To be shocked at recyclable packaging or lack of!

[boobirdblue]

Bin duties are normally dealt with by OH, he's had an operation and not able to deal with so I'm now in charge .

I cannot believe how much supermarket packaging cannot be recycled.

Whilst I agree that's it's down to us all to recycle, which we do, we can only do so much we can do surely the supermarkets should have some responsibility to produce more packaging that can be recycled.

This may have been discussed before, it's a hot topic, so apologies if it has.

Agree. Everything should be packaged in as little packaging as possible, that is easily recyclable.

Ban black plastic trays for ready meals, fruit etc 'because it makes the food look nicer/more expensive' but is harder for the automatic scanning machines to separate out on.

Ban shrinkwrap plastic multipacks - use cardboard, or sell separately and use the pricing to 'price in multipacks' eg a supermarket is well capable of selling one can of beans, soup, pop etc for a certain price, or charging a different price per item if you buy 3, 4, 6 or whatever.

Ban non recyclable film type plastics and use a recyclable alternative.

Ban shops, cafes etc from automatically offering unnecessary plastic bags, straws etc. I feel like I spend my whole life saying 'no thank you' to a Mrs Doyle type character who cannot believe that I don't want a straw or bag or whatever unnecessary item they are trying to force onto me.

Ban junk mail and bagged up leaflets in magazines, newspapers etc

It's reduce, reuse, then recycle and there's no point guilting the public into inefficient recycling strategies - eg having to wash their rubbish with precious clean water for sorting, when there's so much more that can be done further up the chain.

I live in a flat with communal bins, we only got a recycling bin for plastics, glass & tins last week. Looking at the rules sticker on the outside, there is more that can't go in than can. Plastic bottles only, no trays or containers, all labels to be removed & everything to be washed out. We have only had a paper bin up to last week.

Its the washing that drives me potty. It must be washed before it’s recycled, they can assume every individual has cleaned it properly. So houses are using drinking water and soap (which comes in plastic) to was recycling which will then be washed again with more chemicals to be released into the environment.

I would love to have a look at the efficiency of it all, but I’m a massive nerd. I’d lay good money on the efficiencies being about saving money than maximising the recycled product.

I put plastic pots, like yoghurt pots, in the dishwasher with everything else to clean them.

We also need a nationwide strategy. It's very silly that some places recycle that others don't. Admittedly some areas recycle less because for example their waste doesn't go to landfill, it goes to an incinerator to generate electricity. But I can't recycle eg yogurt pots where Iive but I could recycle them in the neighbouring borough.

But then you have stupid councils getting precious about the services they provide and saying you have to live in their area to use them. If you live in a border area it's silly - it will eg balance out that someone in Berkshire will go to Oxfordshire with their household rubbish and someone will do the same in reverse. But instead of eg extending opening hours of tips, they spend money on ANPR so they can stop you going in if you haven't registered with them. For a lot of people especially if you don't have kids, getting your rubbish dealt with is about the only tangible thing you see from your council tax yet councils want to hollow out the services more and more, and then wonder why fly tipping is on the increase.

I just found out my local Sainsbury's has a mixed plastic recycling bank for plastics that can't go in our kerbside - yoghurt pots, bottle lids etc, not sure if it's a nationwide thing?