To want to see an environmental return for all my bloody effort

[MissM]

So I was just interrupted from perusing Mumsnet my work by the bin men. Despite the fact that I spend bloody hours each week sorting out the sodding recycling the way we're instructed to on the leaflet, I am apparently still getting it wrong. I can put my cans, paper, bottles and foil in the same box, as long as I separate them within that box. FFS.

I see no evidence of the hole in the ozone layer getting smaller or carbon emissions diminishing as a result of all this extra sorting, so AIBU to say 'sod it' and chuck every sodding bit of rubbish in the bin next week?

YAB a bit U as you'd be far better off putting that effort into having nothing to put in the recycling box, by avoiding packaging & taking to the recycle bins if you can

& YANBU as unless you've had leaflets telling you thats how it needs to be done, they sound like jobs worths & - ours is everything in one box BAR glass which has to be in a separate bag in the same box - apparently its separated at a depot & obviously glass could be a problem if it were in the same box - we have had plenty of notices to make sure we know that - more paper to recycle[hhm]

got to admit though I'm not sure I trust it & prefer to do all we can by avoiding buying stuff with packaging & DH usually takes what we do have to the local recyling bins or recycle for crafts, return for reuse (egg cartons) etc

Is it possible to buy stuff without packaging though? All that goes in our box is things like Weetabix boxes, egg boxes, milk bottles (ok, plastic but that's how they come), silver foil from sandwiches, tins or cans from food or beer, wine bottles etc. etc. I avoid packaging wherever I can but lots of it is inevitable.

Apparently we can put things in the same box but not together in the same box. So the guy asked me to put the tins in a bag. BUt if they're in a bag then it's probably a plastic bag, which means they won't recycle it! I feel like I'm in a Kafka play.

YANBU at all as it all gets taken to a great big facility where it gets chucked on the floor and mixed up so it doesn't clog up the system. Glass as well! I've seen it happen and they get 98% efficienfy in recycling from it.

Kerbside sorting is mostly unecessary and a lot of it is because of the contracts that are in place

In Germany people strip off all unnecessary packaging at the checkout and leave it for the supermarket to deal with. I'd like to do the same, but I'm too chicken (even though I know that legally, it's their responsibility).

YANBU. All our recycling goes in a big wheelie bin together. Still have to wash it, but it's easier than where we used to live. And we always fill the bin.

YANBU. Recycling is only interetsing to councils because they can sell the recycled waste and meet Govt targets that come with a financial incentive. It has nothing to do with the environment - it is everything to do with money. Worse still you are providing free labour doing the separating of the waste, which is what makes it worthwhile for your local council to sell it.

I grudgingly do recycling by bunging the glass jars/bottles, paper, card and plastic in one bin and the rest in the other bin. Its all our council ask us to do and it really is the bare minimum. There is no national standard, every council does different things depending on what contract they have signed for the waste.

Frankly, when the global demand for recycled waste drops below a certain critical level then councils will no longer be interested because it will not be a saleable commodity. The coming recession/depression will solve that problem once and for all.

Not entirely possible, you are right, but you can keep it to a minimum - you could improve your list a bit by doing away with the sandwhich foil - reusable boxes & taking your egg boxes to a market stall or farm to be re-used - I buy my eggs from our market, because they are local & he re-uses the boxes if you ask - cheaper too which is a bonus :)

It should be possible though & that is something that does P me off - I'd far rather the government put the effort they do into forcing us to recycle, into forcing the companies to do away with packaging - that way not only is there less recycling, it saves government money & makes sure everyone puts less in landfill as I know lots don't bother - my parents are terrible for example, one days shop would fill one recycling box IF they bothered to recycle it

& reading your update - YANBU - thats daft, how are you meant to do it - now wondering if you are perhaps the local dolly bird & the bin men were hoping to catch you in your nighty, hence why the cock & bull to get you to the door :)

They will still have to do it to meet EU targets for reducing waste inputs to landfill. There are significant fines. They may not be able to sell the recyclate on though so it will probably end up stockpiled or we'll see a lot more 'biomass' plants being developed

Whats the big deal? It takes me 10 minutes a week to sort it into the right places. I think UABU and a tad lazy.

It is illegal to reuse egg boxes for packaging eggs in again. I know this crap because I sell eggs, and have to turn away old egg boxes. I set mine out in a tray at the gate though, so if people bring their own box with them they can reuse it. But you can't sell eggs in second hand boxes. Thanks, EU!

JUG IT milk is really good. I have reduced my plastic waste to almost nil by using this. I got mine in sainsburys at the moment they are free when you buy two milk bags for £1. The milks cheaper too.

YANBU I get so annoyed with the amount of packaging and waste I have to sort through, especially as others have said it all probably just gets chucked all back in together anyway.

Really backinthebox - gawd yet more stupid EU rulings

I don't think our egg man knows that yet :( - though that said as I'm taking boxes back when I buy, I tend to come away with my own boxes too, so he's not breaking any daft law

Jug it milk mrsscoob - I hadn't heard of that before - thank you, I'm going to look into it now :)

I used to love the old weigh & save type shops, why can't they all just do that - more daft EU rules to stop it no doubt

Rockinhippy that's it! I am the local dolly bird! Hurrah! (They need to catch me earlier than 11am though if they want to see me in my nightie though - I've been up for five hours by that time). You've made my day.

Gravity - I don't object to sorting it out, I object to sorting it out according to the rules and then getting told to sort it out differently (in a way that will probably get me told off again as I've have put the wrong material of bag in the box).

Agree that the best way forward is less packaging from supermarkets. And toy manufacturers - all those tiny plastic ties that hold toys in a box are ridiculous.

MoreBeta I usually think you are quite well-informed but you've got this one really wrong. The councils have to meet certain targets regardless of the fluctuating values of different materials. And in a recession, particularly when fuel prices are high, scrap values often rise.
We do have to remember that recycle comes only in third place on the waste reduction hierarchy - reduce and reuse come first and second.

I am waiting for organic Jug-It milk to be available.

Councils are forced to pay an ever increasing amount for landfill space. In my opinion this isn't a bad thing as we are running out of suitable holes in the ground to put it in and landfills leach terrible things into the environment.

Have any of you actually visited a ? Our council collects all recycling except glass in one big wheelie bin and sends it to one. Watch about 20 seconds in. Those people on minimum wage are one of the first ways the rubbish is sorted. Not fancy machines, but by hand. That is why they don't want broken glass, used nappies and old carpet (which I have seen my neighbours put in).

It's cheaper to recycle this way, but the material you collect sells for less as it is more contaminated.

IMO YABU. Recycling in your home isn't hard work and do you want to move next to a landfill to prove it is worthwhile?

P.S. The hole in the ozone layer is shrinking here and it has nothing to do with you recycling or not.

But I'm not objecting to the sorting! I'm objecting to being told that I now have to re-sort the sorted materials! If I was putting used nappies and old carpet into my recycling box I'd expect to have the bin men hammering on my door in protest.

My post was only semi-serious anyway - obviously I wouldn't just chuck everything in one large bin with all the rubbish. It's strange though isn't it that some councils insist on sorting (and obviously with ours, to sorting within sorting without actually telling you), and others say put it all in one big wheelie bin. Who's right?

Find out where it goes - what do they do with it all after collection?
I am resisting going into full autowitter cos I get ranty about it sad treehugger type but just see if you can actually find out what your council do with the recycling... I bet it turns out to be enlightening and probably useless, it usually is oh and "follow the money" see who pays who for doing what

It would be far simpler if we just banned all the stupid kinds of plastics that can't be recycled and then people wouldn't need a degree to sort out their rubbish. No slant intended to the OP, but the simpler a system the more people buy into it.

So maybe I'll grant you being a little less U...

yeah, see where it all goes... to a giant Everest sized mountain of plastic bottles near a slum in Mumbai...

or a giant container to China.....

but don't let me put you off cos recycling, it's gonna save the planet don't you know..

I have a recycling company. Carrier bags CAN be recycled (they are made from LDPE or HD) and are worth £15mt. Nappies can also be recycled (they go through a wash plant and are then made into pellets). It depends on what sort of MRF your council send the recyclables to. They will have a picking line, and often an optical sorting machine. All plastics can be recycled. It is just that some have a very low value, especially if they are dirty and have to ve washed.

I'm a proper tree-hugger me (and the local dolly bird to boot).Give me something to be green about and I will green it to death. But I do wonder sometimes if this is more about meeting a directive than actually saving the planet, especially if every council seems to have a different directive - sigh.

Tried Jug-its and gave up, just kept leaking however hard I tried to put the bag in right. DH threw a wobbly after mopping up yet more spilled milk for the umpteenth morning and insisted we went back to plastic bottles.

Maybe we should get a cow ...