Recycling options

Recently I visited the Fenland District Council (FDC) depot in March to find out more about recycling, I and two of my fellow Independent Councillors, have arranged to visit the Waterbeach facility that processes all the waste generated in Whittlesey later this year, meanwhile:

There are a number of reasons there are not any ‘metal only’ recycling collection points other than the Household Recycling Centre (HRC), one of which is that metal has a value over other recycled materials and is open to abuse such as theft.

Recycling is important because it can reduce wasted resources, put simply; if paper can be mulched down to make new paper, we do not need to cut down a tree to produce that new paper, if plastic can be melted down to make a new product such as a play toy or a bench – then valuable oil and other primary resources do not need to be consumed for those purposes, and so the line of reasoning goes on. Remember there is a cost(s) with re-cycling.

However, there are even better strategies to consider:

Reducing initial consumption – If a new product comes wrapped in paper and plastic that is unnecessary and probably torn off and thrown away within minutes of getting the new item home– then those packaging materials are wasted resources, it would have been better if they had not been made so recycling does not become an issue.

Re-Purpose: If a broken item can be repaired it does not need to be replaced, no wasted packaging, no delivery/collection costs and no recycling of the old item.

Re – Use: Rather than accepting a plastic item is a ‘single use’ thing, use it again for the purpose it was designed for or be inventive and use it for something else. Then it does not need to be re- cycled.

Recycle: if there is no further use for an item maybe it can be re-cycled but pause to consider this: Some things are made up of many materials, some can be easily recycled and some cannot. If the parts that can be recycled are put in the recycling bin and those that cannot are put in the ‘landfill’bin – this will help because something that has any ‘contaminated’ content might otherwise get transferred to landfill that wastes all the ‘good stuff’ that could have been saved.

Recycling Facilities:

In Whittlesey there are additional collection points which can be found on www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/household-recycling-centres/

for fabrics, glass cardboard & paper, batteries and of course the HRC in New Road can take up to 67 different types of HOUSEHOLD waste. If unable to take large items to the HRC, contact Fenland District Council to arrange collection for a fee. https://www.fenland.gov.uk/bulkywaste

Cleanliness: A container that could be recycled that is covered in food will probably be transferred to landfill. If possible, give it a rinse and pop it in the recycling bin. In Fenland (FDC):

Blue Bin: is for recycling, everything ends up on a conveyor belt where sophisticated machinery sorts out most of the ‘good stuff’ so glass ends up here, aluminium there, steel somewhere else and plastics in another place. Then the sorted materials are sold on to specialist buyers. The plastic that is clean gets chipped up and bought by manufacturers to make stuff from, the contaminated plastic may go to a furnace that generates electricity and some might end up in landfill. Metals are easily melted down and used as new metal (better than digging ore out of the ground or importing it from abroad) Glass can be crushed a re used in many new ways.

Brown Bin: For Garden waste and is collected only if you have an arrangement with FDC (i.e. you pay extra for this) https://www.fenland.gov.uk/gardenwaste it may be used for:

Weeds, hedge trimmings, small twigs and branches (less than 2.5cm or 1″ in diameter), grass cuttings, flowers, plants, fruit and vegetable waste, leaves

Green Bin: I call this the Landfill Bin, but this is not necessarily the case. This also ends up getting sorted in an effort to reduce the volume of waste going in to a hole in the ground, it is estimated that about £80,000 worth or recyclable material can be extracted and sold on for recycling, and whilst the process is not perfect, it does remove valuable material. We should aim to reduce Green Bin waste by not creating it in the first place and being more thoughtful about what could legitimately transfer into the Blue Bin.