Recycling and public incompetence

leftieM

That's interesting nonnymc - I must get a comprehensive list of the things that can go in too. I've been putting all my (clean) PET and HDPE things into the blue bin assuming that it all gets melted down but recently I wondered if they actually reuse milk cartons rather than recycle them? That might be too sensible and cost effective though. Much better to melt the plastic bottles to make plastic bottles. Sure it's only rate payers money!

andrealm

Anyone know what waxed cardboard is, which you aren't supposed to put in the blue bin? Don't really understand this.

I have always tried to recycle as much as possible but it's a pity you can't put glass in the blue bin. Also in North Down they've started giving out green bins for garden waste but now they aren't giving out a ny more until sometime next year, and they started off giving them out to houses in the town centre, some of which don't even have gardens!

Those who say you would never use the NHS, you wouldn't want to be taken to casualty if you had a heart attack or were involved in a car crash then?

code601

The kerbie boxes are far to small and usually fill withing a few days with large milk containers and cans going into them, I never understood why they just dont have a "dry" bin instead for all the recyclables.

In our borough, bryson house collects the kerbies, and sorts them on the roadside and puts then on various sacks on the van. I presume this is cheaper than having some warehouse or something to sort them in.

We also have wheelie bins for grass cuttings, paper and a regular black bin.

Recycling policy does not seem complete - neither the paper bin or the kerbie accepts cardboard, and thier is still many plastics that they will not accept with the kerbie; thier is also no indication of what to do with old electronic items, Where should these go to be properly disposed of our recycled?

dianeio

Read today in the Mail on Sunday that Rubbish from British recycling bins is being transported half way across the world to blight China's coastal cities. Thousands of containers full of waste plastic and paper are sorted in China.

We all feel good thinking that we have done our bit for the planet once we close the lid on our blue bin.

Really just wondering if the waste from our recycled bins are dealt with in Northern Ireland?

Is it better to recycle using the council blue bins or is Bryson House Kerbie the better option?

leftieM

It's a tough one that. Waste from the Irish Republic also goes to the developing world. Although it gives rise to a different kind of pollution, it is generating wealth and jobs in poorer countries. I imagine that the cost of sorting waste here would be more than the cost of the recycled goods so ratepayers would have to subsidise recycling.
Save yourself the moral dilemma and reduce your waste output. It's the only long term solution.

dianeio

I put out one black binbag of rubbish a week, thats between my boyfriend and me, no children yet, no pets yet. The rest of my waste is recycled. Shall look into what else we can do to reduce our waste.

Thriftylady

this is a long thread which has been going for months, and I'm sure this has probably been mentioned before but what irritates me about all this is that a lot of the waste we produce is outside peoples control. e.g. I would be happy to buy bread from the local bakery which would not come in a plastic tray, with a plastic wrapper round it the way they often do in the supermarket. Oh, but wait a minute, I've just remembered that I don't actually have a local bakery, probably because the supermarket in question put them out of business......there are so many examples of this, I could go on but I think you get the idea. The obvious answer is to be an ethical consumer and make appropriate choices, but thats not as easy as it sounds.