Waste and Recycling
Recycling is big news at the moment. Government, both locally and nationally is bringing in new schemes and ways to help you recycle more conveniently, and also help you know what and how to recycle.
The rise in landfill costs means there is a greater emphasis on reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by Local Authorities and waste collectors. Tips contribute heavily towards the UK greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is the most dangerous of these gases, and landfill sites may also allow toxic chemicals to escape into the ground. Incineration produces CO2, airbourne chemicals and toxic fly ash which has to be landfilled. Clearly it’s better to produce less rubbish.
The waste hierarchy is: Reuse - Reduce - Recycle. Recycling is better than simply throwing stuff away, but recycling is an inefficient process. Recycling requires additional energy and transport, and the quality of the recycled product is lower than the original material.