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Living Room / Re: The Story of Stuff - Cosmetics, Bottled Water...
« Last post by 4wd on November 16, 2010, 07:06 AM »We already have a reasonably efficient recycling service in place here, (Yarra Ranges, Victoria, Australia) - throw any paper, cardboard, cans, glass and recyclable plastic in the recycling bin and it's sorted at the depot, (mostly automatically - coloured glass is hand sorted). The whole recycling centre is in a large warehouse probably 60m x 30m x 12m, (WxDxH) - including where they dump the recyclables. The only plastic not recycled is plastic bags.
The recyclables are loaded onto a conveyor by a frontend loader, fans separate the paper and cardboard out, magnets pull out the steel cans/tops, electro-magnets kick aluminium cans/tops off the belt (induced currents), glass is hand picked off and tossed into appropriate bin (clear/brown/green) and what's left is generally plastic.
The local tip allows free dumping of recyclable material into specific areas so you can drop off any steel, fridges, washing machines and other defunct white goods for free, used oil can be left also for recycling for free.
In my area we get two bins: non-recyclable rubbish and recyclables, (no green waste bin because in my area burning off is still allowed - bushfire danger area, so fuel reduction is allowed).
Pickup is with just two trucks: rubbish and recyclables.
In other areas, they get a green waste bin for organic waste - no burning of rubbish anywhere in the metro area.
In Devon, UK, where I've spent a bit of time, (18 months), I really can't understand what cretin designed their recycling collection - you get:
1 (small) bin for Glass jars or bottles, cans (Al/Steel), cloth, plastic (but only plastic milk or soft drink bottles!) and paper, (I think but no cardboard).
1 (smaller) bin for organic kitchen scraps (introduced this year).
1 (large) bin for non-recyclable rubbish.
The recycling truck has a bloke in the back hand sorting the contents of the bins collected by the two outrunners.
All other recyclables have to be carted by you to the various points in the county:
1) Paper or glass to the local supermarket where they usually have large bins - you have to sort the coloured glass yourself.
2) All other plastic (and possibly oils) have to be carted miles away to the local recycling "centre" which is nothing more than another load of bins being watched over by council workers to make sure you sneak nothing into the wrong bin.
And there was talk of even more bins being introduced for householders to better sort the stuff themselves - considering a good portion of people in the UK live in flats/terrace houses with no front yards or anywhere to really store these bins....well....it seems to me to be the height of inefficiency on the part of the council. (There was talk in some local papers about the possibility of residents having to cope with 5-9 bins.)
PS. Sorry if you live in the UK but honestly, your rubbish/recyclable collection system just seems to be backwards to me.
The recyclables are loaded onto a conveyor by a frontend loader, fans separate the paper and cardboard out, magnets pull out the steel cans/tops, electro-magnets kick aluminium cans/tops off the belt (induced currents), glass is hand picked off and tossed into appropriate bin (clear/brown/green) and what's left is generally plastic.
The local tip allows free dumping of recyclable material into specific areas so you can drop off any steel, fridges, washing machines and other defunct white goods for free, used oil can be left also for recycling for free.
In my area we get two bins: non-recyclable rubbish and recyclables, (no green waste bin because in my area burning off is still allowed - bushfire danger area, so fuel reduction is allowed).
Pickup is with just two trucks: rubbish and recyclables.
In other areas, they get a green waste bin for organic waste - no burning of rubbish anywhere in the metro area.
In Devon, UK, where I've spent a bit of time, (18 months), I really can't understand what cretin designed their recycling collection - you get:
1 (small) bin for Glass jars or bottles, cans (Al/Steel), cloth, plastic (but only plastic milk or soft drink bottles!) and paper, (I think but no cardboard).
1 (smaller) bin for organic kitchen scraps (introduced this year).
1 (large) bin for non-recyclable rubbish.
The recycling truck has a bloke in the back hand sorting the contents of the bins collected by the two outrunners.
All other recyclables have to be carted by you to the various points in the county:
1) Paper or glass to the local supermarket where they usually have large bins - you have to sort the coloured glass yourself.
2) All other plastic (and possibly oils) have to be carted miles away to the local recycling "centre" which is nothing more than another load of bins being watched over by council workers to make sure you sneak nothing into the wrong bin.
And there was talk of even more bins being introduced for householders to better sort the stuff themselves - considering a good portion of people in the UK live in flats/terrace houses with no front yards or anywhere to really store these bins....well....it seems to me to be the height of inefficiency on the part of the council. (There was talk in some local papers about the possibility of residents having to cope with 5-9 bins.)
PS. Sorry if you live in the UK but honestly, your rubbish/recyclable collection system just seems to be backwards to me.
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And it will do for what I need. Thanks! 