Recycling is a con

[Stonehead]

I took a pile of stuff to our local council recycling point this morning, all sorted to make it easier to put it in the right receptacles. I needn't have bothered as the bloke manning the recycling point put most of it in a compactor and said it will go to landfill.

Into the compactor went plastic feed bags (no recycling of them), damp cardboard (no market), 6V lantern batteries, AA and AAA batteries, small bottles of automotive oils and fluids, the empty but still contaminated large tins and bottles that had held larger amounts of oils (these were emptied in an oil receptacle), bottles of professional wood preservatives and herbicides, and assorted pieces of plastic and old linoleum.

The only things that went for recycling were 12v and 24v automotive batteries (the lead is valuable), the largest quantities of oil, and a few bits of metal for which I had no use.

I was so annoyed I had to come home and rant on my blog, then here.

What's the point in telling people to recycle, threatening them with fines if they don't properly sort rubbish, and then sticking the waste in landfill anyway? Especially when some of it is potentially hazardous?

[ina]

I think, another case for the newspaper! They are so vocal about how green they are... I've never seen anything like it around here (the site at Laurencekirk is excellent), but it's shocking to hear that some sites obviously care rather less.

Don't you have to recycle your "farm waste" through an official recycler anyway - or is your place not big enough for that? I know that we (and a friend who has little more than a smallholding) have to; it costs £25 per large bag (ton bag or thereabouts), filled with just one type of plastic.

[marshlander]

iT'S A WICKED WASTE!

I agree with ina, name and shame them.
Trouble is, there's no incentive for councils to recycle more difficult waste all the time they're being told to meet a weight target.

[contadina]

I like the name and shame route. Local papers love those kind of stories, constituents read local papers and so there you have your incentive for local councils to clean up their acts.

[Stonehead]

Don't you have to recycle your "farm waste" through an official recycler anyway - or is your place not big enough for that? I know that we (and a friend who has little more than a smallholding) have to; it costs £25 per large bag (ton bag or thereabouts), filled with just one type of plastic.

We're not a business, so I was told to use the domestic service.

If we had been a business, it would have gone into exactly the same bins and I'd have been charged for the privilege.

There were a couple of builders there doing just that.

[justskint]

My council uses a very slick, supposedly enviromentaly clued up publicity company, costs us dearly in council tax. Chancers and NOT a clue, advice contadictory, very dismisive of enviromentalists. Delivered by post to every household in a huge A4 envelope with an equaly large brochure, information content banal and might be condensed into a much smaller format.

Very difficult not to be politcal!!

[Silver Ether]

Ours is doing well they seem to have got their act together, at least the bit I see but can you truly trust them...

I have to say that when we are in Scotland we always have trouble recycling takes ages to find any where and its always small ... our lad who live is Glasgow has to carry his stuff with him a good way to recycle ...

[Annpan]

Glasgow's recycling facilities are a joke... it is an offence to place rubbish beside the overflowing bins (littering or flytipping?!?!) but they only empty the bins once a fortnight... These are large wheelie bins on every 4rth street corner (approx) at a rough guess about 4000 people have to use that 1 large wheelie bin, for a fortnight...

Also we don't have a recycling pick up... and didn't when we were in Glasgow... I don't know why we don't but thousands do

No wonder councils fall short of their recycling targets...

Plus everywhere you look now, it is all reduce, reuse, recycle... companies get incentives to push the green advertising... why? when the councils are so inept at carring out their end of the bargin.

[justskint]

As you have stated Annapan, inept. Poor work ethic is also a factor!

[QuakerBear]

I have to say that here in Surrey/Hampshire we're quite well sorted for domestic recycling. If you don't have it collected there are lots of recycling containers. There's also lots Salvation Army recycling places for clothes and shoes (A VERY WORTHWHILE CAUSE). There's also a lot for unusual things like glasses (again a wonderful thing, please everyone, recycle your old specs and give someone an amazing gift: sight) and mobile phones The only thing I've had problems with has been batteries. Which is surprising because it's been illegal to throw away/landfill batteries in the Netherlands for many years and as we're all EU we should be getting more like them.

[ina]

As you have stated Annapan, inept. Poor work ethic is also a factor!

But binmen are on strike somewhere - because they can't live on £21.000 for a four day week...

[Shirley]

That is just SHOCKING - I'm absolutely amazed at that Stoney. Will you be writing to the paper? I really think that there should be something done about this sort of thing.

Over to check out the blog too.

[justskint]

As you have stated Annapan, inept. Poor work ethic is also a factor!

But binmen are on strike somewhere - because they can't live on £21.000 for a four day week...

I don't see the binben in my area on 21k, more like the minimum wage, work like crazymen just to finish at a reasonable hour of the day.

[ina]

It was on the news the other day - because some councils have to pay back pay to a lot of workers who've been on too low a wage (mostly women), they have to save money elsewhere. And so the binmen were supposed to take a cut from £23.000 to £21.000, for a four day week, which of course they didn't like... They did interview one of the guys on strike, and he mentioned those wages himself, so I suppose it's true.

[kiery]

I can't believe that practically all the stuff you sorted out was ending up in landfill. I'm off to check where mine goes. If it is not good I writing to my Councillor, MP, MSP and MEP!

I am a bit militant about reduce, reuse and recycle. I think they should bring in weighing and charging of bins. I heard they do that in Ireland, is that right?

That will get them sorting out their rubbish. But it is a bit pointless if it all goes to landfill.

We have a recycling box every week and a grey bin/green bin on alternate weeks. Most of my neighbour can't cope with this though and have several black bags propping open the lid. Bit of a pain on a windy week like this one.