Scotland’s new Deposit Return Scheme will include aluminium and steel cans as well as drinks containers made of glass and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic with a 20p deposit as part of plans to combat climate change. Continue reading Deposit Return Scheme takes shape
Tag: recycling
Have you played ‘Bin Chess’?
Everyday life can be hectic and small details often get missed – but a staggering 95% of households have ‘no idea’ which of their rubbish bins are due to be collected each week, according to a survey conducted by waste disposal experts BusinessWaste.co.uk .
The survey, which polled 1,400 households, showed that the vast majority of households could not remember which of their bins was due to be collected that week – and an entertaining number of respondents admitted to resorting to ‘Bin Chess’ to find out.
Kelly, 38, from Bristol, laughed: “It starts on a Sunday evening – you can see people popping their heads round their curtains seeing if anybody’s made the first move yet so that everyone else can follow suit!”
While it might sound like something from a spy film, this is much less glamorous than James Bond – instead, hapless residents are lying in wait for their (hopefully more knowledgeable) neighbours to indicate which bin needs placing by the kerb for collection.
Macclesfield resident Stuart, 46, said it occasionally resulted in a stand-off, adding: “Sometimes you know it’s going to be a long night when nobody’s made a move by 9pm!”
The BusinessWaste.co.uk study showed that, despite their frequency, bin collections continued to be a source of trouble for households, indicating that:
- 95% had ‘no great certaintly’ which bins were collected each week;
- 10% have had to chase the bin truck last-minute;
- and 45% have forgotten to take the bin out altogether in the last 6 months.
Despite the comical image of a half-asleep neighbor chasing after the bin lorry dragging their recycling bin, failure to prepare for collection can cause a number of issues for residents.
Mark Hall, spokesperson from BusinessWaste.co.uk, said: “In many places, each type of bin is only collected once a month – so while it might be easy to forget in our busy day-to-day lives, we could find ourselves with much bigger problems down the line.
“Piling black bags next to our jam-packed bins is a magnet for local cats, foxes, and rats, not to mention unsightly, and many local authorities will refuse to collect extra bags of rubbish from the kerbside.”
When asked what they do with excess waste due to forgetting the bin collection date, survey respondents had mixed responses. Some, like Anna from Chiswick, said they waited until they could get to a local tip. She added: “It’s a massive pain, and you end up carting smelly leaky bags in your car – I hate it but I can still never seem to remember to take the bins out right for more than a few months at a time”.
Others resorted to more underhand tactics. Ollie, 19, a student in Birmingham, admitted: “We just shove our binbags in next door’s bins when we’ve forgotten to put ours out. After one party we ended up putting about 20 cans in their recycling bin and they still don’t know it was us – well, we hope!”
Mark Hall concluded: “Most people will forget to put their bins out and now and then – but instead of conducting covert missions to a neighbour’s garden or driving to the tip, households could find easier ways to remind themselves.
“Most councils have printable calendars on their website with the dates of upcoming collections, and many even now have an app which will send you notifications – saving you a rubbish-based nightmare in future!”
Fighting the throwaway culture
The Scottish government is to seek industry expertise and advice on the implementation of a Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland. The Deposit Return Scheme Implementation Advisory Group will provide industry input and guidance on delivering an effective scheme, as well as testing assumptions and decisions about its implementation. Continue reading Fighting the throwaway culture
New opening hours for city’s Household Waste Recycling Centres
Opening hours at Edinburgh’s three Household Waste Recycling Centres are changing from next month to bring them into line with neighbouring authorities. Continue reading New opening hours for city’s Household Waste Recycling Centres
Deposit return trials in Edinburgh convenience stores
Leading international reverse vending machine (RVM) manufacturer Envipco has teamed up with the Scottish Grocers Federation (SGF), Viridor, and UK retail chains Nisa, Premier and Keystore to deliver RVM trials in several Scottish convenience stores. Continue reading Deposit return trials in Edinburgh convenience stores
Garden Waste registration window opens this month
Edinburgh residents who haven’t yet signed up for garden waste collections for the current service year can do so from next week. Continue reading Garden Waste registration window opens this month
Fighting the throwaway culture
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has reiterated the Scottish Government’s pledge to introduce a deposit return scheme as part of plans to further tackle plastic waste.
Deposit return will increase the quality of recycled materials collected in Scotland. By collecting more drinks containers here, we could recycle them back into items for the food and drinks industry – for example, plastic bottles being recycled to make new plastic bottles – rather than exporting them for other uses. This would be a benefit to industry based in Scotland, which has an increasing demand for recycled materials of high quality.
Visiting Coca-Cola European Partners bottling plant in East Kilbride, she said: “I am proud of the fact that Scotland was the first part of the UK to commit to a deposit return scheme as we are determined to do all we can to prevent discarded drinks containers from ending up in our streets and seas.
“A deposit return scheme as part of the wider circular economy will not only be an effective way of increasing recycling rates and reducing litter, but also provide an opportunity to secure a new source of high quality material, develop our recycling infrastructure and create jobs as part of our ambition to drive the circular economy on our journey to carbon-neutrality.
“We will bring forward the next steps on designing our deposit return scheme shortly, which will complement our world-leading action on climate change, whilst we continue to maintain our environmental standards in the face of Brexit.”
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Zero Waste Scotland is currently working on the design of Scotland’s deposit return scheme, a critical part of developing a more circular economy where no resources are wasted.
“There is an increasing demand for quality recycled content here in Scotland from businesses such as Coca-Cola, and people don’t want to see plastics being used once and needlessly discarded. That’s why deposit return, which brings that material back to be used again, here in Scotland, is a win for both the environment and our economy.”
Coca-Cola European Partners is currently the largest user of recycled plastic in the UK food and drink industry, having invested significantly to help transform the UK’s PET recycling and reprocessing capabilities over the past decade.
Nick Brown, Head of Sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners Great Britain, said: “At Coca-Cola European Partners we want to make sure all our packaging is recovered so more can be recycled and none ends up as litter.
“Deposit return schemes are a major change for shoppers, retailers and producers but we know that a well-designed deposit scheme can increase recycling and reduce the littering of beverage packaging in a way that works for everyone.
“Industry has a lot of experience of running successful deposit return schemes around the world and we look forward to working with the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland to make sure we design a scheme that works for Scottish businesses and Scottish shoppers, and makes the biggest possible impact on littering and recycling.”
Planet pays the price for candle popularity
That wonderful time of the year has come and gone – but those thoughtful gifts will soon turn into an environmental headache as millions of candles head to landfill in January. Continue reading Planet pays the price for candle popularity
Recycle all the way this Christmas
Recycling food waste helps us all tackle climate change, report reveals
The fight against climate change begins at home, a new report published by Zero Waste Scotland has revealed. The report, published to coincide with Recycle Week 2018, shows that less waste and more recycling, especially of food waste, are crucial in reducing our carbon impact. Continue reading Recycling food waste helps us all tackle climate change, report reveals