Bit of a recycling rant now
Have been listening, with concern, to the current situation regarding plastic waste. I’m sure we can all do our bit to reduce non recyclable waste and make more of an effort to use our recycling bins to the full. We are all responsible for the dire situation we are in and what will only get worse now that the Chinese no longer want our waste. Then I thought, hang on. We are responsible???How is that? We?? Me and you??
We find that many of the items we buy come in one, two or three layers of wrappings that we then have to study to find out whether that particular piece of plastic can go in the green bin or black bin. And sometimes part of that item can be recycled and the other half cant. The bottom goes in recycling but the top goes in general rubbish.....And to complicate things, living on the border of the city and a county, bin collections and colours are different. What x council will accept, y council will fine you for.
And so, every one of us, to some degree or another, spends some time agonising over bits of plastic. But several things struck me.
Firstly, why are products so over packaged and secondly why exactly is that our fault? How come Tesco aren’t taking some of the responsibility, or Sainsbury’s, or Morrison’s. Co-op, Aldi, Lidl...
And thirdly, we, as shoppers, have little control over what the manufactures wrap our goods in, from cucumbers in their own plastic cover to grapes in a plastic box with a cellophane bag over it. But the powers that be insist that we waste time and energy to scrutinise each fragment of wrapping and dispose of it responsibly. But why oh why is it our individual responsibility? Can someone please explain to me why ALL packing isn’t recyclable at source? Why are packaging manufacturers allowed to make wrapping that can’t be recycled? And why can’t all councils have a consistent approach to what they recycle.
Blaming and then giving a fine to the end user for mistakenly putting the wrong packaging in the wrong bin is crazy and unfair. Why not fine the packaging manufactures for selling packaging materials that can’t be recycled. And then addressing the serious over packaging of goods that we buy. Those at the sharp end deciding which colour bin to put the scrap of rubbish in are already doing their bit.
To think that London, or anywhere else for that matter, does not belong to any one demographic