Is recycling worthwhile?

[Dave2002]

Scrap metal merchants had been in the area, including a registered and longstanding trader who had put a card through the door a couple of weeks previously, and that was a solution I was considering. It could have been a dodgy scrap dealer(prices were good at the time), or even someone hoping it was a functioning but unwanted machine.

The metal dealer may or may not have been dodgy.

The people that really get me wound up are the ones who dig up internet/telephone cables, or railway signalling cables. I’ve even heard of people going for railway overhead power cables,, and it wouldn’t surprise me if some absolute idiots tried for high voltage overhead grid power cables. These people cause massive disruption, though sadly, and stupidly some of them do succeed in killing themselves.

[Dave2002]

Not quite, unless you have one of the specialised bins. Cooked food and things containing meat, fish, cheese and egg shouldn't be put on an ordinary compost heap. Even if they don't attract vermin(zero chance of avoiding that frankly), the decomposition of such items isn't pleasant.

We have found Green Cones quite good, but the best we had for food waste was a wormery. It produced very good fertiliser - brilliant for orchids. Unfortunately the worms escaped and died when we went away on holiday for a while, and we didn’t try again. It was very good though.

[gradus]

Not quite, unless you have one of the specialised bins. Cooked food and things containing meat, fish, cheese and egg shouldn't be put on an ordinary compost heap. Even if they don't attract vermin(zero chance of avoiding that frankly), the decomposition of such items isn't pleasant.

I agree that you keep foods such as you mention away from ordinary open compost heaps but I find that the dalek type composters can take any and everything, as long as you can keep the rats out. When full, and it takes quite a while to fill them as they compost down quite quickly and get topped up daily, the resulting compost turns into an excellent soil improver/feed.

[oddoneout]

The metal dealer may or may not have been dodgy.

The people that really get me wound up are the ones who dig up internet/telephone cables, or railway signalling cables. I’ve even heard of people going for railway overhead power cables,, and it wouldn’t surprise me if some absolute idiots tried for high voltage overhead grid power cables. These people cause massive disruption, though sadly, and stupidly some of them do succeed in killing themselves.

They at least won't be repeat offenders; my son refers to such incidents as Darwin in action. The TV documentary series about Paddington station often featured the disruption caused by such attempts at metal theft.
The metal dealer who left a card was local, been around a long time, had the relevant licences. There were some dodgy individuals around as well at the time though it's true, of the here today gone tomorrow type.