Best idea for recycling in this country for ages

[DDolfelin]

A topic which inspires hope in that we are discussing it.

Random thoughts:

Not sure about the quantity of pollutants produced in the glass bottle making industry.

Certainly the oceans are becoming critically laden with our trash.

I understand that the 'micro beads' used in cosmetics and other products are now appearing in fish which we eat.

Our tap water tastes pretty ordinary but is safe to drink.

Our Council issues instructions for the use of bins and one would need a chemical engineering degree to get it right.

(Hard plastics, soft plastics, no polystyrene, butter cartons not accepted, paté cartons are, etc., etc.,.) 

Packaging which requires the use of heavy cutting tools in the bathroom has long irritated me anyway.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...Our district council is Central Bedfordshire and they are currently consulting over refuse collection, their plan is to take the 'black' bin from fortnightly to 3 weekly and to charge £40 a year for the 'green' bin. This is starting to sound like recycling is optional.  We already have a huge problem with fly tipping (residents pay others in good faith to dispose of rubbish, but they fly tip it) and I can't see this improving it...

 It's partly down to duff legislation which means that local authorities are not required to collect green waste for composting. Our authority moved to making this self-funding for this current tax year at £35, (and doubtless rising to £40 for 2018/19).

 

The other two collections (mixed recyclables, landfill) are currently fortnightly, but I know that it would be preferred to move the landfill collection to three weekly based on the volume case. I support that fully, fewer truck moves is good just for a start. The intent is definitely pressure on residents to reduce what is sent to landfill, and it appears to be working based on the last figures I saw. Of course the validity of those figures does require that the majority are doing the job right.

[chris p bacon]

 It's partly down to duff legislation which means that local authorities are not required to collect green waste for composting. Our authority moved to making this self-funding for this current tax year at £35, (and doubtless rising to £40 for 2018/19).

 

The other two collections (mixed recyclables, landfill) are currently fortnightly, but I know that it would be preferred to move the landfill collection to three weekly based on the volume case. I support that fully, fewer truck moves is good just for a start. The intent is definitely pressure on residents to reduce what is sent to landfill, and it appears to be working based on the last figures I saw. Of course the validity of those figures does require that the majority are doing the job right.

 

It isn't the composting that they're trying to charge for but the recyclables. (We already have reduced green compost waste)

 

CBC is a unitary council and when it comes to council tax time they are capped with what they can charge. So they are looking for services that are supplied and paid for from council tax that can be charged for separately, The reasoning being that as it is 'revenue' it is on top of the council tax and not subject to capping.

CBC already have one of the highest council tax charges in the country and they're sill running out of money.  

[Classsix T]

Two things lately give me concern about the current (or soon to be) state of play wrt recycling, both of which apparently connect with the China policy reverse on accepting plastics. Though I'll be the first to admit ignorance of the details.

 

Number one is I'm led to believe English councils up and down the land are skint, in such cases, saving the planet might perhaps take a back seat. Time will tell.

 

Secondly, I've seen a number of documentaries where the absolutely poverty trapped in the large cities of "developing nations" (Los Angeles!) can at least scrape together a modicum of self sufficiency by collecting trash plastic and cans to sell. I fear for the livelihood of these unfortunates if the Chinese decision has taken away their only source of self generated income.

 

C6T.

[Guius]

 The drunken yob is a minority, and hardly has any effect. (Utilitarian principle, let 'em die from their injuries. That'll solve the problem pretty fast)

 

The bottom line is that recycling is as effective as an elastoplast alone for a broken leg: it has its place, but only after the major damage.has been treated, and surface wound dressing is required. I'll illustrate this with our essential liquid intake.

 

First principle, use less. Much, much less. Drink tapwater. It's perfectly adequate to sustain life and zero packaging is required.

If you must have fizzy pop or alcohol, make it yourself with reusable equipment,  salvaged and repurposed wherever possible, and bottles reused many times.

When the bottles and other equipment is at end of life, then recycle. Maximum reuse of manufactured objects until they are worn out is the objective, before recycling.

 

 

Most people don't like to hear this, and the electability of any political party attempting to bring in such a programme is zero

The truly utilitarian solution to this problem would be to 'recycle' the drunken yob by harvesting his organs and there by doing the greatest good for the largest number of people. I think 'The Moral Maze' has tackled this one.

Guy

[Ozexpatriate]

Brilliant idea which harks back to the old days of getting a deposit back on your bottles from the corner shop. 

Hardly new and is a way of life for those who choose it.   I can purchase milk in glass bottles at a local supermarket. They have a $2.00 deposit, so they are serious about it. The usual alternatives for milk are cardboard or recyclable plastic.

 

For most beverage bottles locally, see here. The Oregon Bottle Bill was signed in 1971.  We updated it to include plastic water bottles only recently.

 

This does not have any liability relative to Chinese refusal to accept volume (largely unsorted) recyclables. The machines that redeem the deposits manage all the sorting, so there is no need to ship vast amounts of rubbish to China and it can be recycled locally in a reasonably economical way. The glass and aluminium recycling is very cost-effective. Plastics are less so but there are a lot of engineered materials (like all-weather decking) that are made of recycled plastics.

Edited February 9, 2018 by Ozexpatriate