[Leviathan]

So I am putting the bins out again and paper is going into the recycling, and bottles and cans are going into the recycling, but a carrier bag of bits of food and plastic wrappings are just going into the dumpster to go straight to the land fill. I find I am always standing over the bin thinking that it is a shame that this lid off this container or a plastic film or yogurt pot is not supposed to go into the recycling. Some of them even say that the card sleeve can be recycled but not the plastic wrap which is ‘currently not recycleable’.
I understand that there are different types of plastic that may be more or less easy to recycle, but surely not all drinks bottles are the same type. Why can’t we recycle virtually everything these days?

Topic

[pique]

you can always recycle them
you can always recycle them yourself:

http://www.bagpipesociety.org.uk/making-plastic-chanter-reeds/

[Leviathan]

So it is about cost
So it is about cost effectiveness not recycleability. So I will just continue doing what I am doing and hope nobody blames me later. I do talk to some chaps on the IMDB politics boards who insist that global warming doesn’t exist; or if it does exist it is not Humankinds doing; or if it is our fault it won’t be a problem anyway. Unfortunately they become very rude when I disagree with them.

Well it seems that Democracy/Consumerism won the 20th Century Politic System War circa 1917-1990. Lets hope that technological innovation and economic pressures will avoid an energy crisis this century. Just don’t sleep in a caravan when there is a storm on the way.

[jova54]

Gkam84 wrote:Alot of things I

Gkam84 wrote:

Alot of things I have given up putting in the recycle box, they have all the recycle logo’s on them, but the council just leave them in your box, so all I recycle now are food and drinks cans, milk bottles (without their tops 😕 ) and newspaper

We’ve finally cured that problem here in Surrey. I have a massive green wheelie bin, to go with my black and brown ones, in to which I put all items to be recycled; paper, card, tins, plastic bottles and anything else plastic including yoghurt pots and their plastic lids.

The council operatives come along, hang the bin on the back of their wagon and it empties it automatically into the back. No chance of human intervention and we’re back to where we were 30 years ago when the ‘dustman’ took away all your rubbish and didn’t pick and choose.

Finally parts of the UK are catching up with our European counterparts.

[Gkam84]

Alot of things I have given
Alot of things I have given up putting in the recycle box, they have all the recycle logo’s on them, but the council just leave them in your box, so all I recycle now are food and drinks cans, milk bottles (without their tops 😕 ) and newspaper

[William Black]

We can.
I was listening to an
We can.

I was listening to an article with some recycling company owner I think he was an Australian it was on R4. He can recycle pretty much every kind of plastic in his plant.

It all boils down to money, he was basically saying a cup made from currently recycled products will cost 10p but made from products which can be recycled but currently aren’t will cost 70p (figures obviously made up to illustrate the point).

He seemed to think that any product could be recycled in some form but both industry and the consumer are simply not willing to pay the premium.

However, in this house we do recycle the yoghurt pot lids, we keep them and just don’t buy one with a lid the next time. Which is also handy when you buy sainsbury basic yoghurt, you just take the lid from one which does have a lid and it keeps longer.

[Author]

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