So what actually happens to recycled goods?

[Cornish Steve]

I happened to read a news article this evening about what happens to recycled electronics: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312109,00.html

When we drop something off for recycling, is there any way to find out what actually happens to it? A few years ago, we carefully separated out goods into the various types of paper, plastic, empty cans, and glass - only to learn that the collection company was simply dumping everything anyway because the cost of recycling became too high.

[FantasyCouriers]

Our local council made a big thing about collecting carboard boxes from the shops in the high street for recyclung, and then one day i followed the boldly painted recycling cart all the way to the local landfill site!!:eek:

[fastmower]

That sort of thing really shouldn't happen.

However, there can be problems which aren't immediately apparent to the guy having to sort out his rubbish for recycling.

For instance - the presence of the recyclable mark on a product just means that it is actually capable of being recycled. If there are no companies processing or buying that particular polymer nearby, this can effectively make it "rubbish", as the cost of transporting it to the processor would be greater than it's value. I run a recycling plant for a living, and we actually care about this stuff - and if we could we'd recycle everything. But obviously, if we can't make any money we can't do the business. It comes down to plain economics.

Another problem is dirty or "other" waste - we receive this in collections which are supposed to be JUST plastic bottles - and then WE have to pay the cost for disposing of it. As well as domestic goods such as irons, kettles, steamers and hair dryers, we get car parts, kids toys, clothing, unwashed ready meal containers, carrier bags of used nappies, sanitary towels etc etc. I'm still not sure what sort of person thinks it's acceptable behaviour to put this sort of stuff in the recycling bin - but we'd love to meet them and let them work in the plant for a while! Bottom line though is that we then have to cover the cost of getting rid of this stuff - and the more we pay for waste disposal - the less viable the whole operation becomes.

But at least the recycling thing seems to be growing - we're processing a lot more waste office paper lately, and this looks set to grow further. We've also introduced a glass recycling service in the past couple of months for pubs clubs and restaurants etc - and the majority of them seem to think it's a great idea - we've had a 93% take up rate on the service following a free trial period which is very encouraging. There are of course one or two places who would rather throw their waste in a landfill than pay less than £3 per week to have it collected - but it's not worth arguing with them if they can't afford that - though if £3 a week is going to put the business under, maybe they should be doing something else?!

Keep it up everyone and if your local council isn't up to the mark - let them know about it!

Cheers,

Andy

[aaamusements]

Our local council made a big thing about collecting carboard boxes from the shops in the high street for recyclung, and then one day i followed the boldly painted recycling cart all the way to the local landfill site!!:eek:

It's not unknown for the recycling sorting yard to be on the same site as the landfill though!