Recycling nightmare

[lyndy loo]

Hello

Has anyone else had problems with their Council's recycling strategy? We all in this area recently went from one wheelie bin to three one for non recyclable, one for cardboard and plastics etc and one for garden waste. Just recently we were all sent letters stating that plastic and polystyrene could no longer be put in the blue bin as it was jamming up the machinery and it would have to be put in the black bin for landfill as it would cost to much! How do other councils cope do they take plastics in their bins or do they have recycling equipment that cannot cope with crisp packets and carrier bags? Now my blue bin doesnt get so full and despite trying not to buy bits with plastic etc it isnt easy!

Plus why dont companies reduce their packaging for products. I am sure we could save an awful lot if things were more straightforwardly packaged. Plastic outers tie wraps sealed plastic, all to be thrown away when the product is removed for use!

i will get off my soapbox now!

[Wild-Woman]

Quite agree with you lindy loo. I've been on the same soapbox for years. I can't stand all this ridiculous and unnecessary wrappings on things. All that wrapping on Easter eggs-criminal. ww

[pxl8]

We come under Taunton Deane and it's a nightmare here as well. We went from weekly collection of black sacks to a weekly collection for food & recyclable and fortnightly for non-recyclables. The recycling collection amounts to paper, glass, tins, clothes and shoes so it's pretty limited - plus they only accept clean items. The non-recyclable is still the largest part of our refuse and that sits there for 2 weeks.

[Tinkerbell]

I have loads of plastic plant pots and seed trays, old saucepans and frying pans etc. but never know quite what to do with this kind of rubbish. I know there's an ex-City gent in London who has been very successful as a modern day 'rag and bone' man and he plans, I understand, to franchise the business around major British cities. People pay him a fee to take their rubbish away - he sorts it and recycles anything which can be put to better use.

Despite making efforts to recycle, there is still so much to be done and the amount of resources wasted is quite frightening. As a chap recently said at our club 'If we weren't such an acquisitive nation we wouldn't produce so much rubbish in the first place'. Worth thinking about - what have you got sitting in your cupboards that doesn't see the light of day?

[glsammy]

What bugs me about our Council, is they ask us to put all our paper,plastics,cardboard,tins all together..They won't accept it if it's been separated, which we've been doing for years! I suppose they've got to justify the wages for the staff that have to sort it after we've sorted and unsorted it! If you see what I mean!

[Kayleigh]

Our council in Northants seem to be getting it right. We have the black wheelie bin for landfill, Green wheelie bin for garden rubbish and cardboard, small bin for plastic and cans and small bin for glass. We also have three compost bins at the bottom of the garden one hidden in the border.

I agree something should be done about the packaging on products we buy. We should all remove it before leaving the supermarket and tell the supermarket to send it back to the supplier.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I agree something should be done about the packaging on products we buy. We should all remove it before leaving the supermarket and tell the supermarket to send it back to the supplier.

Good point. I now refuse to buy pre-packed fruit, only loose. We also re-use our plastic shopping bags, I don't think I've ever seen anyone else there do that. Even the Staff there comment on it, surprised we bother as they've got plenty..