Did you know ?
78% of the UK's newsprint is from recycled paper?
Let’s take a deep-dive into how our Uni’s borough – Camden – manages to separate waste, and recycle it. London, in general, follows a similar procedure.
The waste is collected in 2 bins that are picked up by the council management weekly.
The Green one collects all the recyclable waste that is produced during the day.
What can you put in them ?
Anything from papers, tins, cans, bottles, cardboard to food and drink cartons! You’ll find the green recycle symbol on all the packages, just to be sure.
But be wary, food packaging that is still swimming with leftovers, or drinks that have spilled inside the recycle bins, actually contaminate the recyclable waste. The folks at the separation unit will need to discard all of it and then it ends up in the landfill.
So next time when you dispose of your lunch or coffee cups, make sure they’re dry and toasty.
The Black/Grey one collects all the rubbish that cannot be recycled and either needs to be treated or sent to landfills.
What can you put in them?
Anything from nappies to broken glass to cellophane, dog poo and even the used PPE kits (although you might’ve noticed our Uni already has a separate bin for those).
The collection is very strict as well. If there are electronics, furniture or even rubbish in a cardboard box neatly standing beside the waste-bin, they won’t be collected. In-fact you can even expect a note from the authorities to remove the unwanted items and keep it ready for the next collection round.
To understand how recycling typically works, here’s an example.
Ever noticed t-shirts and dresses that have the green recycle logo on them ?
Well, this is how they’re made from the waste bottles collected from one of those green waste bins :
How cool is that?
London Recycles rates all the boroughs on a common metric based on the quantum of recycling and efficiency.
Okay, so how does Camden fare in the race for recycling up till now?
26%
Unfortunately the average isn’t much higher either in the other boroughs with an odd high of 51% in boroughs like Bexley and Bromley. But we’re getting there.
Food for thought -
How often have we gone into a Tesco or a Sainsbury's and bought the 30p carry bags because we’ve forgotten to carry the previous one we bought? Either you’ll have a mountain of those carry-bags in your wardrobe back at home, or you’ll just chuck them in the waste bin. What’s stylish though, is in-fact to carry a tote bag instead. It’ll look cool and you’ll be a planet-hero too!
Sources and Further Readings
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