Despite councils and England needing to hit recycling targets, 27% of councils are still not recycling plastics like tubs, pots and foot trays. The Recycling Association say that people are trying to do their bit but a lackadaisical attitude from the councils is not helping the situaton.
England are one of the worst recyclers out of all the developed countries, lagging in 18th place. Some reasoning behind Englands poor recycling is contributed to confusing council recycing schemes and the move to fortnightly household waste collections.
This weeks Recycling Roundup features stories including a recycling centre in North Yorkshire opening up for an extra day over the festive period, residents in some districts of Kent having an increase of food recycling and South Northamptonshire Council being ranked 8th in the country for recycling.
The household recycling rate in England has rised in just above 45% for 2016/17 after dropping last year, this is partly down to the increase in the use of energy from waste facilities and separate food waste collections. This is generally the creation of energy from waste that we throw away just by using combustion ot produce heat, steam or electricity, this includes fuels like methane and ethanol.
In terms of packaging, Tetra Pak is one of the most recognisable, since 1951 the company has strived to provide safe and high quality packaging, but they have also seen a need to move with the times. In 2010 they have set a target of 40% by 2020, to which they have already reached 25%.
Christmas is that time of year where everyone kicks back and relaxes, but have you thought how Christmas can affect the environment, do you dispose of your leftover turkey or do you salvage the rest and dispose correctly and do you recycle your christmas cards or do you just throw them away? Below is a fun mini quiz to find out if you are on the naughty or nice list.
Malta is Europe's worst recycler, only 6.7% of all waste in malta despite there being a push towards better waste management, to put it in context the average in Europe is 45%. The Environment Minister said that recycling would become compulsory under new waste legislation that is currently being drafted.
A brand new recycling service in Bath and North East Somerset has seen levels of recycling in the area rocket, since the new service started on the 6th November an extra 10 tonnes of rubbish have been collected on each day. The new service has proven so popular that the council have had to hire more staff to distribute boxes.