March’s Waste Thoughts – 2026

March meeting has had to be cancelled, so our next Zoom meeting is on Tuesday 12th May 7pm – Please contact simongibbon@casav.uk for further details.

Full notes below, after a quick summary – follow links for the detail:

  • Waste
    • Recycling contamination is causing NYC problems with whole lorries of recycling being rejected.
    • Concern that there is a too little testing for microplastic in sewage sludge used on fields.
    • Victory in having the Tees dreding licence declared illegal, now just need make sure the next licence improves the marine environment.
  • Clothes
  • Energy:
  • Reduce / Reuse / Recycle / Circularity:
  • Food
    • Strulch – a great way to suppress weeds and save water.
    • Sewage has a huge nutrient content (it’s a natural fertiliser) but there is worry it is contamiantion with forever chemicals.
    • March’s and April’s Repair Cafes will have a growing theme with seeds, tools and reading matter to exchange.

Actions

  • Simon assess CASaV presence at summer events.

Background – Our Monthly Waste Discussions

If you have just signed up to the Waste Group or stumbled across this page, then welcome, I hope these notes of our discussion make sense.

We meet once a month to talk about topics connected to waste and plan / report progress on our ongoing activities such as the Repair Cafes, Foodshare, Refill scheme and events such as the Bilsdale Show.  If you visit the “Thoughts on Waste” page on the CASaV website you can find all our past discussions – https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/waste/thoughts-on-waste/

Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Notes form 10th March 2026 CASaV Waste Meeting

The meeting discussion ranged from the use of sewage instead of fertiliser on our fields to reusable period products.

Previous Actions

Simon will summarise the options (favouring “Rethinking Resources”) in an email and potentially poll the Facebook group before a final decision is made.
The group has been renamed “Rethinking Resources” as the best name to reflect our purpose and allow people to understand what we are trying to do.

Updates

Tracey

  • A new waste minimization and recycling officer has been appointed and will be starting soon.
  • New £15,000 pilot scheme to subsidise reusable period products for North Yorkshire residents, partnering with a company called Cheeky Wipes.
  • Recycling Contamination: There is an ongoing issue with high contamination rates in the Craven area’s recycling, particularly with wet cardboard and hard plastics. To address this, planning an eye-catching leaflet drop in envelopes to educate residents, replacing a previous postcard campaign that was largely ignored.
  • Bin Rollout: Around 750 rural properties in the former Hambleton area have received new twin bins (a red-lidded bin for glass, plastics, cans, and cartons, and a blue-lidded bin for paper and card) to comply with new segregation legislation.

Simon

  • EU Fashion Directive: A new EU directive aimed at stopping the destruction of unsold clothes, 4% to 9% of fashion items are currently thrown away before ever being sold.
  • River Tees Dredging Victory: Judicial review against the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) grants of the new 10 year maintenance dredging licence on the River Tees. The High Court has quashed the licence because they failed to properly assess and mark toxic areas.
  • Environmental Concerns: Highly toxic “forever chemicals” (PCBs) trapped in the Tees sediment are bioaccumulating in the local food chain, causing a 100% mortality rate for harbor seal pups born on the estuary. We now need to work with the authorities to ensure future dredging is done safely without dispersing these toxins back into the water.

Kate

  • Saturday 14th March 10-12pm – Pop-up stall at the Great Ayton Methodist Church’s Community Hub, featuring information on greener home energy, draught excluders, and a Mother’s Day paper-flower-making activity using old maps and music sheets.
  • Repair Cafe: The next Repair Cafe (10-12pm Saturday 21st March Swainby Village Hall) will have a gardening theme, featuring a garden tool swap, tool sharpening, and a seed swap utilising the “Sow Northern” seed library suitcase.
  • Blister Pack Recycling: Looks like Boots is restricting its blister pack recycling drop-off boxes to prevent bulk deposits. Previously we have been dropping off a full rubbish sack of blister packs per week, but this industrial-scale collection will sadly have to stop.

Pete

  • Sewage Waste Discussion: Raised a topic he saw on Countryfile regarding the agricultural use of dried human sewage sludge on sugar beet farms (22mins into programme). There is now concern over the environmental impact of runoff and the presence of “forever chemicals”.

Robert

  • Hazel Trees: Mentioned he is propagating hazel trees that produce much larger nuts and offered to let Pete have some.
  • Environmental Observations: Echoed Pete’s concerns about the lack of testing for microplastics and chemicals in sewage sludge used for farming.

Wendy

  • The Big Plastic Count: Reminded the group that the initiative to count and tally household plastic waste (excluding medical plastics) has officially started. The results will in mid-April – The Big Plastic Count.
  • Agricultural Innovations: Shared that a company is repurposing pine tree brash and shavings to use in lambing pens instead of straw. The shavings are dust-free, and the natural pine properties may be beneficial for the lambs’ immune systems.

Joy

  • Personal Update: Shared that she recently discovered she is officially a Belgian citizen, not British, having been born to a Belgian mother.
  • Media Feature: Kate mentioned that Joy and Pete’s passive house will be featured in an upcoming climate column in the Stockton and Darlington Times regarding greener home energy.

Jenny

  • Updates via the Group: Offered the group a chance to combine orders for a bulk delivery of “Strulch” (a mineralized wheat straw mulch that deters slugs).

Repair Cafe

Review: The February session in Stokesley was successful with over 80 items processed items processed and lots of love shown with Morsbags given away – if you missed it you can watch the film:

Upcoming Session: The next Repair Cafe is next Saturday in Swainby. The theme will be “Growing”, encouraging attendees to get out in their environment and grow.

Future Meeting / Events

CASAV Meeting: Scheduled for next Tuesday at 7:30 PM in the Stokesley Library.

Repair Cafe (March 21st Swainby and April 11th Stokesley): Theme: Growing. Activity: There will be tools, books and seeds to collect/exchange, to help getting everybody growing for spring.

Next Meetings

Climate Action Stokesley and Villages (CASaV) Meeting: Tuesday 17th March, 7:30 pm at Stokesley Library Topic: Seed Sovereignty – why UK food security is undermined by our lack of seed production and what is being done about it. Then 21st April.

Waste Group Zoom Meeting: March meeting has had to be cancelled, so the next meeting will be on Tuesday 12th May, 7pm – contact simongibbon@casav.uk for details.