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Tetrapaks are easy.
Do Not Buy Things In Tetrapaks. Recycleabledoesn't necessarily mean its the right choice.
Batteries are easy, drop them off at any supermarket along with plastic bags.
Small electronics are not easy.
I don't disagree with you but what you are describing requires a dirty mixed recycling facility (Dirty Murf). Its not a new concept but they are alot more problematic, the case for using them to claw back more recycling is reduced by the fact the typically provide alot less value.
Currently (or atleast last time i was invloved) most councils view current mixed clean recycling as considerably more cost effective and it probably is the right call.
Sending stuff to landfill os phenomenally expensive. The tax alone is 130quid a tonne.
@joshvegas Just spotted something in one of your posts from a couple of days ago
Metal lids etc should not be present though.
How does that work with the metal 'collars' that many glass wine bottles have on them? The ones that the screwlid originally coupled to. Is it that they're mostly aluminium so they just flash off in the heat of the eventual melt?
Metal lids etc should not be present though.
Whoops - we always put the lids back on the jars when we send them to recycling.
... what you are describing requires a dirty mixed recycling facility (Dirty Murf). Its not a new concept but they are alot more problematic, the case for using them to claw back more recycling is reduced by the fact the typically provide alot less value.
That must be what we have. Everything goes in one wheely bin - empty but not cleaned. Any other option here I think would lead to people just not bothering. Especially as where we live a lot of people have a trip to get their bins to the road (ours is 350m and hilly) and more rural people won't even get a collection service, so they'll have to take it to the refuse centre themselves.
@joshvegas Just spotted something in one of your posts from a couple of days ago
Metal lids etc should not be present though.
How does that work with the metal 'collars' that many glass wine bottles have on them? The ones that the screwlid originally coupled to. Is it that they're mostly aluminium so they just flash off in the heat of the eventual melt?
Glass is pretty special its inert and homogenous* so doesn't really get affected by contaminants in the same way plastics and paper can. the good thing about it is it can be crushed so likely it will be separated quite easily... The metal will stay large. magnets and air jets will seperate the lids there are likely pickers aswell watching over things and hoiking any rogue bits out. But stuff that does get through will have some sort of effect on the process at best its just wasted energy melting non glass mass and binning it as slag.On top of that The separated metal will be recycled* but its had a long trip** to get there, best to just recycle it the first time. Although its a mystery to me why there isn't a metal bin for lids next the glass bins.It might all sound a bit daft for a wee lid but the numbers are huge. Something like 750000tonnes of glass are recycled each year. Let's say 5% of that is metal (jam jar lids are about 10% of the glass portion, bottle lids almost negligible) that 37500 tonnes of metal that can be recycled and should be diverted at the earliest point.Waste is really complex stuff, and one of the hence the above points*Its a disgrace we don't really have reuse schemes anymore, its a product that can literally be boiled clean and reused forever and we recycle it to make more glass that can literally be boiled clean and reused forever. Currently the only scheme i am aware of its the rise of the classic milk bottle.** Waste management licences should in theory prevent bad practice, the metal separated is still a waste, its audited its costly to not recycle it.Transportation plays a big part in all this, certain products can only be processed in specific plants run by companies lime viridor and biffa. Road transportation can make significant impacts on the viability of region by region. One of the reasons that there is so much variability about what is recycled although thats probably more to do with low values for end products. The other option is to burn it*.**** Energy from waste is weird. The more we recycle the less high calorific content (paper, plastics and food) there os to burn. There is atleast one plant in Fif le that since being built has had to buy waste to generate energy. Similarly landfill gasses have been used to generate electricity and quite alot of revenue but as we have got much better about food waste, that largest methane producer in the waste that becomes less viable.This is all from memory from over 10 years ago. The only thing i have checked is current recycling numbers.
Red text wasn't intentional i guess is * * *
What to do with tomato puree tubes?
Suffolk council (I don't live there btw) has some great advice:
'Cut the bottoms and open flat to remove residue'
I don't mind giving things a wash in the dregs of the washing up water but sod that.
Yogurt pots - nearest recycling facility is a 25 mile drive !!
I am quite surprised that yoghurt pots aren't recycled in your domestic recycling.
Puree tubes... I am inclined to agree with you*. However, through an emergency toothpaste situation i cut open a tube to get one final use, i got about three days out of it! So i would say there is probably a spagbols worth of puree in the tube so it might be worth cutting it open for that!
*I know it might read like i a fanatic but i am a firm believer in everything just doing what they can than 1 person going all out hyperrecycler.
so is someone actaully checking each thing so see if its clean enough? Cos theres no way that everyone is behaving. I'd assumed that would be too expensive and that it'd be easier to put all the things through some kind of cleaning process first
I am quite surprised that yoghurt pots aren't recycled in your domestic recycling.
I was surprised myself and I’m sure most people aren’t aware of it. But we don’t even have a glass bin, so anything’s possible.
so is someone actaully checking each thing so see if its clean enough? Cos theres no way that everyone is behaving. I'd assumed that would be too expensive and that it'd be easier to put all the things through some kind of cleaning process first
I am really stretching my memory her. Yes, there a pickers who stand and can pick out stuff that very wrong while they sort. Its not a pleasant job. They don't check everything they just generally pick out stuff that an issue where they see it there are also robot pickers helping with the sorting, they can fish out hazardous items for dealing with desperately but i imagine dirty is quite in their lexicon yet.
Again this is all about general improvement. Stuff does get cleaned but it gets cleaned before processing so the sorted waste don't want a manky load of plastic to clean prior to processing or they will want to pay alot less.
Again clean is normally just a rinse. If its clean enough to not stink in your kitchen bin it will likely be absolutely fine.
The reason they are seperate pretty stricttly is broken glass and glass particles get every where and place massive maintenance load on bearing and conveyors in MRF. Its also inert and the processing is extremely high heat like to the point everything thats not glass is going to get burned off. Metal lids etc should not be present though.
In our MRF everything gets lumped in together and the very first thing that gets done is that it gets ****ted with a massive metal hammer thing to smash all the glass, then that falls through the gaps in the conveyor. It's one of our regular beavers/cubs trips!
our glass recycling says leave the lids on, says it on the bin.
They also say dont bother washing any of the recycling for our benefit. (obviously, go for it if your bin will stink)
Different authorities have different processes and requirements.
Last i heard, Exeters process results in top grade recyclable material which then fetches a good price at auction where it is bought by recycled material firms. i think they do a fair amount of hand picking.