General Chat

What happens to the contents? I have just seen this article which I found interesting (it was in a 'Zero Waste' communication.)

"If I were to get my way and put a skip on the drive, I don’t know how my conscience would deal with it. I mean, all I’d be doing is hiring my very own landfill site for a fortnight, right?

Well apparently not!

I had a fascinating conversation this week with James from Reliable Skip Hire Camberley and he helped me debunk the number one myth about skip hire.

While there are certainly some cowboy firms out there that charge a ‘too good to be true’ fee (there’s a reason for that!), other reputable skip hire companies adhere to strict recycling policies. As James pointed out to me, it’s actually cheaper for them to recycle than it is to landfill, so they make sure every skip is sorted by hand (yes you heard right) and every last item that can be recycled or reused gets diverted there. This leaves the absolute bare minimum to be disposed in landfill.

Here’s what happens to some common household materials: after a skip is collected, it goes to a waste transfer station.

Cardboard is grouped and baled, processed in the UK, and send abroad for recycling.
Concrete and hardcore is crushed and used for roads and driveways, etc.
General waste is usually shredded and made into RDF and used for fuel at power stations. I may also go to landfill.
Plastic is separated into different types, baled and send abroad to be recycled.
Scrap metal is melted down to be reused.
Wood is shredded and used for fuel at power stations.

So it’s not so bad after all! As a customer you need to be prepared to ask awkward questions, but my take is, a reputable company will take pride in telling you about their recycling and reuse policies. They’re going to want you to know! Always ask where the waste is going. If the company you’re speaking to doesn’t want to reveal this, look for another company. Also when picking a skip hire company make sure they have a waste carriers license."

There’s a skip hire company with their own waste processing depot on the outskirts of our village. They opened it to escorted visitors as part of a ‘Village Day’.

In addition to what you’ve listed they have been or are able (not sure if it still happens) to handle asbestos. That is/was buried in a lined pit.

They could recycle virtually everything with the exception of fridge/freezers. They get rather cross with customers who bury them in the bottom if the hired skips.

The visit was noisy, even with ear defenders, dusty, and very informative.
Our son’s Primary School class were shown around several decades ago. We still have the plastic ‘glass’ he was given during the visit. It’s made from recycled plastic.

It was interesting to see that things don't automatically go into landfill. But it was a good reminder that should we have a skip (OH would say we need one but I doubt we will get one), we'd need to check their policy.

Det maybe that is something that all schools should be organising - a trip to Waste management.

Quite agree. Wonder how the schools would cope with the pre-visit risk assessment? It would be horrendous!

Hardcore, recovered when our drive was replaced, was taken to a specialist depot where it was pulverised to a more uniform size. That got sold on to builders.

Well I escorted class teacher and 12 children to our recycling plant. the smell was horrendous but we sure learnt a lot about what happens to our waste once the bin men have collected it from us.

All the plastics are sorted and bailed into neat bundles. Some waste is turned into fuel to power the centre, some made into garden compost.

We were given lots of freebies, bags , stickers etc and the children really enjoyed the visit.
It was very informative and stopped the rumours that it all went to landfill!!

Its an awful job though and a very smelly one.
For what its worth, the risk assessment wasn't any different from any other school trip.

Florence in the hebrides

I don't see why plastic and 'processed' cardboard is sent abroad. and not dealt with here.
It's hardly environmentally friendly to send it in a container ship, as they are one of the most polluting things on the planet!
"Shipping containers produce more greenhouse gas emissions than some small countries. According to The Essential Daily Briefing: “It has been estimated that just one of these container ships, the length of around six football pitches, can produce the same amount of pollution as 50 million cars."

Besides which, Malaysia is sending 'our' plastic back, because a vast amount isn't recyclable - so that's twice, container ships have severely polluted the planet unnecessarily :-(

I agree Maggie.
I saw a documentary recently which showed piles of plastic rubbish abroad somewhere.Marks and Spencers carrier bags and other well known companies too all in a huge heap.
Yes why cant we recycle them in this country? I mean, I know of a lady that buys 2nd hand woollen clothes, unpicks them and re-knits into new items either to sell or donate where needed.

Florence in the hebrides

They already know they can use some plastics to make roads!

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2018/09/13/road-makers-turn-to-recycled-plastic-for-tougher-surfaces

That is interesting and useful to know Ann - I am hoping to get a skip later in the year so will have to ask the right questions.

As for children and recycling, my 8 year old granddaughter stayed for 3 days this week and I would like to congratulate the person who has instilled such knowledge and an awareness of the need to recycle in her and also punch them on the nose lol. She looks at everything to check if it is recyclable, and questions my every move in the kitchen with waste :-0

In Costa she suddenly stated she felt bad drinking her iced drink ..because it was in a plastic container, and asked me if Costa recycled it. I said I didn't know but we could put it in my bag, take it home to wash and recycle. She then looked around at the other tables commenting on the plastic, so I called one of the staff over (I am a frequent visitor ;-) ) so she could ask him about their recycling! Thankfully he could give her some very positive answers.The youngsters have got this!!

The problem is that you/we do not know what happens to all the stuff after the recycling companies have passed them on .............

Are they just left stinking on some dockside in Asia?

Are they dumped in the ocean?

We recycle as much as we possibly can, and the city has an excellent collection and recovery programme both at the kerbside and at the Depot. We produce less than one small plastic grocery shopping bag of garbage a week for 2 people.

But we know from various media reports that many people don't do as well, and that people (probably also including ourselves) may well not separate recyclables as well as we could.

Do we all take labels off plastic bottles, including those prescription drug vials from the pharmacist?

Do we take labels off glass bottles?

Do we all wash out cans?

Do we do a good job of separating paper from glossy paper, from cardboard, where that is a requirement?

The latest information here is that too many people are apparently putting hazardous materials in their plastic or recyclable boxes and bags ........ things like empty Raid aerosols, batteries, etc etc. These can explode and cause fires at the recycling centres, not to mention injure the workers.

The recycling industry in Oz is in turmoil at the moment after China imposed its 'SWORD' policy of not accepting any more imports of 'recyclable' material into the country.

Despite having a couple of years prior warning, Australian recycling companies never took it seriously and now have nowhere to send recyclables ….except to landfill or stockpile them until a decision can be made about them.

Other Asian countries are also adopting a similar attitude as China.

Organics are collected separately, at least in this area and then are composted.

Waste to Energy plants are yet to take off despite the technology being available.

When I first started working as a student health officer in Middleton, Lancs, in 1966 the council had just constructed one of only two direct incineration plants in the UK.

The other was in Red Hill near London.

The concept was brilliant. The plant, constructed in the town centre, was to provide a district heating scheme for properties in the area as well as heating for the local swimming pool. Electricity was produced for the depot and also fed into the National Grid.

The plant had to eventually close years later.

The problem? Nobody had foreseen the plastics components of the waste stream increasing so dramatically.

These created dioxins when burnt, which of course is a massive no-no

Our local animal rescue charity, Hallswood, are collecting many items for recycling, including the plastic tops from liquid soap dispensers, the spray tops from cleaning products, and many other things like cleaned animal food pouches and more. It just shows that so many things we throw away could be recycled if we only know how.

I could never understand why it was thought to be sensible to send large amounts of stuff all those miles across the sea to be recycled.

Liz

There's another downside to recycling - having to clean many things before placing them in the recycling bin.
Water now costs householders by the litre, and we're constantly told how 'precious' it is - yet how much water are we expected to 'waste' or pay for, to clean out tins etc?

Maggie, that point has been made before :-)

In our house, although we have a dishwasher, certain items do not go in it so that most days we still have a sink of water.

So in that sink we first wash whatever it is we need to wash, then our cat's bowls and then our recycling bottles cans, etc., using the same water

We also have a 'trap' on the waste outlet which catches many solids which we then put in our compost bin :-)

Most of mine are washed in the dishwasher so no extra water (we are on a meter so won't waste water. If not the dishwasher then the end of the hand washed stuff.

AnninGlos, we in Oz are also on a meter, but over the years we have learnt how to minimise our usage.

We no longer have lawns, but do have a 'waterwise' garden. This means that all plants etc do not require regular watering except under extreme dry conditions.

Unusually, the Water Corporation (State Government), keep issuing advice on how to save water :-)

I did say that that the recycling industry in Oz is in turmoil

https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/another-vic-recycling-firm-faces-waste-ban/news-story/6bc8ad0f60de31a2d27373b49d22e395