT and Computer Science curricula that equip pupils with the skills employers want.
Other experts, including the British Computer Society and ICT professional association Naace, confirm the current National Curriculum Programme of Study is dull and unsatisfactory. Some respondents to a 2008 e-Skills study said that GCSE ICT was “so harmful, boring and/or irrelevant it should simply be scrapped”.
Companies such as Microsoft and Google and Cambridge University are already working with technology education organisations, such as the British Computer Society, to produce free materials for schools. More are expected to follow.
The Education Secretary also said he was keen for high-quality qualifications in Computer Science to be developed, and welcomed industry-giant IBM’s involvement.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said in his speech today:
As the chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, recently lamented, we in England have allowed our education system to ignore our great heritage and we are paying the price for it.
Our school system has not prepared children for this new world. Millions have left school over the past decade without even the basics they need for a decent job. And the current curriculum cannot prepare British students to work at the very forefront of technological change.
The best degrees in Computer Science are among the most rigorous and respected qualifications in the world… and prepare students for immensely rewarding careers and world-changing innovations. But you’d never know that from the current ICT curriculum.
This is why we are withdrawing it from September. Technology in schools will no longer be micro-managed by Whitehall. By withdrawing the Programme of Study, we’re giving teachers freedom over what and how to teach, revolutionising ICT as we know it.
Universities, businesses and others will have the opportunity to devise new courses and exams. In particular, we want to see universities and businesses create new high-quality Computer Science GCSEs, and develop curricula encouraging schools to make use of the brilliant Computer Science content available on the web.
ICT will remain a compulsory part of the National Curriculum, pending the National Curriculum review.
He added:
Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum. Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11-year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations using an MIT tool called Scratch. By 16, they could have an understanding of formal logic previously covered only in University courses and be writing their own Apps for smartphones.
Bill Mitchell, Director British Computer Society (BCS) Academy of Computing, said:
It is essential we teach our children how to create digital technology and software for themselves. BCS therefore welcomes this proposal as a significant first step towards that goal.
Bernadette Brooks, the General Manager of Naace, said:
Naace welcomes the extraordinary step the Secretary of State has taken. The only constant in ICT is change, and teachers will see this as their opportunity to bring innovation and creativity to their classrooms.
harrisonfraud.com
Should I worry - I found that vaguely interesting
It wisnae' me. A big boy did it and ran away.
This is pretty immense.
Hell is dark, hell is deep, hell is full of mice.
Borderline relevance, it's probably of interest to many
Nothing pulls in a crowd like talking about graduate scholarships!
Hell is dark, hell is deep, hell is full of mice.
You're not pulling the obscurity wool over anyone's eyes with that angle
I'll be back though. With some totally obscure and boring news. You haven't seen the last of me, you mark my words...
Hell is dark, hell is deep, hell is full of mice.
Those that can't handle winter, don't deserve summer.
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left-hairy http://soundcloud.com/martin-lefteri
http://soundcloud.com/retouchedrecords
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Different approaches but achieves the same objective chaps - who gives
To put this thread another way - or to bed - nowt wrong with a non-music-spotting outlet for the old 9 to 5. Does that make it a juxtaposition?
deepconcentration: "I did not reach this position in life by having some snot-nosed punk leave my cheese out in the wind"
*facebook* *twitter* *discogs*
*jive time*
clear case of thread hijack - this is of interest to others!
_______________________________________
left-hairy http://soundcloud.com/martin-lefteri
http://soundcloud.com/retouchedrecords
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Agreed - why should anyone not give a fuck?
Then again perhaps it's a sign that this thread should sink into the quicksand of 9-5 whence it came
_______________________________________
left-hairy http://soundcloud.com/martin-lefteri
http://soundcloud.com/retouchedrecords
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haha so true
Twitter
This is probably of no interest to anyone.
http://soundcloud.com/theghostofsusquehanna
deepconcentration: "I did not reach this position in life by having some snot-nosed punk leave my cheese out in the wind"
*facebook* *twitter* *discogs*
*jive time*
Here's hoping: http://youtu.be/G6mwXEsSfVQ?t=1m33s
Hell is dark, hell is deep, hell is full of mice.