Oxford has banned non-recyclable plastic food containers

Great news. Of course it should. In fact I can't comprehend why it hasn't been banned ages ago.

Marktheshark wrote: »

How do the define recyclable ?
Those plastic tubs are great for household storage stuff.

Good point. We use those as well, but for every one that gets used I'm sure another 50 go into landfill.

molerat wrote: »

At least Oxford do seem to recycle the majority of plastic packaging. My council only recycle 1 & 2. The big thing I find annoying is how retailers / manufacturers can supply items in plastic packaging with no recycling code on them, they can stamp all sorts of other info into the container but not a simple recycle code.

Its incredible really. Why not simply require supermarkets/manufacturers to use exclusively recyclable packaging?

The answer of course is that big business runs the country and does what it likes.

The problem is where to put recyclable plastic...

Sounds good in theory, but misses the point I think. It's more complex than this. Recyclable packaging can actually be much worse than non recyclable alternatives on many important points. Glass jars and cardboard boxes are readily recyclable, but contain greatly more materials and embodied energy than lightweight non-recyclable plastic bags. I've seen quite a few examples of attempts to be more sustainable which end up with low mass, resource efficient packaging being replaced with high mass, high embodied energy packaging just because they're easier to recycle. It's ironic in some ways, but the best packaging in terms of energy and resource use should never be worth recycling as it shouldn't be bulky enough to justify the energy and resource costs of recycling it.

To be honest, I sometimes think recycling is a bit of an ecological menace that needs to be reined in from the worst excesses. Often it seems everyone's so keen to recycle everything, but without ever collecting and considering any real data. Plastics, like the ones often used to make takeaway containers for example rarely make much sense to recycle. They're extremely lightweight and there just isn't much to recover. They're also of little economic value and can consume a lot of water to clean and fuel to move around as they're bulky. You probably don't have to drive a big, heavy diesel fuelled truck full of flimsy takeaway containers very far before you've burnt more oil than making the containers used in the first place. The only reason we transport them the first place is to meet a useful need. Once that's gone, I'm pretty sure they turn in to just rubbish.

Aside from these issues, recyclable or not, I expect the majority of takeaway containers will still get thrown out because they're dirty and the people who buy them clearly value convenience and speed at the time they buy them. A better option would be to help companies meet their needs with the minimum packaging. Many are already working on this anyway. If we can aim for consumption below the point where it's not worth recovering, then recycling becomes a non-point.