Re: Recycling

How do you rate the recycling service in your area?  Are they some things that you think they should take that they don't? 

We get a weekly recycling collection so that is pretty good (though we only put the box out fortnightly if that) - but they don't take cardboard!  Yet for businesses there is a cardboard collection so why they can't collect cardboard from everyone else as well I have no idea!  Cardboard is probably the most commonly recycled item in our house aside from the milk bottles.  A lot of plastic things they don't take either even though they can be recycled and neither does the recycling centre so they end up having to go in  the bin.

Hi KatTai

Our recycling process is pretty good.  We have a green box given to us by the council, not massive, but large enough.  It used to be on a fortnightly basis but a year or so ago they changed it to weekly.  As long as it is in the box, they will take pretty much anything, cardboard, cans, food wrapping and such like.  They don't however accept polystyrene or aluminium foil. 

Hi KatTai - we have a large wheelybin for grass mowings, general cuttings weeds etc and cardboard, smaller box for paper and fabrics and a further box for bottles jar and cans - no plastics collection but there are recycling facilities in the village.  The only problem I have is that I keep cutting myself on the empty cans that I wash out before discarding them - is this just me???  Generally speaking it all seems pretty good.

We have 5 or 6 cottage holidays a year in different parts of the country, and so far haven't found a recycling system to beat ours at home. We have 3 wheelie bins and a white sack. The sack is for all paper and cardboard, including the coloured and high gloss sort. The green bin is for all garden rubbish apart from soil and large branches. One bin is for all plastic, glass and cans. These are all collected fortnightly. The other is for everything else and is collected weekly. We also have a Christmas Tree collection each New Year. Those unlucky enough not to have gardens don't get the green bin. We have an arrangement with our neighbour whereby we use each others bins if our own get full first. 

Hello.

Where I live in North Lanarkshire, the recycling service is okay.  We have four bins; black, blue, green, and brown in colour.  These are for general waste, recylable materials, glass, and garden waste respectively.  The services has improved because at one time the blue bin could only take paper.  Recycling is something I'm quite passionate about.  Especially as a result of learning the sort of damage that non-organic materials can do to the natural environment.

Paul

Here in our part of Cheshire we have a green bin for household waste that is collected fortnightly. On the alternate weekends it's the recycling collection. We have 2 brown bins for cardboard and grass/garden clippings etc (we asked for a second brown bin as the garden is quite big with a lot of lawn), a bag for paper, a red box for plastic and a green box for cans and glass. I also have my own blue caddy in the kitchen for organic waste for the compost bins.

A lot of people seem to moan about fortnightly collections, but we've never had a problem with it, and I really believe in recycling as much as possible. My mother's German, and every time I've been over there to visit relatives, it's noticeable how recycling and care for the environment is much more a fact of life than it is over here. All litter bins are segmented, and there are large communal bins on roads for garden waste.

Whatever you believe about global warming/climate change, surely it makes sense to re-use materials wherever possible anyway.

The BBC has copied me :-(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/8364432.stm

Fortnightly collections don't bother me at all, but then there is only two of us!  Sometimes the bin only goes out monthly because there isn't enough rubbish in it to bother putting it out.  I do wish our recycling service would take cardboard though - however on their website is does stay they are trialling a cardboard collection scheme so fingers crossed!

Hi all,

I'm amased you get so many recycling boxes/bins etc.  We only get a green box, our non recyclable rubbish is collected in black bin liners once a week.  We get exactly 52 bags to last us the year.  There are recycling centres and in supermarkets so perhaps that's the reason but it would be more convenient if it was collected as yours  seem to be.

Kezmo

Hi all,

I'm amased you get so many recycling boxes/bins etc.  We only get a green box, our non recyclable rubbish is collected in black bin liners once a week.  We get exactly 52 bags to last us the year.  There are recycling centres and in supermarkets so perhaps that's the reason but it would be more convenient if it was collected as yours  seem to be.

The thing is not everyone drives or has access to a car so recycling centres aren't accessible to all which is why I think councils should make every effort to collect as much as possible so I don't think that could be the reason, unless the coucil is wanting people to use their cares more!

Hi KatTai

You are right, you would think it would be much more greener to collect rather than every household having to drive to a recycling point.  We live in a coastal area where there is a huge number of elderly people so for them it must be really difficult to recycle.  We ourselves recycle as much as we can, we store our glass waste in the garage to a height that doesn't cause a hazard (!) then take the whole lot piled in the back of the car.  We try to reuse our green waste as much as possible - composting and such like, we have four 4 composting bins on the go all the time and a heap but obviously bigger bits that can't be used have to go elsewhere.  I have a shredder at home for paperwork.  Luckily a lady at work keeps chickens so she gets the shredding for bedding and what she doesn't want we try to compost.

We have two bins and two boxes with lids for everything but cardboard and glass, which we have to take to collection centres. Bins/ boxes are collected fortnightly.

Here in North East Lincs we have 3 'crates' for recycling glass, tins and paper, and a wheelie bin for garden waste and cardboard - these are collected alternate weeks (crates one week, bin the next). They also used to collect plastic but we now have to take these to a recycling bank.

It's very interesting hearing what other areas do (or don't do). You would think by now that there would be a more national system!

One thing I found out recently about recycling plastic was that just because the plastic has a recycling symbol on it, doesn't mean that it will be accepted by all recycling banks (and indeed can 'pollute' the system if put in the wrong bank). This seems all wrong to me, as plastic is one of the worst pollutants of all. A lot more could be recycled if there were proper facilities for doing so.

We are only allowed to recycle plastic with the number 1, 2, or 3 within the recycle symbol.

Here in Dumfries and Galloway we have a normal weekly "rubbish" collection.  We also have a fortnightly blue box collection - paper only.  The local tip (sorry, "recycling centre") has spaces for cardboard, glass (brown, green and clear), rubble, milk cans (no other plastic), garden waste, cans, batteries, electrical goods  ... so OH loads up the car about every two months - it's not very far to drive.  There are various tales of all of it getting mixed together after householders have separated it - hopefully just rumours.  However the council has a plant in Dumfries called ECO-DECO whic is apparently a European invention, and can separate everything there.  They have announced that Eco Deco does not get enough paper through it, so they are stopping the separate paper collection in April 2010!  Since that is about the only recycling effort of a large proportion of the population (because they only have to drop it in a box and put it outside fortnightly), there will be many households doing nothing!!!

We have our own large garden storage box (such as used for patio cushions etc) outside the back door with separate bags/boxes as appropriate in it for different recycling materials.  When they are full they get moved to the garage until the next trip up the road.