I’d like to think my regular rants in Cleanzine over the past 22 years have had something to do with it but I doubt it… As you might imagine though, I was delighted to read the UK Government’s press statement on the changes it’s making to the way those of us in England recycle our waste products, (see more below). It’s about time! I’ve often grumbled about the recycling ‘postcode lottery’ which means that if you move house or are temporarily staying elsewhere, you’ll likely fall foul of local regulations and potentially contaminate loads which will end up going to landfill instead of being recycled. That will all end, since when the changes come into force, we’ll all be able to recycle the same materials in the same bins wherever we happen to be at the time. I do hope that this same scheme will quickly be rolled out throughout the UK, so we’ll all know exactly what we need to do, all the time. 

 

I see so many other advantages coming from these changes… Being able to recycle all the dry things together, with organic waste going into another bin, means less chance of getting it wrong and fewer bins to clog up our gardens and streets. I currently have two large wheelies and two boxes and I have to take my green garden waste to the civic amenity tip – or pay for another even bigger wheelie which would be emptied fortnightly. In future my garden waste will be collected for me, which is brilliant. Bearing in mind that savvy local authorities can make money by turning green waste into compost, I’m surprised that it’s taken so long to come up with a country-wide plan which will gather all the green waste that becomes available, rather than losing it to polluting bonfires. The announcement taught me that not everywhere enjoys the weekly food waste collections my borough’s had in place for several years and again I feel this is a missed opportunity since food waste can be used to create energy. 

 

Sadly there was no mention of aluminium foil, which I’d like to see collected. I learned its value as a child, when we’d all wash our foil milk bottle tops to take into school to raise funds for the charity Guide Dogs for the Blind. Let’s hope it was just an oversight, since there’s so much more of the stuff being used as packaging these days. 

 

The extensive and well-thought-out plans to crack down on unscrupulous waste carriers and fly tipping are also very welcome, along with the requirement for more businesses and other facilities to separate their waste for recycling. I’m looking forward to learning more about the consultation which could herald all places of worship, prisons, charity shops and residential hostels eventually having to recycle like the rest of us.