[Jacky]

I used to work for a town council in Hampshire and was told that the plastic that that town did not currently accept for recycling (but that some other places did) ended up as landfill in China, who are happy to accept it for the payment they receive. Yes, they could deal with the plastic milk bottles but other plastics create the problem as England isn't equipped to deal with it. At least that council was honest and didn't even pretend it was recycleable so I didn't buy products using it as packaging but others aren't so honest and that's another problem. If, at least, we know that something isn't recycleable we can then make an informed decision as to whether to use/buy it or not and put pressure on the relevant companies to stop using it.
The council also alternated weeks as to whether it collected 'normal' or recycled rubbish, which did increase the figures towards the Government targets. However, if you think about it, previously the residents had 1.5 collections per week (weekly normal, fortnightly recycleable) and now they only get one, plus a garden rubbish bag. I wonder if the local tip has had more customers since to get rid of the rest of the household rubbish?