Recycling reforms

Without resurrect the old Brexit broken record, there's another article in today's news that shows that UK investment into better technology and equipment stalled since then.

I do agree though that investment is the answer.

That said, I don't think there's a single solution. I think it's multifaceted. There needs to be more pressure on companies to reduce packaging, and I think as consumers some of us can do more to reduce waste too.

 

I see Wales is going down the same road as Scotland with bringing back deposits on bottles and possibly cans and jars.
I tend to wonder how long the queues will be a places where you can cash in your glass and plastic, while they count every item and then work out how much money you are owed.

Will everyone have to make separate trips to different places to cash in.

 

We have a separate food waste bin and the big recycle moan on the local facebook pages are that people see the dustmen throw the food waste bin contents into the general rubbish bin before emptying it.
They are asking why are we bothering, if they arn't.

Biffa say they are short staffed and short of vehicles and some times they dont have time or facilities for handling the food waste.

It doesn't look good for the future unless they put in for a big rise in council tax.

 

Our house recycling isn't bad, food waste every week (none for us) rubbish (one bag a year) & recycling alternate weeks (once a month)

Going to the tip is appointment only and are now not taking car tyres so can see more on the rural roads/lanes, if they can make money they want it, if it cost money they don't want it

things are get harder to get rid of things so fly tip will be the common way soon

 

I can remember years ago driving up to the edge of a disused quarry and just throwing anything you wanted to out the back of your car.
Happy days.

Its now a housing estate.

 

Not quite the same thing but...

Years ago when I had an allotment, it so happened that the tip was literally a couple of hundred yards walk from the allotments. And, it was open all the time and people were free to come and go as they pleased.

Most of the timber for my allotment projects came from there. Same with all the other allotment holders (except the posh guy with a shed that wasn't made of old wooden doors).

It wasn't just us allotment folks either. This might sound shocking in today's snowflake world but whole families would go scrounging, retrieving clothes, toys, electrical items they thought they could repair, all sorts. My mate who was into electronics with a particular interest in audio found an old Bang and Olufsen amp. About a fivers worth of replacement components from Maplin and it was as good as new.

I reckon a good half of the stuff that went to the tip came straight back out, recycled at source.

I speculate that it stopped under the pretence of health and safety, or the environment, but I reckon the real reason was that councils cottoned onto the idea that they could sell much of the stuff that got dumped there AND charge people for dumping it in the first place.

 

If they were serious about recycling more waste, then why issue planning permission for new incinerators for waste to energy. Currently the incinerators in the UK have a capacity to burn about 15 million tons of waste, that will increase to over 21 million tons when the new incinerators that are currently under construction come online. The more incinerators the less incentive there is to recycle, with these incinerators costing in excess of £500 million plus to construct, they are very unlikely to be sitting idle.