AIBU to think we have been misled about recycling and the system needs change?

[Defenbaker]

Last night I watched a Sky programme on Youtube that revealed a lot of worrying trends about how the UK is "recycling". It turned out that much of the recycling collected by local authorities ends up being shipped abroad for them to recycle, as we don't have enough recycling facilities here to process it. In theory it gets sorted and recycled abroad, but in practice much of it ends up in landfill, or worse, just stacked up in piles. China used to take a lot of it, but since it stopped accepting most of it a couple of years back (due to contamination issues etc) some of it now goes to Poland, but the result is the same.

The export system works well for the recycling companies who have contracts to take the waste from the councils, because they receive a subsidy under the PRN system, for each tonne exported, whilst if they sort and split the items in the UK it means they only get paid for the weight of the plastic, which would probably only be about 30% of the weight. So, they are basically exporting the problem abroad, whilst receiving subsidies from the government. Meanwhile councils declare their recycling figures proudly... 45 or 50%, in many areas, to show they are hitting EU targets, but it's all a sham. Someone is making a lot of money from this system - I wonder how many company directors of recycling companies have influence in high places?

I feel so angry and sad about all this. The wildlife is really suffering from the effects of all the plastic waste, but the UK is happily exporting tons of mixed waste abroad, while fudging the figures and increasing the carbon footprint. It makes me feel like not bothering to recycle, as I think it would be less damaging to let it all go to landfill in this country, rather than exporting the problem.

Apparently it is possible to burn plastic and convert the energy into fuel, and to use modern technology to stop harmful toxins going into the environment. That sounds good - I think we need to get these facilities built asap. Some plastic is already being burned abroad, but the harmful toxins are escaping into the atmosphere.

I wish the councils would be honest and say "We don't have facilities to recycle plastic in the UK, so for the time being please just put card/paper... " into your recycling bin.

AIBU to be very disheartened and think that as a modern country we should be handling all our own waste responsibly, rather than just fudging the figures to look good?

Zaphod We''ve just returned from Belgium where they had started recycling the plastic film on biscuits, the thin meat trays etc, what they called soft plastics, and the cat food sachets got recycled in there.

I'm now in Cornwall where they incinerate the waste and heat houses from it. Got to be worth doing.

I have reusable veg bags, some from Lakeland, some from Belgium, which means you just stick your fruit/veg in them, and they can be washed after use. they are currently sitting in my veg rack full of onions.

Thanks guys. No recycling for those pouches round here - they don't even do food waste out here, just glass and basic plastic and paper.

@Laiste - I'll give those a go. Usually get the gravy ones cos the cats love those! But my god, if you've got a few cats (I've currently got three), there's a lot of snipping and squeezing going on. I managed to get some 12 can trays in the nearest big supermarket (30 miles away) when I was visiting and am working my way through those.

If meat sticks in the pouches I usually give them to the dog, she likes ripping them open and licking out the meat.

I live in a flat & we have communal bins, one for general waste, one for paper & cardboard & one for glass, tins & plastic bottles. Any other type of plastic goes in general waste. My mum has 3 bins in the same area, 1 for general waste, 1 for paper & card & 1 for all plastics, glass & tins. I can't for the life of me understand why I can only recycle plastic bottles but my mum can recycle all plastics, our waste is all taken to the same centre to be dealt with. Finding out that a large percentage of our waste is shipped abroad to be dumped makes a mockery of the recycling system, surely shipping it abroad must leave it's own carbon footprint on the environment?

Lidl now sell reusable very light cloth bags for your fruit and veg. I have six sitting in the shopping bag I always have with me when I go out (it lives in the car) so that I never need to use the thin unrecycleable plastic ones any more.

I could probably have made some out of muslin, but I would have had to find the muslin and then go through all the hassle of making them, and life is too short. Lidl made it easy for me one day, hurrah.

"This has been widely written about for at least the last ten years, so if you only found out watching a programme yesterday, you are a bit behind the information curve, to put it mildly!"

@Hefzi - True. I was busy for much of the last decade with elderly, infirm parents, they needed much of my time and attention. They are both gone now, so I have more time to focus on other things.

It's good to know that these high tech energy producing incinerators are gradually being built, but that will take time. Meantime I think some honesty from the councils and MPs about the reality of what can currently be recycled would be helpful. Maybe MPs could play a part by bringing legislation in to relax planning regs on building those plants? I can understand why people don't want these things built near them, but they have to go somewhere.

I find the supermarkets are happy to weigh loose produce at the till, so I take that option to reduce plastic. I don't buy bottled water often, I find tap water is fine.

I took some glass to the bottle bank today, but found myself wondering if I was wasting my time, as I heard that apparently there is sometimes too much glass too recyle. Is that true?

I heard that apparently there is sometimes too much glass too recyle. Is that true

I wouldn't be a bit surprised. I have certainly heard of glass which had been collected for recycling going to landfill here in Cornwall.

We are still producing more and more things which need to be disposed of, even things which are meant to be good for the environment like solar panels.