Recycling Ideas which could catch on?

antrobus

mishmogs wrote: »

... This morning his words rang a thoughtful bell with me "Your government makes you recycle but gives you nothing back,....".

Apart from lower Council Tax that is.

mishmogs wrote: »

...So why aren't we getting cash for metal, etc?...

We are. It's just that we're getting the money collectively rather than individually.

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Having lived for a little while in Germany we were used to the can crushing machines in most of the local supermarkets, which gave you vouchers or tokens to spend in the store....

Tesco do the same here in the UK at a few locations. See here:-
http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/greener_tesco/what_tesco_is_doing/tesco_recycling_centre_locations.page?

But I do remember reading that they were going off the idea because of can fraud. As in people sticking non aluminium cans in the machine.

Martyn1981

Silly question (which I should probably put to my council) but does anyone know why aluminium foil is not wanted in the recycling (Cardiff recycling)?

I would have thought it had one of the highest values. Is it some sort of nuisance / problem when processing mixed recycling?

Cheers. Mart.

rogerblack

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Silly question (which I should probably put to my council) but does anyone know why aluminium foil is not wanted in the recycling (Cardiff recycling)?

I would have thought it had one of the highest values. Is it some sort of nuisance / problem when processing mixed recycling?

Exactly.
Foil is (from memory) .01mm thick.
Even if it's normally only got .1mm of 'stuff' on it, that dwarfs the impurities found on cans.
It also has very low mass per area - so small bits of foil can greatly slow down manual sorting.

A can weighs about 15g.
This is about 6cc of aluminium.
Or about 2m of normal foil off a roll.

Plus, much 'foil' found in packaging is actually heavily coated, or laminated with plastic.
Or is just a tiny thin evaporated bit of aluminium on a plastic base.

EricMears

antrobus wrote: »

Tesco do the same here in the UK at a few locations. See here:-
http://www.tesco.com/greenerliving/greener_tesco/what_tesco_is_doing/tesco_recycling_centre_locations.page?

But I do remember reading that they were going off the idea because of can fraud. As in people sticking non aluminium cans in the machine.

The Tesco machines accept plasic bottles, steel cans and aluminium cans and can detect which material has been posted. Aluminium cans generate half a Tesco reward point each so 'fraud' is unlikely because it really isn't worth the effort.

Hobbo2006

Our local council is Windsor & Maidenhead. They have a recycling points system based on the weight of your recycling. It's run by recycle bank.

https://www.recyclebank.com/


http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/wm_recyclebank.htm

You can swap the points for vouchers. My only problem with it is that they are always spend to save vouchers rather than giving you anything for free but at least it's something. Maybe you could propose this to your local council?

Ben84

antrobus wrote: »

Apart from lower Council Tax that is.

As far as I'm aware, at the moment domestic recycling schemes typically cost money or are borderline compared to land filling rubbish. You'd have to ask your council about the costs, but the claims I've encountered so far about it being cheaper have often been somewhat (occasionally very) dubious.

Friends of the Earth talk about costs a bit on their site, and despite a positive view of domestic recycling they don't seem particularly convinced it's a cheaper option either:

http://www.glosfoe.org.uk/other/09W9.pdf

Of course, with rising material prices and rising landfill tax, this all may change in the future. I still think, whatever the case, exploring rubbish reduction ideas that reduce waste right at the start by making less material to be disposed of are better than landfill or recycling however. The benefit to individuals from this route isn't so apparent, but it could (frankly should) make for less costly products and lighter shopping bags when they take them home.

devonlad

Justamum wrote: »

When I was a child we used to be able to take pop bottles back to the shop and get some money for them.

I think Australia has a day where people put their unwanted furniture etc out and other people can take them. What happens to the stuff which isn't taken though - does the householder have to take it back in, or is it then removed by the local authority?

I have no problem with recycling - I recycle glass, food tins and any other metal (they go to a skip at the local amenities centre and a scrap metal dealer collects it all up), aluminium, paper and two types of plastic (number 1 and 2 - I believe they are the only two types currently recycled in the UK so other numbers I throw away). Old clothes and other still useful household stuff goes to the charity shop. It doesn't bother me that I don't get any money for it all. It's a bit like people who will only go to the police with information if there's a reward in it for them (and I have heard of people like that!)

Was the pop in question. carona. Spelt wrong I think

EricMears

devonlad wrote: »

Was the pop in question. carona. Spelt wrong I think

'Corona' was a brand of lemonade distribued to doorsteps by small lorries rather on the 'milkman' model.

devonlad

EricMears wrote: »

'Corona' was a brand of lemonade distribued to doorsteps by small lorries rather on the 'milkman' model.

We were allowed to go tö village shop and buy a bottle once a week. Me and my bro used to fight about who would take bottle back. Mums hand used to remind me that it wasn't my turn:D

antrobus

EricMears wrote: »

The Tesco machines accept plasic bottles, steel cans and aluminium cans and can detect which material has been posted. Aluminium cans generate half a Tesco reward point each so 'fraud' is unlikely because it really isn't worth the effort.

Not worth the effort, eh?

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=16130&title=Tesco+cuts+down+recycling+rewards+scheme+following+%27misuse%27

Ben84 wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, at the moment domestic recycling schemes typically cost money or are borderline compared to land filling rubbish. ...

If that were true, that would undermine the whole point the OP was trying to make, as in " So why aren't we getting cash for metal, etc?" Besides, I wouldn't necessarily take much notice of FoE's views on the economics of recycling. If there wasn't any money in recycling then Tesco would hardly be so keen on doing it, now would they?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1390086/Greedy-Tesco-ordering-councils-remove-recycling-bins-car-parks-supermarket-cash-in.html