Home Skip=20 Navigation Sitemap Contact Us = Disabil= ity=20 Statement

News
TV=20 chef appalled as mothers' school run delivers junk food

News
Ministers=20 and estate agents 'on a par for honesty'

News
Soldier=20 killed in Iraq bomb blast may have saved others

News
Knife=20 murder rocks leading public school

News
NHS=20 staff set to strike over

News
Hundreds=20 flee homes as plant in chemical scare

News
Test=20 results awaited after murder

News
TV=20 presenter Raymond Baxter dies, aged 84

News
Gay=20 killer on run befriended victims

News
Let=20 them eat cake...and burgers

News
Seaside=20 council may face challenge over 'zero tolerance' for sex shops

News
Return=20 of top charity show

News
Let=20 us just float this idea past you...

News
TV=20 presenter sends out a real-life SOS

News
Surprise=20 Hoon broadside piles pressure on Blair to quit

News
PM=20 in devolution deadline warning

News
Council=20 offers deal over protest ban

News
MP=20 hit by tragedy set to remarry

News
Family=20 'bedrock of welfare state' says Minister

News
Nursery=20 owner accused of assault on toddler

News
Club=20 where Beatles played debut gig given protection

News
Bomb-proof=20 vehicles for Iraq troops

News
Schoolgirl=20 guilty of stabbing pupil in the eye with scissors

News
Child=20 car and booster seat sales soar

News
Builder=20 told to demolish home

=20

Sat September 16 2006

3Dservices

3D"reader

3Dentertainment=20

Features

=20

Is recycling waste just a = rubbish=20 idea?

Rural councils have recently = complained=20 they can't afford to recycle, but does it really matter if we separate = our=20 cardboard from our plastic and are trips to the bottle bank just a waste = of=20 time? Sarah Freeman reports.

Some are obsessive about it, = others go for=20 months without giving it a second thought and if they had their way the=20 Government would like all of us to do it better and more often. =
Apart from=20 the conscientious few, most of us would probably admit that when it = comes to=20 recycling there's room for improvement.
We might duly fill up our = green and=20 blue boxes for doorstep collection and trips to the bottle bank may be a = regular=20 occurrence, but few of us really recycle everything we could or should, = compost=20 bins bought in earnest now lie redundant and under even the lightest=20 interrogation the vast majority would confess to kitchen drawers full of = never=20 to be used again plastic carrier bags.
The Government has been busy = drawing=20 up targets about how much the country should be recycling =E2=80=93 30 = per cent of=20 household waste by 2010 =E2=80=93 and drawing pie charts to show how = much we recycle and=20 where. Only yesterday, the Tories jumped on the bandwagon, by announcing = that if=20 they came to power they would increase the proportion of green taxes to = combat=20 pollution.
However, Labour's environmental pledges were recently = called into=20 question when it emerged landfill sites are being filled with thousands = of=20 tonnes of trade waste which could be recycled, as rural councils face = increased=20 costs for collecting recyclable material from businesses.
But does = it really=20 matter?
A group of experts from Sweden recently suggested that = separating=20 household waste was no longer a sign of the virtuous, but actually is = often a=20 waste of time and money, and the waste should instead be burnt.
The = country=20 is renowned for its forward-thinking approach to waste and recycling, = and amid=20 the sea of green there are voices of dissent who claim incineration may = actually=20 be best for the environment, particularly in remote areas where it would = make=20 more sense to burn waste locally, using the process to generate = electricity,=20 rather than transporting it long distances to the nearest recycling = depot.=20
While the Environmental Services Association, which represents the = British=20 waste industry, won't go so far as their Swedish cousins, they admit=20 incineration is a valid option, but one which is just misunderstood. =
"The=20 reality is that there is a finite amount of waste which can be recycled, = and=20 that's where other technologies come into play," says Marian Kelly, = policy=20 executive at the ESA. "Historically incineration has suffered from a bad = public=20 image and while in the past there were concerns about the affect on the=20 surrounding area and the environment in general things have changed." =
While=20 incineration has long been the black sheep of the waste disposal family, = what=20 about the health risks? The main concerns have surrounded the pollutants = emitted=20 from the chimneys with some of the dioxins suspected of causing cancer.=20
Clearly anyone who discovers an incinerator is about to open on = their=20 doorstep is unlikely to bring out the bunting =E2=80=93 there have been = ongoing protests=20 about plans for a plant near Saltend, East Yorkshire, which will burn = 240,000=20 tonnes of household waste a year. Similar opposition is likely if the = go-ahead=20 is given to an incinerator in Leeds, and a public consultation is being = launched=20 about the possibility of burning increased amounts of rubbish collected = in=20 Barnsley =E2=80=93 but some claim the health risks have been greatly = exaggerated.=20
"There are now stringent guidelines issued by the European Union = which limit=20 the amount of emissions and the incineration industry has come a long = way and=20 since they were introduced in 1996 many of the older incinerators have = been=20 closed because they failed to meet the stricter standards.
"The = Environment=20 Agency is responsible for checking all the levels and if there were any = danger=20 to human health we would know about it.
"A certain amount is used to = run the=20 site, but the rest is pumped into the National Grid, in fact of the UK's = renewable energy totals, a third comes from landfill and incineration."=20
Others point out the ash can be used in construction, but none of = this is=20 likely to sway environmental groups, who want everyone, including the=20 Government, to make recycling a way of life.
"In recent years there = has been=20 growing interest in developing incineration plants," says a spokesman = for=20 Friends of the Earth.
"However, it wastes valuable resources and = because it=20 needs a constant supply of waste, it is a barrier to increased = recycling, Apart=20 from all that it also causes air pollution and creates toxic ash. =
"In some=20 cases, recycling plants can create increased traffic and litter, but = these=20 problems are true of incinerators, which are also a visual eyesore and = all too=20 often fail to provide community benefits in terms of education and local = involvement in solving the problem of what we do with our rubbish." =
With the=20 two sides battling to have their own views heard and accepted, as the = arguments=20 surrounding recycling and the country's own green agenda continue, it = is, sadly,=20 the public at large who are increasingly finding themselves in the dark. =

HEAP OF TROUBLE

Since 1950, we have consumed as much as = all the=20 generations before us combined.
In one hour we produce enough waste = in the=20 UK to fill the Albert Hall. In one day enough waste is produced to fill=20 Trafalgar Square to the top of Nelson's Column, and in a year, enough = waste is=20 left to fill dustbins stretching from the Earth to the Moon. =
Nationwide,=20 only 19 per cent of household waste is recycled or composted, which is = less than=20 many other EU states, although many Yorkshire regions are above average. =
Leeds: 21.3 per cent
Bradford: 19 per cent
Sheffield: 21 per = cent=20
York: 25 per cent.

WASTE NOT... THE FACTS ON EVERYDAY=20 RECYCLING

Paper
Almost any household waste paper can be = recycled.=20 However, every time it is recycled the fibre lengths decrease and after = being=20 recycled six times they become too short for papermaking, so some virgin = fibres=20 will be needed to maintain paper strength and quality.

Metal = cans=20
Aluminium and steel cans together comprise three per cent of = household waste=20 and both can be recycled indefinitely. Recycling aluminium uses just = five per=20 cent of the energy used in the original production and generates only = five per=20 cent of the greenhouse gases. Steel has the added advantage that it can = be=20 sorted automatically from other waste by magnetic extraction. =

Plastic=20
There are 50 different types of plastic, which account for 50 per = cent of=20 household waste, and they have to be sorted manually. Following sorting, = the=20 plastic can either be melted down and moulded into new shapes or broken = down=20 into its chemical components and used to make other products. =

Glass=20
About 3.6m tonnes of glass is used each year in the UK and it is = infinitely=20 recyclable. Reusable glass bottles are designed to be repeatedly = returned to the=20 manufactures, cleaned and refilled, however, they must be stronger and = heavier=20 to withstand the wear and tear this inflicts on them.

01 September 2006

=C2=AB Previous Page

Next =C2=BB

Page 1 of 1

M= ore=20 Features