Question
I’m worried that my recycling just isn’t worth it.
Conclusion
We’ve gone from recycling no plastic packaging to 44% of plastic packaging in just 10 years.
Recycling is currently the best way of turning materials back into something useful and avoiding our waste ending up in landfill or being burnt.
The UK recycling system isn’t perfect. It’s difficult for us to recycle some types of plastic but there is a huge amount of work being done to improve UK recycling infrastructure. We need to continue this momentum for the environment and the economy. Plastic is a valuable resource that we need to keep in use, and out of our natural world.
If we don’t recycle plastic, it will end up in landfill, be burnt, or, worst case, end up in the natural environment.
Eco7 recently visited PDMR - the recycling centre in Chatham used by Newham. They said they said they can find a market for all the plastic sent to them. Some is bought by Swedan for energy production in their incinerators, but at least none is shipped to Turkey or Asia to be dumped or burnt illegally. We are getting better at this, but there is still lots to be done. [taken from Clear on Plastics by WRAP]