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Well worth a try, but will the councils &/or public take it on ? It looks like we (the people!) will have to make more effort at home too!

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I earned my living for 45 years in the plastic industry. Although I started to feel uncomfortable about the waste issue about 20 years ago I never imagined that the Global impact would get so serious. To most people 'plastic is plastic'  but there are so many types that separating them for recycling is almost impossible. You put what looks like a 'simple to recycle' water bottle in the bin but that is two types of plastic straight away.

We really do have to change our habits where there is a choice and attempt to stop using 'single use' plastic products. Now that China have closed it's doors on our waste plastic we are in a serious predicament. The dreaded landfill and burning will start up again and the resulting pollution will eclipse any savings (if any) made by electric cars. It will take a cross party political will and higher taxation to invest in new recycling methods and plants.

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If cheaper alternatives were available that would solve the problem, but like I said in another post, why does everything "green" have to cost so much more than the item you want to replace?. The majority of folk's don't like being ripped off !!!

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Most supermarket food products are grossly overpackaged and predominantly just for ease of storage. I never buy prepackaged fruit and veg. If I want six bananas, then I'll put a bunch in the trolley. I don't need a plastic bag to just carry them to the car, then from the car to the kitchen.

PP, I too spent five years in the plastics industry, and used to regrind as much scrap as was possible. It then went into the less important products and saved us a fortune in virgin material. 

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What gets me is the packaging used for non perishables. Things like computer leads, electrical plugs and sockets. Cosmetics are one of the worst. Perfume and other toiletries - 95% packaging, 5% product. Any bike or motor part from Halford - must be a few ton of plastic hanging on those little hooks.

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If  there is a tax put on plastic bottles I will buy cans of pop, I do not throw my empty bottles on the ground so there is no way I will pay because others do.

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I recycle EVERYTHING possible, but I sometimes wonder why I bother. Some folks can't be bothered, won't or are just plain indifferent. 

Soul destroying.

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On the subject of recycling, but not necessarily plastics, while we were away over Christmas and NY the bin men came round here to empty the recycling bins.  They ignored all the cardboard boxes that folk had left next to the bins on the pavement.  Apparently there were cardboard boxes left all down the road.  Why? It wouldn’t have taken much more effort to lob the boxes into the back of the truck.

Costco is the worst offender for over-packaging goods with hard plastic. When I buy anything in there I need more than scissors to get the packaging off, a hacksaw is often necessary!!

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Exactly, but it's a H & S problem. They're not allowed to pick up boxes. Utterly ridiculous. I left a very narrow tall box in front of my bin years ago and the oaf just lobbed it into my driveway. I constantly pick rubbish up from in front of the house. I don't want passerby thinking I'm a scruffy git !

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We too recycle as much as poss.  Mrs Col is obsessive about it to the extent that I'm always struggling to stop our house becoming a depot!!  We do paper, card, plastic, steel and aluminium cans, food waste .. and I compost all green waste for the garden.

 

I struggle with the use of plastic bottles.  Cocal Cola etc., in big plastic bottles. ( Not that I drink the stuff..)  No incentive to recycle.

 

I can buy 20 x 300ml bottles of beer for a tenner.  They are all glass bottles with no incentive to recycle and they are in a cardboard box which is same.  Shipping costs must be huge.  Very odd.  ( I recycle the bottles and card BTW)

 

The answer must be that whatever packaging is used is seen as economically viable by the producer.  Therefore the only way to change behaviour is to make it less economically viable.

 

The plastic bag thing seems to have worked pretty well.  We need to expand on that.

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I don't necessarily think it should be totally up to the producers. The consumer needs more tuition. Most are just too thick to understand the consequences if we don't recycle, and the rest are just selfish beggars who don't give a toss. 

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Not a chance of people picking up three pieces of plastic from beaches etc..  Last weekend I went out and picked up a full car boot of rubbish that had been dumped by the roadside near  my house.  There was a Police Scotland Custody Release form included with the rubbish so it is known who dumped it but without eye-witness reports nothing can be done.  What is interesting is that the scumbag who dumped the rubbish lives two minutes drive from the recycling centre but drove at least twenty minutes to wher e he dumped it.... He needs removing from the gene pool!

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Don't know why it is such a problem to introduce a deposit scheme. In South Australia we have had a 10c (6p) deposit on all beverage containers for many years. At home we have another bin to put them in until it is full and then off to the recycling centre to get our money back. You seldom see these as litter as they have a worth.

 

Mixed waste stream plastics are blended with sawdust and are increasingly being used as skirting boards and architraves and plastic only products are used as replacement for decking timbers and street furniture, bollards etc. Control of the feedstock for the process can be an issue but it is all do-able

 

The biggest cause of litter in our area is that generated by the fast food giants, ferals cannot resist chucking it out of their cars either when parked, often within a few yards of a litter bin or on the side of the road at an eating distance from the nearest junk food outlet.

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Recycling ? Not my job to do the council's work, best solution to the problem (if there is one) is punish the offenders much harder especially the younger don't care less generation.

In your case Commo in England that evidence would secure a conviction easily, did yo report your find to the police ?

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38 minutes ago, Oztalgian said:

Don't know why it is such a problem to introduce a deposit scheme. In South Australia we have had a 10c (6p) deposit on all beverage containers for many years. At home we have another bin to put them in until it is full and then off to the recycling centre to get our money back. You seldom see these as litter as they have a worth

 

It wouldn't hurt to bring back some form of refundable deposit on returnable or reusable bottles etc. It was when the end of  deposits on bottles came in  that most of the throw away containers  were developed, causing all of the discarded debris everywhere. We have noticed that there has been a definite improvement since the free carrier bags were fazed out., so I am sure bottle deposits would have a similar improvement.

 

When we were younger and all bottles had deposits on them, we just accepted it as a way of life. We didn't groan about it, we just got on with it and took them back to the shop. How many of you didn't enjoy trading them in for sweets or refunds. I know I did. We had a 'Beer Off' in the 70s and the bottle deposits were still in force then. It didn't cause us or our customers a problem, and the local kids would come in and buy their sweets with their refunds.

 

If it helps tidy this Earth of ours up, and helps the wild life that quite often suffer because of casual dumping of plastic non refundable junk, then I am all for it.

 

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Nobody is asking anyone to do the councils work. I see no harm whatsoever in picking up litter outside my house.

i see it as my job to fill the correct bin, then it's the councils responsibility.

Weve all got to pull together to resolve this blight on our society.

If anyone is not part of the solution, then they are part of the problem. Simple as that !

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I pick up litter from my drive which is dumped there by school kids.

Its not just kids though ,cars whizzing down our road chuck McDonald's  and KFC  rubbish,both are at least two miles away .

Why can't they take their rubbish home.

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This is proving popular over here...

https://m.facebook.com/beachbuddiesisleofman/

 

More people should get involved, it doesn't have to be beaches, just pick on any area and get as many people involved as you can. Only needs a couple of hours a couple of times a month if free time is an issue.

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42 minutes ago, crankypig said:

cars whizzing down our road chuck McDonald's  and KFC  rubbish,both are at least two miles away .

 

Something I've seen happening many times.......kids sitting in a car by the side of the road, eating their takeaway / McDonalds / whatever.  When they've finished eating, they open the car door slightly, drop the litter and rubbish by the kerbside or in the road, and drive off.  That's why you see so many takeaway boxes at the side of the road.

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It's happening everywhere.  Until we change the attitude of  'it's not my job to pick it up' it's going to keep getting worse.  Unfortunately I don't see that happening any time soon.

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Oh ! Beaches...... I'm constantly picking up plastic of all sorts. The consequences on wildlife are horrific. 

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17 hours ago, FLY2 said:

I don't necessarily think it should be totally up to the producers. The consumer needs more tuition. Most are just too thick to understand the consequences if we don't recycle, and the rest are just selfish beggars who don't give a toss. 

 

Of course I agree. A couple of years ago, some friends and I went to the famous nature reserve at Formby in Merseyside. (Red Squirrels etc.)  It's basically a large area of sand dunes.  Some are wooded with pines, some are less so.  But there are plenty of little spots to set up for a picnic etc.. often out of view of others.  When we arrived in the National Trust run car park, the attendants apologised in advance that they hadn't been able to completely clear up since the previous weekend. .. a Bank Holiday and record temperatures.  We of course told them that it wasn't their fault.  I was disgusted by the amount of litter left.  I still fail to understand how people can carry full containers, which are heavy,.... but can't carry the much lighter empties.   

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Well I'm an avid recycler, purely because of the need to save energy, tighten our belts, and also preserve natural resources.

Saving the planet ! Too late, it's a lost cause thanks to India and the Far East.

However, I sometimes question the validity of my efforts. How much energy is used in using hot water to rinse out glass jars, tins, then removing the paper label. Washing plastic containers that have had food in them such as curry, pasta, or other baked on remnants. 

Removing sellophane windows from chocolate boxes, quiche boxes and the like. It does make me question my sanity at times.

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