Working with Envirolink NW and a private sector partner, Urban Mines has developed a sophisticated computer model to quantify and map available feedstock for new or proposed waste treatment facility plants, including the ability to assess the impact of local competition, waste calorific value; changes in gate fees, waste pre-treatment, additional capacity over time, and the potential impact of imports.

The resultant interactive MS Access based model can accommodate different waste management & competition scenarios to reflect the market response and assess the affect on the availability of commercial, industrial and municipal wastes as feedstock.

Envirolink Northwest has commissioned Urban Mines to undertake research to estimate the quantity of aerosols being disposed of each year in the North West and to identify the likely disposal routes of aerosol waste. A survey is being conducted to assess how producers dispose of aerosol waste and to find out how they would react to a new system of mobile treatment and disposal for aerosol waste which could potentially reduce costs as well as assist in the use of correct disposal options.

Over 30 representatives from Kirklees/Huddersfield, the Yorkshire & Humber Region and national representatives, including the Energy Utility Sector Skills Council, met at the second meeting of an informal forum on the morning of Friday 26th March to find out about how we are tackling skill opportunities to meet a Low Carbon Economy.

CO2 Sense has commissioned Urban Mines to engage with a wide range of businesses and environmental consultants within Yorkshire and Humber with the aim to benchmark their current relationship and review how this could be expanded.

Urban Mines Ltd has recently been accepted on the Yorkshire and Humber Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) Framework to assist SMEs to improve their manufacturing performance.

Urban Mines have published a report Delivering socio-economic benefits from municipal waste management contracts - a toolkit, developed to assist local authorities, bidders/contractors and third sector partners to deliver social and economic benefits from municipal waste management contracts. It provides a checklist of benefits to consider and also to look for in preparing tenders and bids, as well as delivering contracts.

Envirolink and the North West Development Agency have asked Urban Mines to conduct a survey of Local Authorities in the North West region, to gather information about the current approaches to graffiti removal and to invite staff to a workshop with a working demonstration that highlights effective graffiti cleaning using recycled glass.

Urban Mines has completed a full review of the waste arisings in the East of England region, covering municipal, commercial and industrial wastes, along with an assessment of waste movements, from existing sources of data.

To help in our support for companies bidding for major waste PFI and non-PFI procurements, we keep a close eye on the developing market and on active tenders. The following table is our summary of the status of the market as of the latest update, collated from a number of publicly available sources. This table is updated on a regular basis and is available on www.urbanmines.org.uk

Urban Mines have been allocated funding from Be Birmingham's Environmental Partnership to assist 250 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), over the next two years to minimise the amount of waste that is currently sent to landfill.