Plastic Bottle Recycling
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We’ve seen quite a few posts, indicating a can’t work, won’t work attitude to bottle deposits, despite the contrary evidence from some of our European neighbours. But conciounciously taking your own bottles back isn’t the whole story. Where thoughtless people have left bottles by the wayside, a legion of financially astute children, and even a few adults, are likely to collect the debris for its refund - as in the past. As someone who has involved themselves in local litter picks for several years, I think that I’ve seen it all - soiled nappies, bags full of kitchen waste, bottles of course, then spare wheels for cars, rubble, and shrubs and trees festooned with decaying dog poo bags, providing a revolting parody of satanic Christmas trees or dead birds, hung on fences as a deterrent by gamekeepers.
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Our local authority recycle almost everything 😉. Householders separate cardboard and paper which alledgely gets a premium. Our plastic recycing includes every sort of recyclable plastic including those cartons which have fruit juice, custard etc in them.
We customers didn't ask for plastic packaging it was foisted upon us by manufacturers who wanted to save costs 😤
Is this deposit to get us to recycle or to reduce litter? Cynical me says it grabs headlines. If it's to up recycling levels will it be applied to EVERY plastic container things are supplied in? (From grapes to spreads washing liquids to sauces etc). If that's the case then I couldn't afford to loose the 'deposit/tax' on all my recycling so my local authority wouldn't get an income, I'm sure I wouldn't be alone in this, so I expect my council tax would rise too.
If it's to reduce litter it seems the single use plastic bag charge hasn't made a huge impact if you look at the roadsides of the country. 😢
Edit I am more than happy to recycle at home or away. I have no objection to returning bottles or taking litter home, I'm just pondering the result of unintended consequences. I too never cease to be amazed at what others consider it acceptable to leave behind them 😤
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I tend to think that simple solutions to problems are the most successful. What seems to be in the offing is a confusion of a system that we already have and is working well by those that buy into it. The question really is will we achieve higher recycling rates by a deposit system or spending a fraction of the money on educating those that need educating about recycling? Were we starting from scratch then a deposit system might well be worth considering. However what the suggested system is doing is putting yet another layer in place which is likely to confuse things. The Government needs to have a comprehensive recycling policy in place before making this sort of decision in my view.
David
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The plastic container manufacturers are the responsible ones. They have made a fortune out of producing non biodegradable products. Production of those products should cease immediately and biodegradable products only should be used.
The Plastic Container manufacturers should bear the cost of cleaning up the plastic waste both on land and in the sea.
Will it happen - I doubt it , nobody cares enough about the environment to insist that it happens.
K
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Looking at recent TV programmes about recycling it seems the machinery developed to sort and recognise certain types of plastic can't be programmed to recognise black containers. This seems to be an urgent issue that needs more development work. When you think of state of the art production lines with robotics etc recycling machinery is a poor relation at present.
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We who recycle diligently must accept that there are those who don't give a ****, and it is this target area that it is aimed at, it is those that litter the countryside because of a zero incentive in returning bottles or cans. Of course their mindset still may not change, or may have too much money and still not bother, but I have no problem whichever method is chosen as I will recycle as usual even if additional trips are involved.
Litter and fly tipping is unthinkable to us, and we have it within a few miles of a large recycling and disposal area. I suppose if there is a big enough monetary return then maybe organised litter picking may increase, with youngsters taking a bigger role and involving themselves in the environment more and become more responsible in their teenage/adult years.
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10p won't dissuade those that litter. £10 might and even then I'm a bit doubtful.
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What actually happens to the stuff we put in our recycling bin? There was a story in the papers a few weeks ago where the Chinese said they would no longer take it and the UK should deal with its own waste. Locally a plant was built to convert it into pellets for incineration to generate electricity. Unfortunately nobody wants the pellets so they were going to landfill.
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One report on TV that I saw showed the plastic being converted to pellets that were then used in road surface construction. If you have clean recycled plastic there is no reason why it can't be used to make replacement containers. We are always instructed to remove the bottle tops as they are usually a different colour. On some French campsites I have seen separate tubs for the bottle tops.
David
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I'm sure I saw that system in the car park just outside Kinlochewe Club Site David. I'm sure they were in a car park shared between the hotel & the council. It was a few years back but there was a container for the 'tops' hung between the 'grey' & 'black' commercial sized bins.
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It's mindset isn't it? If you recycle now then you will continue, if you don't then what's £0.10 worth to you, best chuck it out of the car window.
The biggest problem is not necessarily the plastic bottles (which is bad enough) but the unrecyclable take-away coffee cups. I bet a lot of people who say they like to recycle use these and don't know that they can't be recycled. If they do know then they are being a hypocrite. If you must have a take-away then take your own keep warm beaker. There are millions of coffee cups thrown away each year. I note that Starbucks is investing a small amount (to them) of £10,000,000 or thereabouts to find a disposal throw away coffee cup but they've given themselves a 10 year span to develop it.
Also noticed today that the Co-Op will by 2020 only be selling water in bottles that have been recycled or contain part recycled plastic, in other words no new "virgin" plastic bottles.
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And 66 million pounds to good causes! The problem with the bottle tax is that it won't be a tax in the accepted sense, if people don't return the bottles to the retailer who will benefit? I suspect the retailer, a bit like the minimum price per unit for alcohol in Scotland.
David
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It goes beyond just plastic bottles that harm our environment, re Blue Planet. All plastic packaging should be taxed now and the companies that use such things should be penalised. By the way what do people do with the plastic packaging their Club Magazine comes in?
there are alternatives now, types of "plastic" made out of food waste that is biodegradable.
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Rowena has explained that the magazine wrappers are both recyclable and biodegradable.
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I've no idea if it's been stated in the club magazine. I repeated what Rowena told us in another thread.
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Not sure what the difference is between biodegradable and compostable. Although possibly length of time? However, we just received our National Trust Magazine and the plastic rapping for that is made from potato starch. It says you can just put it on your compost heap. Not sure if that is the case with the CC one, or if the biodegrading is longer term.
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Brue is right though. The amount of rubbish and plastic in particular is quite frankly, appalling. Now that the hedges and trees are getting their foliage we ar no longer treated to the spectacle of dozens of plastic bags caught in branches. People seem to have lost there pride in their country - if they ever had any and that is tragic as the British countryside is some of the most beautiful to be found anywhere - as we in particular know! If a levy on a plastic bottle is to be applied, it will have to be worth going back for. The packaging industry has in general, much to answer for. Do you really need a pair of pliers in a bubble pack? Difficult to solve but a mix of regulation and deposits may go a long way. Gone are the days of being sent to the local grocers for a dozen eggs and carrying them back just in a paper bag under the imminent threat of death if you dropped them!
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