Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Labour's new £1 million garden tax | |
Posted by: | Philippa Bond | |
Date/Time: | 09/09/11 15:46:00 |
We have never really had enough information on the plastics collection - on what exactly happens to it, how much is really recycled and how much is just (hopefully) diverted from landfill. I'd like to hear that the plastic bottles are recycled into new bottles. It would be good to hear it was closed loop on this. Plastics give out a lot of energy when burned so I always suspected that it would be used as fuel in the new efw facility that there was the court case between LBE and Ken Livingstone over. Whatever. We so depend on there being good contracts in place for our 'recycling'. Plastic is horrible stuff and the pictures of our plastic waste being sorted and burned and re-processed in the third world where there are obviously few regulations in place to protect the local people are awful. China stopped manufacturing carrier bags for the duration of the Olympics. There is terrible pollution. We need to reduce and refuse all unnecessary packaging. We didn't ask for it; we don't want it - we just didn't complain about its creeping increase. The focus should NOT be on it being used to stack well and advertise well. A lot of it IS unnecessary. I'm happy with the white bag; we don't put it out every week. We flatten any milk containers. However we also get milk in reusable returnable glass bottles from the milkman and I don't believe this is necessarily more expensive. You save money when you go to the supermarket less often... Milk is being sold as a loss leader in the supermarkets to get you to go there often and buy more. (Notice the way you will have to cross the whole supermarket to find it being tempted at every turn.) Residents need to be encouraged to reduce the amount of waste they make overall and not just recycle more. Then think about reduction of volume ie squash the plastic bottles and crush the cans. Are the lids wanted or not? If wanted should they be on the bottles or not? The sorting and recycling of these things has been evolving. It is time it was all updated. It doesn't confuse people if things change especially if the reason is explained and it is logical. It is more difficult when it is not clear. I still don't know how you fill a white plastics bag each week. Perhaps we need some high profile people to be interviewed and shown how to reduce their waste but maybe it is Julian Bell or Bassam Mahfouz we should put on the spot!! |