Recycling

[Amadeus]

Now, I don't want to come across like a right tree hugger here, but I can't stop noticing that hardly anyone on the IOM recycles anything - everything just goes into the bin and good it is..

 

I'm not talking about the few containers down at Tesco's (although that's a good start), but the wider picture - just to give you an idea (and sorry to bring out the "German card" again here) - back home, Recycling is a completely normal and accepted part of life, for example:

 

- Every bottle of Coke, Fanta, Beer, even Mineral Water, has a deposit on it - let it be plastic or glass - when you return it, you get something like 10p back. In fact, even cans now carry a deposit and the whole system seems to work quite well...

 

- Free carrier bags in supermarkets? As if.. Every bag costs you 10p, ensuring that you only use as many as you really need (although they're bigger than the standard ones over here)

 

- At home, rubbish is being divided into different categories - paper and glass are usually being taken to collection points like the one at the Tesco carpark, "organic" refuse (e.g. anything that will rot in the garden) is being collected seperately from the normal rubbish or just being put on a big heap in the garden (you'll be surprised to see what kind of brilliant soil for flowers and other plants this can create)

 

- The remaining rubbish is being collected as usual, but many communities now weigh any refuse they collect and charge for the actual weight collected..

 

- Some communities have special bins for products displaying the "Grüner Punkt" - Green Dot, a special waste management program- although the whole concept was displayed as being questionable at times, at least it's a start...

 

Now, my big question is, if anyone could see this happening over here, especially as the Island is a rather small place and should look after its environment?

 

At least small things like the charge for carrier bags or a deposit on bottles would be a great step forward - any opinions, anyone? And any ideas on who to approach with ideas like this? It's not too much of an effort in real life, but at least you can go to bed, knowing that you did something good for the planet

 

In case you want any advice on how to recycle, click these:

 

RecycleMore.co.uk

 

RecycleCity

[Bill Posters]

Now, I don't want to come across like a right tree hugger here,......

Too late.

 

I've already got you marked as one of the Morality Police.

[sarahc]

Charging for plastic bags is a great idea, although I recycle all of mine as bin bags so would have to start buying those..! This is something that the Island could do themselves. I would think that returning bottles would be an issue for items we import, although maybe bottles and cans used for local beers could be involved in this?

 

The IOM is in a difficult position precisely because of its size. Although recycling is not necessarily a commercial operation the cost of recycling with a small population such as ours may be completely over the top. This is not to say we should ignore it.

 

Also, as we are not in the EU companies 'across' are reluctant to take our waste for recycling because they will not receive any credits (subsidies?) from the UK/EU for recycling it.

 

Personal recycling/reuse is a great way to go - I have recently started a compost bin and it's amazing how it just rots away to virtually nothing!

 

The UK is attempting to enforce regulations imposed by the EU on recycling, but the environmental benefits are questionable when they use big trucks to transport the waste around the country... hey but as long as the recycling quotas are met who cares?

 

I think we should all do our bit for reducing waste. Giving ridiculous packaging to the shop when you buy something is a start. When the companies have to pay to dispose of their own packaging they may start to consider using less.

[Lonan3]

Deposits on bottles and charges for carrier bags used to be the norm a few years ago. Of course, those bottles were made of glass and could be washed out and re-used (this used to happen at bottling plants such as the local breweries and 'pop' works) and milk bottles were also re-used in this way. Unfortunately, the plants had to employ 'sniffers,' people who 'sniffed' the unwashed bottles to make sure they hadn't been used for unconvential purposes (of which storing household bleach was the most common - and least offensive!)

As for the carrier bags - it was found that many people resented paying for something that carried an advertisement for the seller on it.

There is an obvious alternative - which is to buy a good, strong shopping bag(s) that can be used over and over again.

[The Old Git]

What do we do with the material once we've collected it for reclycling?

 

As I understand it various european rules / agreements prohibit one country exporting their waste to another country. We'd have to somehow recylce it all here

[rallybug]

Deposits on bottles and charges for carrier bags used to be the norm a few years ago.  Of course, those bottles were made of glass and could be washed out and re-used (this used to happen at bottling plants such as the local breweries and 'pop' works) and milk bottles were also re-used in this way.  Unfortunately, the plants had to employ 'sniffers,' people who 'sniffed' the unwashed bottles to make sure they hadn't been used for unconvential purposes (of which storing household bleach was the most common - and least offensive!)

As for the carrier bags - it was found that many people resented paying for something that carried an advertisement for the seller on it.

There is an obvious alternative - which is to buy a good, strong shopping bag(s) that can be used over and over again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You'd have thought that the bottling plants would've washed the bottles in a high-heat environment before re-use anyway - I mean, even washed milk bottles sat on the doorstep overnight before the milkie exchanged them for the new ones, so anything could've got into them.

 

When I were a lad, I worked in Safeway at weekends etc - they did the brown paper sacks as well as carrier bags back then - we used them for bottles, cold stuff etc - that's more environmentally friendly, i'd have thought.

[Alex]

Rallybug - milk bottles do still get washed and reused...our milk is delivered in bottles that are then collected..

 

Some of us do recycle - I do (well, put my bottles/cans/papers into the recycling bins anyway, not sure if the cans at least actually get recycled?), plus compost all my foody-type waste - but tbh it's a real pain since they've stuck locks on all the recycling bins and I know a few people who have been put off by that fact.

 

Means you have to put each item in one by one - after a party at the weekend I had 9 bin bags full - was there almost an hour putting them in!

 

Also means you get old beer all over you, whereas before the locks you could simply stick the whole bin bag in the bin, turn it upside down and tip it all in.

 

Who is responsible for the locks, anyone know? I keep meaning to write and complain.

 

Charging/taxing carrier bags and reusing bottles is a good idea - as is getting your milk from a milkman who uses bottles - which the Creamery don't.

A tax on milk cartons perhaps?

 

There is also a kerbside collection scheme running in Governers hill area that's either just started or is just about to start - kind of a pilot for a more widespread recycling collection service.

 

Another thing they should do is have lower tax levels (or something) for local companies who use recycled stuff for their products - ie the milkman who delivers and reuses bottles should pay less tax than the Creamery who don't.

[sarahc]

Another thing they should do is have lower tax levels (or something) for local companies who use recycled stuff for their products - ie the milkman who delivers and reuses bottles should pay less tax than the Creamery who don't.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I like this idea.

[Tempus Fugit]

I did hear someone on the radio say that the inciner...... oops, energy from waste plant welcomed plastic bags as they have a high energy content when burned.

 

I wonder if the cows in the field up the road would like my grass cuttings every week ?. I don't think they compost very well in large quantities, they have to be mixed with other stuff which I don't have much of. One other problem with composting (someone mentioned 'foody' bits) is that non vegetable stuff attracts the longtails so watch what you put on the heap on in the composter

[Amadeus]

I like the Milk Bottle idea - bring back the bottles and reward the companies that use'em!

 

And I still think that the Island would be very muich suited to introduce certain kinds of recycling due to it's size - projects can be closely controlled here and if a recycling company is run the right way, then it can well make profit with it's operations - simply by collecting suitable raw materials and selling them back to the industry..

 

A similar place (although a bit smaller) is an Island called "Juist", on the coast of northern Germany - I used to live there for a while and they simply banned cans - full stop. No coke, beer or fizzie drinks in cans anymore - took a bit of getting used to, but worked out well in the end..

 

There's so much stuff that could be done - take tooth paste for example - you don't get that in a box anymore back in the fatherland - it's only the tube on the shelf and everyone's ok with - taking that everyone buys it at some point, millions of paper and plastic boxes are not being thrown away this way - a small and simply thing, making a big difference..

Now, I don't want to come across like a right tree hugger here,......

Too late.

 

I've already got you marked as one of the Morality Police.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

damn it.. rumbled me then...

 

I'm off to eat my organic Muesli now, then put on my sandals, handmade by an indian tribesman in america, and my woolen jumper with reindeer pattern on the front to make my way to the "Threehuggers United" meeting later on (which I shall attend with my fuel guzzling, non-organic, air polluting, way too old and big Mercedes )

[sarahc]

It's true about plastic in the incinerator. It has a high calorific content and whacks up the temperature when burned, making everything in there with it burn more quickly and cleanly.