Recycling - Does it "work"?

[abz123]

The Mrs lived in Perth with her parents 20 years ago and even back then they had their act together with regards to collecting recyclable materials.

 

Question is this. Does it worK? I heard stories in the UK that it was not economically viable to recycle plastic bottles because the weight versus volume argument meant that it was more damaging to the environment to transport them than the benefits from doing so.

 

Also, stories of (UK) warehouses full of newspapers that nobody wants to buy / recycle.

 

Given that Oz is so much bigger in land mass terms than the UK, how successful are these programmes in stopping land fill?

 

I know that 80-90% of the content of glass (bottles) is recycled glass so the economics obviously work there.

[Petals]

I think recycling is starting to work, we have been doing it for quite a long time here in Aus and at first I think we had stock piles of paper etc and probably still do. We are seeing more goods made from recycled materials and this is a good thing. Making tyres into different garden products etc which must be a good thing.

 

We get the choice of buying recycled paper for our printers etc.

 

Now we have so many op shops and the Savers chain clothes are recyled and this is also a good thing.

 

I have been amazed at rubbish since I was very young as I always wondered where it all went and how much of it there was. Now we know there is so much we are drowning in it so we have to recycle or sink.

[Guest guest30038]

The council requests that all recycled plastics and glass are thoroughly washed before going in the bin............I wonder how much water is wasted doing this? We wash ours in the washing up water after the pots, but I betcha those with dishwaters don't...........environmentaly friendly my bum.......it's mostly lip service by the councils :goofy:

 

kev

[Ellie 2]

The Mrs lived in Perth with her parents 20 years ago and even back then they had their act together with regards to collecting recyclable materials.

 

Question is this. Does it worK? I heard stories in the UK that it was not economically viable to recycle plastic bottles because the weight versus volume argument meant that it was more damaging to the environment to transport them than the benefits from doing so.

 

Also, stories of (UK) warehouses full of newspapers that nobody wants to buy / recycle.

 

Given that Oz is so much bigger in land mass terms than the UK, how successful are these programmes in stopping land fill?

 

I know that 80-90% of the content of glass (bottles) is recycled glass so the economics obviously work there.

 

Having a family member involved in the industry I can tell you it does work. However, glass is not, at the moment, as economically viable as paper/cardboard. By the time the glass reaches the facilities so much of it has been broken into such small pieces that it contaminates the paper and so reduces its value. Having said that companies are making big money from recycling our garbage.

[Guest Mark X]

I think its one of those critical mass things, once we get to the level of everyone doing it, technology becomes cheaper and therefore it become financially viable. However at the moment I agree the actual environmental saving is probably small - but what's the alternative? just chuck it in landfill or add it to the mass of plastic in the sea?

 

I think recycling is the way forward, but reusing is even more important and is often overlooked.