Recycling gloom and some germs of hope
I have done my best to recycle my waste for decades, but that depends on the waste industry dealing with it as they should. This Guardian article is sobering. A lot of UK waste has been shipped overseas where our may get burned or just dumped. China has stopped accepting much of it.
There are projects to deal with the vast amounts your plastic we use. It can be turned into usable fuel as well as more plastic products.
The Guardian also has a story about Amazon using new packaging that is less recyclable than their cardboard boxes. A company of that size needs to be more responsible and customers will have to pay the cost. It may take legislation to force this through.
Each country should be dealing with the majority of its waste rather than making it someone else's problem.
As consumers we should take some responsibility too, but there will always be some who 'cannot be bothered'. You can get fined for contaminating recycling bins in some places, but valuable materials like aluminium cans can still end up in landfill.
There is some demand for alternatives. Old style milk deliveries in reusable bottles are making a comeback. Zero packaging shops are on the increase. Such things tend to have a premium price, but we are not paying the full price for the damage our convenience products cause.
There will be people who say 'I told you so' and a comment on the article says they have never recycled because 'it is a fad'. Modern consumerism ought to be considered a fad we can grow out of. Nobody will be smirking when our water is undrinkable and we are choking on airborne plastic. What sort of future do we want?
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That article in the Guardian was depressing, especially the extent to which we are complacent about dumping our waste on other countries.
On the other hand, that sorting machine sounded amazing! I notice that several periodicals I receive are now packaged in a bio-degradable material made from potato starch.
What surprises me is that Leicester, which for many years, was a beacon environment city, only recycles about 40% household waste. As some areas are recycling nearly 100%, other areas must be very low.
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The low value of recycled waste is a disincentive to investment. Minimising the waste has to be the priority, but companies have to be made responsible for making it easier to recycle their packing. The Guardian stated using the potato starch bags recently.
Years ago I used to help out on a Greenpeace waste paper collection, but council schemes made that redundant. We now have one bin for all recyclables. Where we were in Wales they had 3 separate bins. It varies so much across the country.
The waste infrastructure has to be standardised and industrialised on a national level (and preferably EU-level though that might of course not be relevant for the UK). Only that way can the expenses be kept down, because it will be more expensive than all the older systems. In Denmark we are discussing these things all the time and one of the problems, we have realised, is that the municipalities have made each their garbage system. With the high ambitions of the new government that has to be corrected.
Here in Copenhagen we already have collections of separate types of garabage at the houses: glas, paper, metal (one of the most important co2 wise), biowaste (for biogas and fertilizer), plastic (most of it burned because China has stopped importing) and general waste (which should preferably be dry as it is burned for energy). I guess this is how the system eventually will be nationwide, but my parents and sister live in a small city where none of this works.
What do you do with bottles in the UK? Such as coca-cola plastic bottles and cans
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Those can go in our household recycling bin. The bottles with a plastic film for the label mess up the system. Anything with mixed materials is generally not good. We can also recycle cartons for milk and juice. Each council seems to have their own rules.
Ye okay cool. Better than nothing :D
We have something in Denmark called "Pant" on some bottles currently, but there will soon be Pant on everything :D
So you pay extra for the bottles and cans, but if you come back with them you get the money back :D
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We call out a deposit. There are plans for introducing that here. I try to minimise how many bottles I use. I mostly drink coffee and tap water.
Uh I think thats awesome :D
Ye me2 but I do have cans, we deposit it in the supermarkeds
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The best way to do something about it is to produce less garbage, and especially food waste which is an enormous source of co2 emission. Best way to do it is to only buy raw materials (and mainly local products) and make the food from the bottom. Then you do not need to be dependent on best practises from the industry (if such a thing exists). It is healthier too. But also time consuming of course.
We are doing what we can on that front, but there tends to be compromises for cost and convenience. I made bread last night with flour from a big paper bag, so there was minimal waste.
Yes, homemade bread is one way to be both healthy and green, but mixing it into a busy day takes some experience. As I have been ill there has been times when I was too tired to bake, but after a short, joyful period with the forbidden white toast they all started to complain. So I'm almost back to the old routines, except I use yeast instead of sourdough and I buy the rye bread.
I have a machine, so I just need to fill it before I go to bed and set the timer. It's not quite the same as hand-made, but still fresh.
Yes, I have never really seen one of those, but people who owns one talks enthusiastically about them. Maybe I should check it out one day... I am pretty set in my low tech ways, but I love machines :)
I was given mine by someone who had not been using it. I am not too adventurous with my mixes, but it is convenient.
Adventurous bread is overvalued.
This was a really good post. We never really know what is happening to our stuff after it leaves our yard. I spend quite a bit of time sorting out all of our recycling stuff so it is sad to think it might just be getting disposed of in an improper way.
Not having a go at you, but the US is a very wasteful society. Generates more waste and uses more energy per person than most with low recycling rates. Trump can say other countries need to do more, but changes there could make a big difference. India, China and Africa want a US-type lifestyle and that could be catastrophic. Those who use the most can make the biggest cuts. Just need to dismiss those who say we don't need to change.
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