Why do we bother recycling?

Shelby219 said:
no bins collected for X weeks and you will have to bring them to the dump yourself, also I observed the trucks are a one man operation, bins are lifted up and tipped in with a mechanical arm , driver never leaves the cab, we have a lot to learn?
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I'd be in favour of this, but something that I would not think would work in this country - can you imagine the rubbish being left around the place. People will not take responisibilty and the person "checking the bins" would be equivalent to the TV license man / Dog warden and treated with the same level of respect.
 
Jazz01 said:
something that I would not think would work in this country
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Have you seen the videos from the trucks in certain Dublin areas where the locals don't feel they should have to pay and try flinging their rubbish into the truck while intimidating the crew?
 
Marsupial said:
Our recycling stuff and waste stuff and brown bin stuff all go into the same truck - but it has three separate compartments at the back!
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This is exactly what happens. Many companies have dual compartments and people often incorrectly think that it is all being mixed.

Waste companies do not deliberately mix recycling and landfill waste for 2 main reasons: it would cost them €€€ and it could shut them down.

It costs them far more to send to landfill, so they would be (pun intended) burning money. They are obliged by law to segregate waste - failure to do so risks fines or even loss of licence.

Can anyone point to articles, reports, etc. that document companies doing this? If not, we are just discussing speculation and imagination.
 
Cervelo said:
don't fully understand why something like this is taking up to 5 years to implement
surly a year or at most two should be more than enough time to make these type of changes
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Because they know that in the greater scheme of things it will have no real impact. Just another rule to tick off the things done on environment box.
 
Fortune said:
I like to think of it as oil fired electricity generation, but with a little bit of plastic use in the middle
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I think that's a great system... depending on the kind of plastic.

The plain hydrocarbon plastics (polyethylene, polypropylene) should burn cleanly in an incinerator provided they don't have nasty additives. Same for PET.

But once you get into PVC or God forbid Teflon, then I bet that even after incineration there will be some nasty emissions. Those halide atoms have to go somewhere, after all.

The solution would be to have a mark on plastic to say "safe to incinerate" and over time mandate that all plastic packaging (with derogations for special uses if really needed) be required to meet the standard.
 
T McGibney said:
I stopped when I saw the photo of the wrapped banana.
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So you didn't read any of it all then.

That's a little unfair, as I'm sure you know that the image that accompanies an article is not necessarily representative. Also, the caption suggests why it could still encourage food waste whether it's beneficial to the particular fruit/veg or not.
 
Corola said:
It's an article about plastic packaging on food, with a picture of plastic packaging on food. What's the issue?
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In the case of bananas, plastic or other impermeable packaging is highly beneficial as it dramatically extends the useful life of the bananas and also prevents bananas from emitting gases that dramatically shorten the shelf life of other fruit placed near them.

That's why supermarkets for example will always place loose bananas on shelves well away from other fruit.
 
It is common advice to put a banana beside eg avocados, tomatoes to ripen them faster at home. Put in a paper bag together to hasten the process.
 
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