home:> sustainable living:> waste

Are we drowning in waste? Sustainable Wales' Tipping point! Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

Everyone in the UK generates 6 tonnes rubbish per year. Packaging accounts on average for 6% of supermarket costs. More than 80% of environmental impacts are generated by product design.

Much of our waste that could be recycled is disposed of in landfill sites or is incinerated. Neither option is good. It is essential that we try to reduce the amount of waste that reaches these landfill sites as our refuse emits highly polluting CO2 and methane, greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

Landfills are overflowing. In fact, many areas of the country now have "less than 10 years of landfill space left". They lack much water and oxygen that are necessary to break down rubbish. This means that a lot of the contents take many years to biodegrade: "A newspaper thrown into a landfill is still readable 30 years later." Ashes from incinerated waste also go to landfill while the smoke that is created contains harmful chemicals. Cutting down on waste just means changing a few habits and in doing so we can learn how to save money! "If we minimise our household waste we could cut our household bills by half."

1. Don't drop litter.

An obvious one here but imagine how cleaner the streets would be if everybody didn't!

2. Reduce. Using less means we chuck away less but how can we reduce waste?

• By not buying things that have excess packaging. Buying loose products, avoiding too many but one get 3 free, will help you to cut down.
• By not buying disposable items where reusable alternatives exist when there is a really simple solution like using proper crockery and cutlery instead of paper and plastic versions and choosing longer life, rechargeable energy efficient products.
• Cotton nappies are also a perfect example. A baby will have between 5/6000 nappy changes. In Wales 500 disposables are thrown away every minute! See www.realnappies-wales.org.uk
• Taking our own bags with us when we go shopping to avoid more plastic ones. Cotton bags are a good option, the best being fairly traded, organic cotton bags: "We use 10 billion plastic bags every year in the UK." Check out www.fairtrade.org.uk for long lasting shopping bags.
• Donating old magazines to doctors' and dentists' waiting rooms
• Buying concentrated products that use less packaging.
• Removing name from junk mailing lists via a mail preference service to reduce postal junk. Check out www.mpsonline.org.uk. However, if you receive mail from companies you have purchased things from you will probably have to contact them yourself to stop unwanted mail.
• Owning and using a compost bin.

3. Reuse. 80% products are thrown away after a single use!

How can we reuse things?

• By using items again and again for as long as possible, including plastic cups, bottles, bags, tubs, other containers, paper, jars etc
• By repairing broken items.
• By reusing envelopes.
• By using refillable instead of disposable pens.
• By using old CDs in gardens and allotments to scare birds from crops.
• By using anything else you believe can be used again before you dispose of it - be creative!
• By renting or borrowing items you don't use very often, like party decorations, glasses, etc
• By donating old computers and audio-visual equipment to community groups or schools: "Over 1.5 million computers are dumped in landfill every year in the UK." The Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive is a plan to prevent any WEEE entering landfill sites. The Government hopes to see this put into practice in summer 2006. To find out more about this email r.holdway@giraffeinnovation.com or visit www.weeeman.org to see a human-like figure (The WEEE Man) made out of the amount of electrical waste one UK citizen consumers in a lifetime.

4. Recycle. More than 60% of waste produced by households can be recycled.

"In 2003 the average percentage of household waste that was recycled by Welsh Councils as a whole was 12.6%, this rose to 17.6% in 2003-2004. Despite this increase, Wales still faces a significant challenge in reaching the national recycling target of 40% by 2010." What items can be recycled and how? There are bank schemes provided by local authorities. Check out www.recycle-more.co.uk to find out what banks are in your area. (Most will be for glass, newspapers and magazines, some will also be for plastics, textiles, books and aluminium foil.) Contact your local authority to find out if you have kerbside collections (door to door services) For all household waste and recycling enquiries call the Waste Watch Wasteline on 0870 2430136 or check out their site www.wastewatch.org.uk. Also, www.wastepoint.co.uk has a database that shows every recycling facility in the country. For information about recycling in general visit www.wasteonline.org.uk

Paper and cardboard. Find out where the nearest paper collection service is as they will provide boxes designated for different types of paper, and arrange to collect it. Paper on a smaller scale can be taken to local paper banks. If there aren't any close by, ask your local council to get some installed: "Recycling paper reduces pressure on natural resources and uses 30-70% less energy than producing paper from virgin material."
• Glass. Glass is great because it can be recycled again and again saving energy and raw materials. Use bottle banks. If there aren't any, follow the same advice above. To view and maybe buy products made out of recycled glass visit www.milagros.co.uk
• Clothes, shoes, books and linen. If they are still of a decent quality, they can be taken to charity shops such as Oxfam, Christian Aid, or put into clothes banks provided by the Salvation Army. Or you could even have a car boot sale! Clothes that aren't good enough to wear can be used for household rags.
• Metals. Wash and recycle all your aluminium and steel tins and cans. Aerosol cans shouldn't be forgotten either! Check if these may be taken to can banks (remember, they are pressurised) or there may be a kerbside collection scheme in place. Find out from your local authority. Where will your cans and tins end up? Visit www.re-foundobjects.com to get an idea. Buy yourself a 'Crush a Can' - visit www.lakelandlimited.com
• Other items. Tools/furniture/toys. All these and more can be recycled by giving them to charities and organisations who take them to poorer countries. Look up details of furniture recyclers in your local phone book or check out the Furniture Reuse Network which co-ordinates over 300 projects in the UK www.frn.org.uk
• Plastic. Not all councils deal with plastic. Because plastic has a low bulk weight compared to paper and glass it costs more to collect and transport than it is actually worth. However, if there are enough people who want to recycle their plastic waste then it should not be a problem. Check out www.plasticsrecycling.info and www.recoup.org for more details on different types of plastics, where you can recycle them and where you can buy recycled plastic products: "You can make an adult sized fleece jacket from 25 fizzy pop bottles."
• Electronic equipment. Donate anything that still works to charities, schools or community groups. Check out www.computersforcharity.org.uk for further ideas. Oxfam would love your old mobile phones www.nru.org.uk and find out what to do with batteries by visiting www.rebat.com. Action Aid has a National Recycling Scheme for printer cartridges and as for larger appliances like fridges, freezers, washing machines and others, ask your local council where they can be recycled or find a furniture reuse network nearby. Ring 01924 375 252 or visit www.frn.org.uk Products are given to low-income households.
• Buy recycled/Eco-designed products. Ecodesign designs products using a 'circular' or 'cradle to grave 'approach. This means taking into account their entire lifecycle from creation through to disposal. A product may be made from recycled materials that haven't come from endangered ecosystems and they will be easy to recycle or remanufacture. Ecodesign products are modern and eye catching and can be bought online. Check out Waste Watch's recycled products guide www.recycledproducts.org.uk to find out where to buy recycled products of all kinds. Alternatively you can ring them on 0870 243 0136. Also try www.naturalcollection.com and www.greenchoices.org

5. Organic waste:

"Almost a third of our domestic waste could go straight onto the compost heap." Organic waste such as vegetable peelings, tea bags and other food scraps can be composted and the nutrients and energy can go straight back into the soil. Should you make your own compost you can witness first hand the cyclical process of recycling. The end result will be a rich soil treatment, ideal to help your garden flourish. " Compost bins can either be made or bought from a garden centre. " What if you don't have a garden? You can still compost! Find out where your nearest community-composting project is. If there isn't one, maybe you can set it up!

The Community Composting Network provides information and support to new and existing community composting projects. The compost made from the organic waste is distributed either free of charge or for a small price around the community and even put in local parks. Go to www.communitycomposting.org

More information available from Sustainable Wales, 41 John Street, Porthcawl Tel. 01656 783405