Recycling Roundup 16th July

Recycling Roundup 16^th July

You’ve probably seen discarded laughing gas canisters around the streets where you live, and they remain a popular high of choice for revellers, despite a government ban last year. They might be controversial, but there are calls to recycle them to benefit the environment.

The canisters are made of steel which can be weighed in for money at scrap yards and recycling plants across the UK. They can’t be refilled once they are empty, but they are 100% recyclable, and steel can be recycled again and again without losing any of its properties. Despite this, the current steel recycling rate in the UK is only 46%.

The sustainable business organisation Certified Made in the UK say that businesses should recycle the steel to make new products which will benefit the environment and reduce costs for them.

Wirral council said it has no plans to introduce a food recycling scheme despite calls from opposition councillors to introduce one. The councillors say that there are challenges and waste recycling targets that have to be met and that the need to collect food waste to improve recycling rates is inevitable. They pointed out that all Welsh councils collect food waste as part of a scheme that is subsidised by the government.

Wirral council responded by saying that they are forward thinking and keen to increase recycling rates, but there are no current plans for a food waste recycling scheme. Previously, the council had said that a scheme would cost £3 million to implement then around £1.8 million per year to run, and they could not afford it.

The environmental charity RECOUP organised collections of polystyrene trays, cups and PET drinks bottles at the Welsh Air show in Swansea. Their collection efforts were supported by plastic packaging manufacturers including Dart Europe, Klockner Pentaplast, and Plastipak. Air show visitors were asked to dispose of their food and general waste separately then to recycle the trays, cups, and bottles.

The food waste was sent for composting, the polystyrene was sent to a company who are set to turn it into thermal flooring blocks for construction projects, and the plastic bottles were sent off to be recycled into new bottles.

The event attracts over 250,000 visitors so the collection managed to send a lot of recyclable waste off to be recycled and reused in the local Welsh economy.

The CEO of RECOUP said that everyone is aware of the need to recycle more plastics, and that they are delighted to see plastic packaging manufacturers and consumers taking responsibility and doing their bit.

RECOUP also ran an education roadshow over the weekend of the air show, which showcased items that had been made from recycled plastics and explained to people how plastic recycling works.