Tag: recycling

Reuse Showhome opens it’s doors at Ocean Terminal today

Discover comfortable, practical living in a space created entirely from beautiful and affordable reused and upcycled furnishings. Our things have value and this showhome is the ideal place to see that in action. Continue reading Reuse Showhome opens it’s doors at Ocean Terminal today

UK requires an immediate ban on single use products

Eight worst landfill offenders revealed

Certain items should be banned immediately to prevent further damage the environment, according to business waste and recycling experts BusinessWaste.co.uk .

While the impact of single-use plastics is being discussed more visibly, actual change has been slow. The introduction of a 5p charge for plastic bags saw a dramatic reduction in the number of new bags issued by retailers, but still saw 500 million bags issued in six months after the scheme was rolled out – still equivalent to 4,000 tonnes of new plastic.

Similarly, many chain restaurants have announced their intention to introduce paper, rather than plastic, straws, following the Government’s announcement that they would soon ban the sale of plastic straws – but many outlets are still using plastic, 6 months away from the proposed implementation of the ban.

There are, research by BusinessWaster.co.uk and studies have shown, a number of items whose use – and subsequent disposal – create an unjustifiable amount of plastic waste.

Here, we look at the worst offenders (and some alternatives):

Plastic bags

Plastic bags take 10-20 years to break down in the environment – unlike a water-soluble alternative developed in Chile, which (despite looking identical to a traditional carrier bag) dissolves once stirred into water, removing the need for landfill-clogging plastics.

Disposable nappies

Taking a horrifying 450 years to break down, disposable nappies are one of the worst offenders for single-use plastic – and, as many contain moisture-locking gels, can have other unintended ill-effects once dumped in landfill. However, reusable cloth nappies are now widely available, and have been found to be better for babies’ skin – making for happier babies and more eco-friendly parents.

Fishing line

An unusual entry, but with 1.2 million fishing licences issued for 2015-16 (the most recent year for which data is available), there are millions of miles of plastic fishing line (which takes 600 years to break down) bought and discarded each year. Banning this would not stop angling enthusiasts, however – dissolvable fishing line has been developed which eventually breaks down in water, meaning fishing fans can still hook their catch of the day without adding to landfill!

Cigarette butts

By now, everyone is aware that smoking itself is dangerous – and banning it outright would contribute dramatically to an improvement in public health. But plastic cigarette filters, which are discarded once a smoker finishes their crafty smoking break, take between 1 and 5 years to break down in landfill. However, with improved support for smoking cessation and reusable vaping technology available, there are alternatives for those who are addicted and struggling to quit.

Plastic bottles

Taking up to 450 years to break down, plastic bottles are a prime offender – and banning them could see the continued increase of reusable water containers, which have seen a dramatic increase in sales in recent years. Many of these are more durable plastics, or aluminium, and therefore can be used for many years before needing recycling.

Styrofoam

Horrifyingly, there are no indications for how long this widely-used packaging material takes to break down after it has been discarded – causing a potentially massive headache for the environment, as online shopping (and therefore carefully-packed parcels) reaches new heights each year. However, there are eco-friendly alternatives. From bamboo fibre packaging to cardboard ‘packing peanuts’, there are a wealth of cushioning options for your brand new TV to be delivered safely.

Aluminium cans

While aluminium cans are recyclable, many local authorities lack the capacity to actually do so – and many millions of drinks cans are sent to landfill each year. However, as they can take up 200 years to break down, drinks retailers could consider more eco-friendly options if they were banned – such as reusable glass containers or even recyclable cardboard cartons.

BusinessWaste.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall said:

“We truly believe that there cannot be significant change to the amount of single-use plastic – and other materials – going to landfill without equally significant action. Banning these products might seem like a big step, but as we’ve shown, there are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives.

“The best way to encourage businesses to innovate and find better ways of manufacturing is to create demand for it, and that’s what we believe a ban on these items would do. The general public are now more aware of green issues than ever and we feel that there would be widespread support for a bold move towards improving our environmental credentials.”

 

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

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

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.”