imutual.co.uk

I didn't realise that Mars were able to change the laws of science.... or economics.

There's no new technology here. What the fund is trying to do is to subsidise the recycling of (some of) those plastics that are currently uneconomic to recycle, by guaranteeing a set price per tonne for recycled material. This is in reaction to the recent negative publicity of plastics dumped in other parts of the world (whether or not this is "illegal") and they hope that removing cost risk from recycling will drive up the amount processed. In this they are asking retailers to provide collection points..... given that they too have skin in the game.

The Grocer seems unconvinced that this fund is the answer..... certainly not to address the current problem. The answer is to produce far less plastic packaging in the first place.

From the point of view of the consumer, there is no practical difference between can't be reprocessed and not economic to reprocess. By putting a floor under the value of waste material, it changes the economics of the waste chain so that, as I said in the OP, more plastic is now recyclable (by consumers).

Furthermore, this may (may, not will) tilt the choice of packaging material towards reprocessable plastics.

Less plastic packaging (and indeed other plastic waste) would be good thing. But to mangle Winston Churchill's aphorism about democracy, plastic is the worst packaging material. Apart from all the others.

No, it is not "recyclable", just disposable.

As I said, out of sight, out of mind.

We have a shop in the far North of the town where you can take your container and buy all sorts of stuff.

We get our soap,shampoo and conditioner "Faith in Nature" from a health shop in a nearby town. And as we take back the original bottle back we not only save money but also save plastic at the same time.

pabenny wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 05 2021 11:03am

Sainsburys now have recycling points at 500 stores for collection of almost any kind of flexible plastic - including most food wraps, crisp packets, plastic bags, etc.

this is good news. along with using less plastic in the first place, we have to recycle more. the value of the materials is likely to increase over time too, which will make it more viable to recycle. we have some customers with landfill sites.. at some point in the future some of the the 'rubbish' that has been buried will be extracted back out of the ground to be reused.

I think the truth is that some soft plastics CAN be recycled, and some CAN'T, but it's complicated to explain which to the man in the street. So the schemes accept all plastics and then sort the wheat from the chaff. The non-recyclables were always going to landfill, but at least some of the recyclable stuff will now be diverted away from that.

There's an element of marketing/virtue signalling, but it's an easy win for all parties involved. Minimal infrastructure for the supermarkets; easy for the consumer to drop off their rubbish in a transit-ready container; and cheaper bulk collections for the waste/recycling company (compare the smaller scale operations at some health stores).

Silver bullet / magic wand? No.
Step in the right direction? Yes.

planteria wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 07 2021 12:22pm

pabenny wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 05 2021 11:03am

Sainsburys now have recycling points at 500 stores for collection of almost any kind of flexible plastic - including most food wraps, crisp packets, plastic bags, etc.

this is good news. along with using less plastic in the first place, we have to recycle more. the value of the materials is likely to increase over time too, which will make it more viable to recycle. we have some customers with landfill sites.. at some point in the future some of the the 'rubbish' that has been buried will be extracted back out of the ground to be reused.

And that is my biggest problem with incineration of the rubbish that many Councils now practice. It means the valuable stuff will not be able to got back at some point in the future. But we are running out of landfill sites.

But I am still convinced we need to get people to recycle all batteries or items containing recyclable batteries like your Dyson or landline phone.

I wonder how many realise how toxic they are and I read recently they can even cause fires when not disposed of properly

Yes, batteries need to be disposed of properly - take them to a collection point. Everyone should know this by now. The packaging on battery packs and appliances has carried warnings and advice for decades now; unfortunately many people just don't care.

Sarah wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 08 2021 10:22am

The packaging on battery packs and appliances has carried warnings and advice for decades now;

I did not know that. Bet most are like me, check on the stand which one I want and get home, remove the battery and recycle the card without ever looking at it.