Recycling

 

Did you know that in one hour we produce enough waste in the UK to fill the Albert Hall??

Recycling has become an accepted part of daily life in many regions of the UK: each household has bins on its doorstep for recycling plastic, glass, paper and metals so that all we need to do is separate our rubbish before throwing it away. We are also encouraged to recycle our clothes by giving them to charity shops, and recycle printer cartridges, batteries and mobile phones in electrical stores. But why is all this so important?

Firstly, UK landfill sites are filling up at an alarming rate and we are simply running out of space for dumping our rubbish. According to one estimate, if everyone in the world created as much waste as the average person in the UK, we would need eight worlds to support us. These landfill sites are not only overloaded, but they can also be very polluting - methane, produced from rotting waste, is about twenty-four times more powerful than CO2.  

Secondly, the world is rapidly running out of resources as a result of excessive consumption by developed and developing countries. We need to recycle our waste in order to make the most out of our resources.

Thirdly, producing goods from recycled materials drastically reduces the energy used in the manufacturing process - this is fantastic news when it comes to cutting our carbon emissions

Some recycling facts:

Glass

  • There's no liimt to the number of times that glass can be recycled, and recycling just one glass bottle will save enough energy to power ten energy-efficient light bulbs for nearly an hour.
  • Well over one-third of all glass bottles are recycled in the UK, but shockingly the recycling rate is no higher for pubs, clubs and restaurants, where they are thrown away en masse


Metals

  • In the late 1980s we recycled only 2 per cent of cans; now it's nearer 50 per cent. However, this still means 50 per cent that is wasted unnecessarily
  • A new aluminium can takes twenty times more energy to make than a recycled one
  • On average, each home gets through 600 food and drinks cans every year; recycling them saves 75 oer cent of the energy used to make new ones


Paper and Cardboard

  • Every tonne of paper and cardboard that is recycled saves 30,000 litres of water and produces only 5 per cent of the air pollution compared to making it from scratch
  • Many items such as toilet roll, notebooks, and office paper are now made from recycled paper and are available for competitive pricecs in most chain stores


Plastics

  • Recycling plastics reduces energy consumption by two-thirds, water use by 90 per cent, and CO2 generation by two and a half times.
  • Some supermarkets now charge for plastic bags in an effort to discourage needless wastage of plastic; why not use a bag-for-life instead?


Of course, it is important to remember that recycling is only one part of the effort to save our planet - while it is a worthwhile endeavour, it is essential that we cut down the resources we are using in the first place. We can congratulate ourselves for re-using our plastic bag, but it would be have been better to use our handbag or a bag-for-life in the first place. As consumers, the power lies in our hands - manufacturers will always meet demand, so the demand needs to be eliminated. The use of plastic bags and other wasteful products should be reduced in the first instance, and recycling can then contribute to the process of conservation and the efficient use of resources.

Useful Websites

www.wasteonline.org.uk
Provides information on waste and recycling

www.reuze.co.uk
Excellent information source on waste recycling, including links to your local council recycling initiatives

www.worktwice.co.uk
Arranges collection and recycling of waste electronics, paper and plastic for businesses

www.oxford.gov.uk/environment/index.cfm
Offers information on where to recycle in Oxford, local recycling initiatives and collection points in the city