recycling.....

Crikey! Reading this I agree with you all that every part of a product should be recyclable, but it's only after reading an article about it that I've started paying more attention to the labelling. Until then I was putting every plastic item in, regardless of colour, including cellophane, cling film etc.
But in my defence, at least I was recycling, whereas I notice when walking the dog round the village that there are still households who shove everything in the black sack!

Hi Joolz, I totally agree with you, here’s my suggestion, to all supermarkets. Why not employ people to man the fruit and veg etc, to weigh it, bag it in brown paper bags and price it for the till, old fashioned idea I know, but it worked once a long time ago. It might reduce food waste, unemployment and use of plastic. Now I know the food won’t be sanitised against germs etc and it probably won’t last as long but it’ll be safer for the environment and we all have taps.

Totally agree with everything you said Joolz, it should be the responsibility of the manufacturer/ seller to reduce plastic packaging. When we were children, food was wrapped in paper, paper bags were used to hold vegetables etc. Anything we bought was put into a paper bag, whatever it was. Government needs to force a reduction of plastic wrappings by law. All they’ve done up to now is force local councils to provide recycling bins, but every council is allowed to differ in exactly what it chooses to recycle, and is allowed to fine individuals who make mistakes!!! And they’ve introduced a 5 pence tax on the use of plastic carriers, far too late in my opinion, but at least it’s a start. But do you really believe it all goes to charity, well I don’t for one!
It’s government who are responsible for passing laws and sorting this out. We can only do as much as we’re allowed to do.
And finally, it may be that gransnetters have the time and inclination to phone their council at every verse end (since most are retired or semi retired) but young families and workers do not, even if the council were actually open when people are not at work.

I think Iceland have taken the lead and said none of their own goods will use plastic after this year
It going to be mammoth just look round your house and EVERYTHING is made of plastic not only wrappings but literally all your appliances even down to little odds and ends like pastry brushes, spatulas, cookery spoons etc etc (we might use wooden or steel but most kitchens don’t)
I m a great fan of wood but then you have to worry about too many trees getting cut down and if we turn to paper bags instead of plastic will that cause an eco inbalance
I want more innovative reuse I saw an item where plastic bottles were being used as insulation in some developing countries I can’t find the article now someone else might
I have started using my plastic water bottles as seed germinators you just put the lid on cut an oblong out one side fill with compost and plant half a dozen seeds in Not a big answer but better than going in landfill and buying plastic produced seed trays

Here are some ideas from abroad that you might like to run past your local supermarkets.

Living as I do practically on the border between Denmark and Germany I shop in both countries. In both, nearly all soft drinks, beer cans and bottles come with a deposit, so you hand them back in to the supermarket and get your deposit back. Those that don't carry a deposit go into either the plastic or the metal side of our recycling bin that is emptied once a fortnight.

In our municipality used batteries can be put on top of the recycling bin in a see-through plastic bag; in Germany shops have cardboard containers for batteries, and provide disposal bins marked off in sections for rubbish, cardboard and paper, and plastics. Aldi in Germany supply a bin at their vegetable counter for surplus cabbage leaves and the like. In Denmark glass bottles go into the recycling bin at home too; in Germany you have to transport them to the nearest bottle bank and sort them according to colour. There are however plenty of these bins.
All carrier bags sold in Aldi, Lidl, Coop, Penny Markt etc. are made of cloth or recyclable plastic. Most dress and shoe shops have reverted to paper carrier bags. Chemist's shops accept medicine back if you no longer need it, and various opticians and charities collected used spectacles.
Used clothes and shoes can be put in the nearest bin, emptied regularly by a charity, or handed in to a charity shop.

All plastics that have not been in direct contact with food go into the recycling bin, the refuse collecting company then sorts further. Anything that has contained food goes into the kitchen rubbish.

Paint, chemicals, electric equipment, old tools and garden waste the householder has to transport to the dump, or pay to have removed.

Our refuse disposal companies decide whether a bottle top is recyclable or not, so it is possible to run these companies at a profit without expecting the ordinary householder to have a degree in biochemistry and able to distinguish between the one and other type of plastic.

I think one of the ways forward is to shop in shops that are willing to use less packaging and only environmentally friendly packaging.

I have never understood why cucumbers and other foodstuffs that we wash or peel, or both, before using need to be wrapped in plastic.

For once this is praise for our council - all our recycling, which is practically everything - glass, plastic, foil, paper, cardboard etc. goes in one largeish bin and is collected every two weeks. Only a choice of two bins so that makes it easier in the kitchen. We're lucky in that we can tuck our bins out of sight and they're easy to put out, but I do sympathise with people for whom it's not that easy, as things weren't so good in our previous house.

I so totally agree with the every thing that's been said on here, like everyone I despair and am reduced to tears on occasion seeing the the effect all this waste is having on wild life! It's just shocking, but surely manufactures must take responsibility for the packaging they use as well as government encouraging the rest of us to do our bit. Different authorities having different regulations is just absurd and so confusing. I've just been outside this morning putting what I hope is the right plastic in the right bin! Please lets have some joined up information countrywide on what goes where and EVERYONE make a real conjoined effort, otherwise to coin a phrase, 'we're doomed', literally!

Absolutely agree! The recycling here in the Uk is ludicrous. It should definitely be the supermarkets etc who should look to their laurels on this one!! Overpacked, overpriced and plastics leaching into our food is a disgrace!

A long, long time ago, I read in the local newspaper that the council needed to find a new place to put their rubbish. Now surely that was a warning sign that there would be more rubbish dumps than towns if we carried on like that, it certainly occurred to me! So what sort of people are in charge? Blooming idiots, that's who. I remember when dustbins were just about full after a week, but the amount gradually grew and grew till there was so much rubbish.... Trouble is, so many companies have got councils and their ilk in their pockets so they are fairly safe carrying on as before, and we keep hearing that councils are putting the carefully collected recycling in with the general rubbish! What this country needs is people like us, we'd show 'em a thing or two!!

Agree with Joolz - the first place to ban plastic is where it is sold - so Government take note - this shouldn't be optional. We try hard to recycle at home, but when a simple fillet of fish is in an unnecessary carapace of hard plastic which would last for 100 years - and takes industrial scissors to cut it open...... and biscuits etc are packed in so many layers of plastic and cardboard it practically needs a hand-grenade to remove. Hooray for Iceland, lovely fresh-frozen fish simply in a bag or on recycleable trays. Other supermarkets take note. Who will be the first to sell milk in returnable bottles, or paper-based cartons?

I hope it was alright to share this on FB. I don't know anyone who would protest that we need MORE packaging and plastics, but I have a lot of friends who will agree wholeheartedly with everything said here.

At one time some supermarkets provided bins where you could empty all the fliers found inside magazines after you purchased them.
Now the magazines come sealed in a plastic bag.

Every morning when I look out of the window there are plastic drinks bottles thrown along the grass verges in front of our houses. These are young people who take a short cut to the bus stop, who after drinking just chuck the bottle anywhere. We are supposed to be saving the world for them.

I read recently that plastic can be reused to build roads which are stronger than existing ones and also quieter to drive on. I hope this is true as it makes a lot of sense to use up some of the existing waste plastic as well as reducing future use.

I personally think that if the supermarkets keep selling us everything wrapped in plastic I think they should provide bins for us to put used packaging in, I for one would happily save up the plastic containers and give them back for recycling or not as the case might be. If they had to pay for recycling only then something would be done at source.

The only way to get supermarkets and other places to reduce packaging is to put pressure on to them. Write, email, tweet, & comment on Facebook. The more of us that do that, the better.
I would also add that we should not want plastic put in our bodies either - surgeons are still implanting mesh tapes which are made of polypropylene, a type of plastic. If plastic is harming sealife, it must be harming us!

Quite agree with you, said the same thing myself.

I agree that there's an awful lot which is not under the control of the average citizen. Shredded plastic stuck to hedges along the main roads for example.

However I'll do what I can. Have just changed our regular doorstep order of 1 pint milk thrice-weekly from a pint in a plastic container to a pint in a glass bottle. Can be rinsed and returned. No doubt there'll be other things we can do.

Hear hear. For years now we have had to sort the plastics, labels. food packages etc and our council keeps changing what they will take anyway so even some recyclable packaging will not be taken. It is certainly down to how much packing is unnecessary and I for one can't even get into some of it (arthritic hands). My son has a delivery of human grown hormone vials every three months which at first was delivered in a refrigerated van - three little boxes each the size of a packet to aspirin. Supplier changed and now I have a box about the size of a removal box with a polystyrene box with fits inside plus 3/4 cool blocks like you get for picnicboxes, only the cardboard box can be recycled and the boxes from the syringes, we even take the sticky labels of these. Had one of these deliveries last week and have a very large polystyrene box cluttering up what little space I have (with 5 different wheelchairs in a house you soon run out of space!).

This is before I get on to the annoyance felt because of the plastic meat trays etc which not only cannot be recycled but have to go into my kitchen bin when the council now only collects household rubbish fortnightly so that bins now are overflowing with rubbish but if they are open more that an inch when collection day comes will not be emptied at all. This happened to our new neighbour who has two small children and he ended up having to take his whole bin to the tip and empty it himself.

Absolutely agree. I recently did quick shop in supermarket. Only bought 7 items. When I got to till it dawned on me that every one of them was in plastic of some kind. But they were items i'd had no choice about. Even loose fruit and veg have to be put into the flimsy plastic bags. Surely it's time to replace with paper bags that can be recycled. Never quite understood why mushrooms seem to be the exception to the rule.

And what about all the leaflets and flyers the postman puts through my letterbox daily. I remove as much packaging as I can at the supermarket and leave it at their customer service desk asking, very sweetly, if they can put it in their bins.

I'm in Northern Ireland. We've been told to recycle window envelopes by cutting the "window" out and placing it in the general bin, and place the other part in the paper bin. What! Who has time for that? Another problem that has raised it's head is plastic straws. I have a packet of 50 in my cupboard. My first thought was I won't use them, I'll throw them away, but of course throwing them away is the problem isn't it?

It's all been said before! I am seriously contemplating unwrapping my goods at the checkout of supermarkets, however that would mean carrying a pair of sharp scissors (an offensive weapon). Either way I can't win...but I'm going to have a go! See u in court!

I have a recycling problem. Because I suffer from fatigue I have most of my groceries delivered and I feel so guilty that I use so many plastic carrier bags. They will deliver without bags but they drop their trays at the front door and then I'd have to pick up each item from ground level and put them in my own bags. I'm not fit enough to do that.
Another thing -- if they charge deposits on bottles will I have to take them back to the store to reclaim it?

I carry mesh bags (made for laundry use) in my shopping bag and try to use them when buying loose veg., but most of the stuff is prewrapped in plastic. What can I do---go to Waitrose, buy loose veg and pay almost double or go to Lidl( my usual haunt) which doesn't do loose veg. and balance my budget? If there was an old-fashioned greengrocer, I'd go there as I used to, but , surprise, surprise, it was forced out of business by the supermarkets. There's no other choice around here.