Bristol Council Wants to Bust Myths About Recycling

Bristol Council Wants to Bust Myths About Recycling

Bristol council hopes to increase recycling rates across the city by circulating information giving residents the truth about waste and putting some myths to rest in the process. The aim is to increase enthusiasm and awareness of the financial and environmental benefits of disposing of waste.

Local councillor gets involved in busting waste myths

Local councillor Paula O’Rourke states that when she moved to the area, she was confused about the recycling system and said that she has received feedback from residents to say that they feel the same.

She visited Bristol Waste company’s recycling facility to help her understand the recycling process better. The company makes money from selling its recycled waste, and this is an important source of income for the local authority. It collects 140,000 tonnes of rubbish every year, and 53,000 tonnes of this waste is composted or sent for recycling.

Busting the myths about recycling in Bristol

The councillor believes that people know that they should recycle, but they find it a bit confusing and cumbersome, so she wanted to bust some myths about waste.

Myth: all the waste Bristol recycles is bundled together and shipped off to China

Fact: Refuse trucks take the waste to a facility, where it’s sorted and separated for further processing. Food waste is poured into a tanker, where it’s broken down into a soup, put through an anaerobic digester and turned into biogas, which is sold back to the National Grid.

Myth: If plastic waste is contaminated, it will all be sent to landfill.

Fact: The machines at the recycling plant collect and crush all of the material, which is sold onto a plant and broken down into pellets for reuse.

Myth: food waste is collected fortnightly, so it gets really smelly when it’s left lying around.

Fact: Food waste can be put in to separate caddies which are collected every week. General waste bins are collected every fortnight so if food waste is put in with general waste, this is when it will begin to smell.