[Closed] Council Plastics Collection (recycling) - black plastic not collected

Racist?

Likely to be considered as very low grade contaminant to the rest of the plastics recycling process. The industry has been moaning about council collections at the doorstep now leading to more difficult sorting processes further down the line.

I think the top symbol refers to the contents, rather than the container.

The bumf that came most recently did say that they wouldn't collect the black plastic. Shame as there's a fair bit of it some weeks. Still what does go in usually nearly fills the container each week so I'm glad that they're collecting it now.

We are in Brizz, too, and get the same thing with black packaging trays. It said in the leaflet that they would be taking it so we put it out. They've taken it a couple of times, sometimes leave it, sometimes they put it in out wheely bin.

Cougar - Moderator
Racist?

This, it has to be this.

Have you tried ringing the council?

Also Brizzle....

.....sometimes they take ours, sometimes they don't. Have often wondered as well. May simply come down to whoever is doing the sorting on the day - had a fairly heated exchange with one collector who wouldn't take some flattened cardboard boxes as they weren't ON TOP of the brown food waste bin, and therefore IN THE WRONG PLACE (they were wedged between the brown bin and the black bin as it was a windy day). We had to agree-to-disagree that he was weapons-grade idiot....

Have you tried ringing the council?

Nah, I'd rather waste everyone's time here instead. 🙂

It's a bit random to be honest. Sometimes they take it. Sometimes they don't. Hmmm, actually maybe the times I think they take it is when there's also a wheelie bin collection too and they've just chucked it in there instead.

At first you said "they never" take it and now "Sometimes they take it. Sometimes they don't.".... 😐

You're sounding like a watered-down version of those weirdos who call 999 to a house over the road just for something to do.

Aye, true enough patriot. I apologise for the inaccuracies in my OP. Don't be angry with me over something so trivial.

Contaminant content more likely with black plastic trays so they do the stats and think it is easier to not accept. Not sure why, they probably have a portion that gets burnt for the energy content anyway.

Is there something "un"-recyclable about black PET or PP but ok for clear or white PET and PP?

I guess its a question of who the end buyer is. White or clear plastic can be recycled as any colour of product - put black in with it and it can't.

deadlydarcy - Member
Aye, true enough patriot. I apologise for the inaccuracies in my OP. Don't be angry with me over something so trivial.

Apology accepted. Really I do hope you get your issue sorted, it must be very troubling. 😆

The industry has been moaning about council collections at the doorstep now leading to more difficult sorting processes further down the line.

It amazes me how they do it now, we put all plastic, paper, card, metal and glass in the same blue bin, which gets emptied into a bin lorry. I do wonder how they sort it all out at the other end....

Apology accepted. Really I do hope you get your issue sorted, it must be very troubling.

Me too. It's about as troubling as my inaccuracies were to you.

I do wonder how they sort it all out at the other end....

MRFs (Materials Recycling Facilities) are fascinating places, at least the fully automated ones are, loads of computers using optics, lasers and such like to look at all the stuff on a conveyer belt (no planes though), and then using a range of ways to separate them out including magnetism, centrifuges and compressed air blasters!

The non-automated ones are just a load of workers standing along a conveyor belt picking them out and sorting it all by hand, pretty soul destroying job I'd imagine.

I do wonder how they sort it all out at the other end....

The way cars are recycled is interesting - the whole car is diced and big shredder then the little bits can be sorted by their magneticness, conductivity, floaty-ness, desolvey-ness, with little blasts of compressed air pinging bits off the conveyer belt as they are identified.

So with domestic stuff - paper can be washed out of the other stuff, and metals are conductive so that just leaves glass and plastic to separate with if nothing elses is easily done by hand.

I'm troubled that DD's troubles were troubling Patriot, particularly the level of innacuracy in his OP which troubled me greatly.

Terribly troubling stuff.

And now I'm troubled that the troubles have troubled clubber...and the assonance is doubly troubly.

doubtytroublydeadydarcy. It's got a nice ring to it...

Our guys seem to sort it in the back of the truck. I've never really had binman as a career goal but that'd be [i]deeply[/i] pleasing to my compulsive sorting.

I can't remember whether is was Gilbert or George who said "When he worries I drink, and when I drink he worries"