Recycling: What Are The Issues?

Recycling is a vital part of protecting our environment. After refusing, reusing and reducing as much waste as we can, and passing on things we no longer need, fixing or repurposing stuff, everything else should be recycled as much as possible to prevent it ending up in landfill.

What can be recycled?

Plastic is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to recycling. Seareach carried out a poll recently of over 3,000 people aged over 18 asking them: “What frustrates you most about recycling?” The survey revealed that almost a quarter of people asked expressed confusion over what can and cannot be recycled. A whopping two thirds of the people surveyed suggested that consistent and easily understandable labelling is needed to combat this. A significant number of people (38%) also pointed out that technology could be put to good use, such as an app to scan barcodes for more recycling information.

Facilities

It also seems that recycling facilities vary across the country, so people in some areas find it more difficult to recycle items than others. Furthermore, there are concerns over whether local councils do actually recycle everything that goes in the recycling. The poll revealed that 65% felt councils need to be more transparent.

As quoted on Talking Retail, Stuart Jailer said: “A lot of people were concerned that even though we sort our packaging at home, once it gets to councils, we don’t know that it’s getting properly recycled. Instead, people worry that a lot of it is heading to landfills or being shipped abroad.”

The study showed that a lot of people want to be able to recycle at their local supermarket, as well as having consistent and transparent recycling collections at home. Other ideas suggested included better options for residents of flats, whom often do not have sufficient recycling facilities in comparison to houses. Also, sheltered accommodation should have easily accessible recycling bins for the disabled and elderly. Deposit and refund schemes across the country would also be useful.

Manufacturers need to do more

The survey also showed that people feel there should be more onus on manufacturers, rather than just the consumer. 39% of respondents felt manufacturers use too much packaging. They also complained that many products still come in packaging that cannot be recycled. For example, manufacturers still use black plastic for food products which cannot be recycled despite complaints from consumers to stop. (British Plastics)

Change in materials

Consumers believe it is important that manufacturers stop using materials that cannot be easily recycled. Examples of this are foil/ plastic hybrids and plastic wrappers, as well as the black plastic mentioned above. It would also be beneficial if we improved recycling facilities so that more materials have a higher rate of recycling too.

Did you know? 

Here are some of my own recycling tips, that you might not already know:

• Silver foil can be scrunched up and put in recycling.

• Stretchy plastic, such as toilet roll wrappers, can be recycled in local supermarkets along with plastic bags.

• Multipack crisp packets (the outer foil/ plastic type packaging, not the individual bags) can be recycled at some supermarkets.

• Walkers have just announced a new partnership with TerraCycle UK to recycle all brands of crisp packets. You can send them direct to the company in an envelope or look out for recycling points coming soon.

What are your biggest issues with recycling? What are your top tips? Let me know in comments! 

*This is a collaborative post.