This page aims to provide more general information regarding
recycling.
Rubbish facts
- There are 8 billion carrier
bags used in the UK each year; that equates to 135 bags per person
per year.
- Disposable nappies will lie in
the ground for up an estimated 500 years.
- 8 million disposable nappies
are thrown away in the UK every day.
- Mobile phones contain
substances that are amongst the ten most dangerous known
to man.
- Each tonne of paper recycled
saves 15 average sized trees, as well as their surrounding habitat
and wildlife.
- 1.5 million computers are
dumped in landfill sites annually.
- The volume of rubbish produced
in the UK in one day would be enough to fill Trafalgar Square up
to the top of Nelson's Column.
- It is estimated that up to 90%
of what is put in our bins could either be reused or
recycled.
- The average British family
throws away six trees' worth of paper in their household bin a
year.
The Recycle
for London Campaign
Have you seen
the adverts on the back of buses with the catchphrase ‘starve your
bin" or caught the advert with the same message on a local radio
station? Maybe you have come across an advertisement in a local
newspaper about recycling. These are all part of a London wide
campaign to raise awareness of and thus increase recycling across
London. The campaign is being run by the Greater London Authority
(GLA) in partnership with the London boroughs. If you wish to find
out more about the campaign, visit the
Recycle for
London website.
Recycling myths
uncovered
As Recycling Officers go about their daily mission of trying to
encourage the general public to use the recycling service that they
have implemented, they come up against numerous opinions about
recycling.
Many residents are extremely encouraging. The Recycling Team
here have received a lot of support from City residents. However,
there are some beliefs still held by people that are simply untrue.
For this reason this section has been dedicated to correcting some
of those half truths and misconceptions that are still held by many
with regards to recycling. Hopefully, this will once and for all
show that recycling is a very worthwhile activity in which to
participate.
Recycling myth #1:
There is no point recycling because my sister’s boyfriend’s half
cousin saw the recycling sack that they had put out being collected
by the same vehicle as the refuse.
Recycling reality:
In the City - there is
now a dedicated vehicle for collecting the recyclable materials.
This vehicle can only be distinguished from the normal refuse
vehicles by the recycling logo sign that has been fixed to both
sides of the vehicle (see image right). In the event that this
vehicle has to be taken off the road, a normal refuse vehicle will
collect the recyclables separately and take them to the materials
recovery facility just like the recycling vehicle does.
Outside the City - some local authorities employ split
vehicles which can collect both recyclable materials and normal
refuse at the same time. The body of the vehicle is separated into
two or more compartments with the refuse going in one compartment
and the recyclables going in the other.
Recycling myth #2:
There is no point recycling because my sister’s boyfriend’s half
cousin says that all the material will end up in the dump
anyway.
Recycling reality
In the City all the recycling materials that are collected
eventually end up being sorted at a Material Recovery Facility
operated by Grosvenor Waste Management. Of all the material
that enters their facility 97% of it is recycled. The
remaining 3% of the material is contaminated, i.e. the wrong type
of material that can not be recycled.
Recycling myth #3:
There is no point recycling because my sister’s boyfriend’s half
cousin says that the material produced is of such a low quality
that no one wants to purchase them.
Recycling reality
Nowadays there is a wide range of high quality products made
from recycled materials.
Many products that you already buy will have some percentage of
recycled materials in them. The majority of newsprint is produced
on 100% recycled paper. Also certain types of packaging like glass,
aluminium and steel cans will also be made from a percentage of
recycled material.
Buying recycled creates a demand for the collected material,
aiding the development of the material's reprocessing
infrastructure and therefore increasing opportunities for
recycling. It is believed by most that recycling has not actually
taken place until the new product has been brought.
Buying products made from recycled materials can also make a
real difference to the environment. Here are some of the main
benefits
- The more materials that are recycled the demand for virgin
materials will decrease thus preserving natural resources and
habitats.
- The energy required to make products out of recycled material
is less than that required to create products out of virgin
material, for example
You can make 20 cans out of recycled materials with the same
amount of energy it takes to make a single one can from virgin
material.
- The pollution generated is in most cases also reduced, for
example:
Recycling glass back into glass containers has a massive
reduction in the CO2 emission generated compared to making the same
containers from virgin material.
For more details on buying recycled products check out the
following websites:
Wasteline
WRAP,
recycled product guide
If you have heard any other reasons why recycling is not
worthwhile, please
email the
Recycling Team and we will be happy to put the record
straight.