Trewin Restorick, CEO of the environment charity Hubbub – whose mission it is to take environmental messages to the mainstream – shares his insights into the world of recycling and the five rules you should follow.
Most of us try to do our best when it comes to recycling, but the different ways in which recycling is collected creates confusion. No wonder the public is baffled when across the UK there are 39 different sets of rules for what can be put in plastic recycling collections!
This lack of consistency and muddled messaging causes problems for the recycling industry. Simply putting the wrong type of plastics in your recycling bin can cut the value of a bale of recycled plastic from £150 to £10, and makes life difficult for the people sorting our waste as neatly illustrated in this video taken at a Birmingham recycling plant.
What then are the five rules that we should follow to ensure we are recycling properly and not adding to the problem?
1. Reduce and Reuse
Firstly, while recycling is important, it requires energy to move materials around and to process them. This energy adds to the emission of climate change gases, the major environmental challenge we face. It is far better to reduce the amount consumed in the first place and to look to reuse or refill wherever possible.
The average UK household throws away £470 of edible food a year – a large amount of which will include packaging. Simple steps such as writing a shopping list, planning meals, batch cooking, shopping in bulk food stores, and being aware of portion sizes will reduce packaging waste. It might all sound a bit dull and prosaic, but it will benefit the environment and save money.
Similarly, making shifts to reusable drinks bottles and coffee cups will save money and cut waste. Do remember though that these containers will need more energy to make than disposable packaging, so please don’t end up hoarding loads and try to use them whenever possible.
2. Keep it simple
The more complex the packaging material, the harder it is to recycle. A coffee pod, for example, usually contains a mixture of plastic, aluminium and coffee dregs making it incredibly difficult to recycle. Even if it is recycled, the amount of energy used in the process can have an overall negative impact on the environment contributing more to the release of climate change gases.
Simpler packaging such as aluminium cans or plastic drinks containers are easier for the industry to separate and recycle. This recycling process also saves energy providing an additional environmental benefit. Purchasing simpler packaging will make it easier for you to recycle.