UK seniors. Is recycling a national thing in your country ?

[jimintoronto]

Today, we had a food delivery from a local supermarket here in Toronto. My Wife recently had a surgical procedure done to remove a small thingy from her right lower lung so we decided to order in, rather than go shopping in person. The bags that the food stuff came in are 100 percent recycled paper. That got me thinking about how wide spread the recycling programs are here in Canada. We live in a house in the west end of Toronto. We have wheelie bins that are for 3 uses. A compost green bin, a blue solid waste recycling bin, and a grey garbage bin.

Beer bottles, beer cans, wine and liquor bottles are all worth money as returns at The Beer Store, ten cents each ( 5 p UK ) As a result you rarely see any of them lying around the streets. I know that "fly tipping " is huge problem in the UK. Here in Toronto the city has specific large trucks that you can call on to come and remove old furniture, beds and large items, for free.

Twice a year the city has "toxic returns " at municipal centers to allow citizens to bring in paint, batteries, anti freeze fluids, and old computers, for recycling. In the fall, all yard waste is placed in paper bags by the homeowners and picked up by the city disposal trucks, then taken to vacant city lands to be dumped and left to rot over the winter. In the spring the composted leaves and grass are brought back and dumped in the local city parks, so the residents can take it home to put on their gardens. The city of Toronto outlawed the burning of leaves more than 40 years ago.

So my question to the UK SF members is this.....Does your country do recycling, and is it done properly, in your opinion ?

 

[Capt Lightning]

This is a bit of yes and no. The collection of domestic waste depends to a degree on which county you live in, but here in Aberdeenshire, we have 3 bins, one for paper, card etc., one for plastics of all sort, and one for non-recyclable waste. There is also a small container for food waste. Glass is not colected, but there is a glass disposal bin in the village. Garden waste is not collected, but we compost as much as possible. We can dispose of most things at the recycling centre, but since this is some miles away, we only take stuff there is we're in the area.

Bottles - now there's a story. In Scotland, it was decided that glass bottles, tins etc should have a refundable deposit - just like Europe .. BUT there was no standard for labelling and most bottles were single use, so the whole scheme collapsed after the stores had installed the recycling equipment.

 

[January]

I am in Australia not UK

But answering anyway.

We have the 3 bin system same as you, Jim, and residents can have a large hard waste pick up twice a year. We got rid of a broken washing machine that way once.

South Australia also has refundable bottles, cans, juice boxes scheme

Single use plastic bags at shops are long gone - you either take your own bags or pay for paper bags.

 

[Mike]

Same here Jim, we have a box for, Plastic, metal and glass,
which is emptied every 2 weeks, another for paper, this is
emptied on the other 2 weeks, with general rubbish, the
little, food waste is emptied weekly.

I have heard that since they built a giant incinerator, all of
the bin's contents are burned, but that could be a rumour!

Mike.

 

[Furryanimal]

Certainly is…got a variety of bins ,bags and boxes for the refuse collection.

 

[Capt Lightning]

I should also mention that the idea of refunding deposits on bottles etc was a Scottish scheme, not a UK wide one. To be successful, there would have to be an agreed standard for labelling, cost etc. across the whole UK. There was also the issue of inspecting, cleaning and reusing glass bottles.

About the only good idea the 'Green' party had, but it was never thought through properly.

 

[-Oy-]

Yes - three bins here also.

 

[jimintoronto]

I should also mention that the idea of refunding deposits on bottles etc was a Scottish scheme, not a UK wide one. To be successful, there would have to be an agreed standard for labelling, cost etc. across the whole UK. There was also the issue of inspecting, cleaning and reusing glass bottles.

About the only good idea the 'Green' party had, but it was never thought through properly.

Captain Lightning. Here in Ontario ( population 15 million people ) the average beer bottle is reused 15 times, before it is smashed into ground glass and made into a new bottle, again. Beer cans are the most recycled material in Canada, as it is WAY cheaper to reuse the melted metal, than make a new one from scratch.

I will point out that we have 2 standard beer bottle sizes, and the wine and liquor bottles are all recycled as ground glass, used to make new bottles over again. Even the cardboard beer cases, wine cases and bottle caps are recycled here. Every brewery in Ontario is a part of the recycling process, from the very small batch craft brewers, to the largest International brewers who sell millions of units per day here. Across the country, similar collection and deposit programs are in place, similar to what Ontario does. JIM.