Is recycling worthwhile?

[Dave2002]

A bump on this one. Ben Webster (The Times) is just about hinting that much of recycling is really a waste of time - or at least the way that it's currently being done.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/recycling-plants-burn-a-mountain-of-waste-n6x5lkjw7

[MrGongGong]

I think the underlying problem of lots of this is that people are too attached to the idea of "freedom of choice" in what they consume
If ALL wine, beer, milk etc was in a small set of standard bottles then these could be re-used
BUT the "freedom" of "the market" to make small variations in order to try and distinguish one product from another means this won't happen

We should be re-using things before we even think about recycling

[DracoM]

[french frank]

A bump on this one. Ben Webster (The Times) is just about hinting that much of recycling is really a waste of time - or at least the way that it's currently being done.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/n...aste-n6x5lkjw7

Can only read the top bit of the story, but if it's suggesting that 20% of what people 'recycle' gets incinerated, I'm not sure that that's enough to claim that 'much of it is a waste of time'. Does it clarify that what people have put into their recycling boxes has been correctly placed there, or should that 20% have been put in the wheelie bin in the first place? BCC certainly claims that 'Everything that goes into your recycling boxes is put to good use, and all of Bristol’s recycling is sent to reprocessors within England and Wales'. (Maybe the incinerated remains are used for something … ?)

And what happens to the incinerated remains?

But the priorities are: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

[jean]

I think the underlying problem of lots of this is that people are too attached to the idea of "freedom of choice" in what they consume
If ALL wine, beer, milk etc was in a small set of standard bottles then these could be re-used

It's the manufacturers who insist on different sizes and shapes of container. The consumers have never been asked.

It's also the manufacturers who have so far resisted requests to resume charging refundable deposits on containers.

[MrGongGong]

It's the manufacturers who insist on different sizes and shapes of container. The consumers have never been asked.

It's also the manufacturers who have so far resisted requests to resume charging refundable deposits on containers.

Indeed
But I would bet that people like the idea of "choice"
it always sounds so "right"

The only way to change this is to make it illegal to sell stuff in containers that can't be re-used

[Zucchini]

The only way to change this is to make it illegal to sell stuff in containers that can't be re-used

But how much does it cost to make every container 100% safe for reuse - maybe one in a million had methylated spirits in it, maybe one in a fifty million is contaminated with HIV virus and so on.

Do you just say nearly all will be OK, so send them back to the manufacturer, make them built storage and standard sterilisation facilities. And tell them to fill 'em up and send 'em off to Tesco ...

[oddoneout]

The whole recycling issue is a minefield of piecemeal policy and vested interests. Individual councils within a county will have differing rules about what to put in the recycling bins, what can be recycled, and what kind of containers are used for the waste(boxes or wheelie bins). Constantly changing contracts mean that what you can take to the waste facility change as well - is there a textile bank today or is it only clean clothes for charity, has the hard plastic skip for plant pots etc gone now? It is especially irritating when, as in my area, several councils are using the same central processing site but have different rules because they have different contractors collecting the waste.
Two things which aren't going to help matters - China is not going to be taking so much of our plastic waste, and those authorities which have contracts to send waste to Europe for incineration may find that is no longer an option.
FF, re incineration. These days that is generally to power either heating or electricity generating plants. When my son lived in Bermondsey the block of flats had a district heating system partly powered by a nearby incinerator.Metals can be recovered from the ash.
A bugbear of mine, beyond the stupid and counter-productive lack of consistency, is that recycling does not alter the 'throw-away' mind set. People won't consider reducing or rejecting waste so long as there is a bin to put it in. In fact there are many who feel virtuous about chucking things away if they have checked it's recyclable and put it in the right receptacle. The thought that the container or wrapper wasn't needed in the first place is dismissed.

[oddoneout]

But how much does it cost to make every container 100% safe for reuse - maybe one in a million had methylated spirits in it, maybe one in a fifty million is contaminated with HIV virus and so on.

Do you just say nearly all will be OK, so send them back to the manufacturer, make them built storage and standard sterilisation facilities. And tell them to fill 'em up and send 'em off to Tesco ...

They manage it in Holland....From Wiki
"Deposit systems are in use for beer bottles, larger plastic bottles, and plastic crates for bottles. For these items, the deposit (or statiegeld) is returned by automated machines at supermarkets. A video of such a machine in use and returning the deposit is available on YouTube.[7]"
I remember doing this when I visited my sister at least 17 years ago - coke and lemonade bottles and glass jars put in a carousel outside the supermarket which scanned them(and rejected unsuitable items) and then issued a ticket to present at the checkout when shopping. Sorting is the key.
The telling phrase from the Wiki item is the reference to lack of ground for waste disposal, and government funding, which have led to development of methods of dealing with waste.

[Dave2002]

The UK is pretty bad about waste, but it's not alone. Many consumers just don't care - and that also includes the liberals who think they are doing OK by putting things into the "recycling" bins.

Why not just send it all to landfill? Well - in the UK apparently we'd fill a hole the size of Lake Windermere in under a year and a half at the current rate of waste production.

[MrGongGong]

The UK is pretty bad about waste, but it's not alone. Many consumers just don't care - and that also includes the liberals who think they are doing OK by putting things into the "recycling" bins.

Why not just send it all to landfill? Well - in the UK apparently we'd fill a hole the size of Lake Windermere in under a year and a half at the current rate of waste production.

Pedants corner I know
but there is only one "Lake" in the Lake District and it isn't Windemere

as you were

[Dave2002]

Pedants corner I know
but there is only one "Lake" in the Lake District and it isn't Windemere

as you were

Windemere - somewhere in the USA perhaps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windemere

[MrGongGong]

Windemere - somewhere in the USA perhaps? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windemere

Whichever way it's spelt

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Pedants corner I know
but there is only one "Lake" in the Lake District and it isn't Windemere

as you were

It's Bassenthwaite Lake.

[Bryn]

Pedants corner I know
but there is only one "Lake" in the Lake District and it isn't Windemere

as you were

Indeed, "Lake Windermere" is a tautology, but Windermere is still a lake, just not a "Lake".