| With a little understanding of the issues involved, | | | | the supermarket, don't put them into plastic bags |
| we can re-use or recycle most of the masses | | | | - it isn't necessaryo Find out what plastic |
| amount of waste we produce from plastic and | | | | re-cycling facilities there are in your own area and |
| glass and at the same time we can reduce costs, | | | | use them, encourage your family and friends to |
| save energy, protect the environment and even | | | | do the sameo Try to buy products made from |
| create new jobs. Although waste awareness is on | | | | plastic that has been recycled |
| the increase, recycling rates are on the low side | | | | Recycling Glass Waste |
| and many people are still unaware of just why | | | | Glass is an inert substance and so is not directly |
| recycling is so important. | | | | harmful to the environment but it is not |
| Recycling Plastic Waste | | | | degradable either so if sent to a landfill site it will |
| According to Recoup (the UK's leading authority | | | | stay there indefinitely which is a real shame |
| on plastics waste management), every household | | | | because glass is such an easy and very useful |
| uses approximately 373 plastic bottles a year of | | | | material which can be recycled over and over |
| which 29 are recycled and yet recycling just one | | | | again without any loss to quality. |
| of these plastic bottles can save enough energy | | | | Recycling glass is easy for the consumer, |
| to light a 60 watt bulb for up to 6 hours. So why | | | | particularly as the number of bottle banks and |
| are we not recycling more plastic? | | | | roadside collections of glass are increasing. By far |
| One of the main issues regarding the recycling of | | | | the most common use for glass within the home |
| plastic is lack of opportunity to recycle. This is | | | | is in the form of bottles and jars and this makes |
| partly because plastic can be contaminated with | | | | up around 80% of recycled glass. |
| other materials and the cost of processing this | | | | When recycling your glass containers, bottle banks |
| can outweigh the cost of producing more plastic | | | | often require the glass to be separated according |
| so compared to other materials like glass and | | | | to colour, which in itself can be a barrier to |
| paper, there are fewer places to recycle plastic. | | | | recycling as the consumer has to put in a little |
| However, plastic is lightweight and highly versatile | | | | more effort, but there are reasons for this. As |
| and one way round this is to re-use plastic within | | | | you can imagine, it would be a mammoth not to |
| the home. | | | | mention expensive task to separate every bit of |
| There are many different types of plastic but | | | | coloured from clear broken glass before |
| most plastics fall into one of the following main | | | | processing so there are few facilities that can |
| types:o PET (Polyethylene terphthalate) - Fizzy | | | | currently do this, which is why it is so important |
| drinks bottles and trays for convenience foods to | | | | to separate them beforehand. |
| put straight into the oveno HDPE (High density | | | | One of the issues with recycling glass in the UK is |
| polyethylene) - Milk bottles and washing up liquid | | | | that the UK produces a large amount of clear |
| bottleso PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) - Cling film, juice | | | | glass and yet the amount of clear "cullet" |
| and water bottles, shampoo bottleso LDPE (Low | | | | produced (cullet is basically a collection of broken |
| density polyethylene) - Plastic bagso PP | | | | glass) is low in comparison to the amount of |
| (Polypropylene) - Margarine tubs and | | | | green cullet. One reason for this is that a lot of |
| microwavable meal containerso PS (Polystyrene) - | | | | green bottles (wine for example) are imported |
| Egg cartons, plastic cutlery and cups, yoghurt | | | | leading to a surplus of green cullet and at the |
| pots, meat and fish foam trays | | | | same time a lot of clear glass is exported in the |
| Plastics are largely used for packaging and | | | | form of spirits. Another is that a lot of people are |
| because they have a relatively short life span | | | | still not recycling clear glass containers other than |
| (they tend to be thrown away as soon as their | | | | bottles and this reduces the amount of clear glass |
| contents are used), they represent a major | | | | cullet available. However, on a positive note, mixed |
| waste problem. They are also generally | | | | coloured glass waste can be used for the building |
| non-degradable which means they can take a long | | | | of roads and in the construction industry so it is |
| time to decompose and break down. Landfill sites | | | | important to recycle ALL glass containers. |
| require more and more space due to the amount | | | | Contaminants like metal rings, paper labels, plastic |
| of plastic being disposed of and this is an area of | | | | etc. must be identified and removed from the |
| concern, particularly as around 80% of plastic is | | | | glass before the glass can be turned into new |
| disposed of in landfill sites with less than 10% | | | | containers and much of this is done using |
| currently being recycled (Environment Agency | | | | equipment like metal detectors, vacuums, |
| Report 2001). | | | | crushers and also by plain old manual inspection. |
| Solutions are constantly being sought and although | | | | What you can do to help...o Re use bottles and |
| more and more supermarket chains and retailers | | | | jars within the homeo Where possible, return jars |
| are now issuing biodegradable plastic bags, this in | | | | and bottles (milk bottles for example)o Before |
| itself can be a problem as many people might | | | | recycling glass rinse out all bottles and jars and |
| think that it is ok to just throw them away as | | | | remove any tops and metal rings etc. as these |
| they will eventually break down, which is not | | | | can damage the furnaces used to recycle the |
| always the case. Some of these biodegradable | | | | glasso Recycle all glass containers not just drinks |
| bags rely on sunlight to break them down so if | | | | bottles, this can include jars, medicine bottles, |
| they are thrown away as part of household | | | | glass food containers and so ono Make sure when |
| rubbish and end up in a landfill site, they will not | | | | placing glass into a bottle bank that you put the |
| degrade because there is no light. | | | | right colour in the right bank |
| What you can do to help...o Re-use plastic bags as | | | | Making a difference |
| much as possible - don't throw them awayo Buy | | | | Surveys have shown that if recycling was made |
| products with very little packagingo Try to re-use | | | | easier, more people would be willing to recycle. |
| plastic pots and tubs within the home, for | | | | The fact is, it doesn't take a lot of effort or time |
| example to store small items like buttons and | | | | to recycle or re-use an item, only a little initiative, |
| screws and for germinating seeds or donate | | | | and yet it is one way we can be sure of making |
| them to playgroups and schools for arts and | | | | a real difference to the environment and the |
| craftso Buy refillable products as much as | | | | world in which we live. |
| possibleo When purchasing fruit and vegetables at | | | | |