Recycling #2,347

[Barman]

I've had a chance this week to look at the recycling process and it made me think about it...

In the old days when I was a kid we had a metal bin and the binmen took away anything you could squeeze in it once a week. They dumped it in landfill sites. End of. About five blokes, one truck.

Now we have three plastic bins. I'm not sure what two of them are for so I haven't used them. I squeeze everything in the big wheelie bin and luckily they've taken it away each week.

There are three separate trucks which come and collect the three bins (clearly one of them is for glass as that is the noisy truck). They all come at the same time so there are three times as many trucks as before and three times as many staff. It is safe to assume they all drive to the out-of-town depot in the morning and leave, what six, seven, nine cars there and drive home when they finish 'work' at about lunchtime prolly?

Stuff you can't get in the bin you can take to the recycling centre... used to be the tip.

At the recycling centre there are dozens, and dozens of separate bins you can choose if you wish to sort your stuff into. There are loads of staff checking you don't put 'metal' into general and nicking anything that may have some value.

The centre is out-of-town so you have to drive there. Plus, all the staff drive there. Plus, because there are dozens and dozens of separate containers there are dozens and dozens of separate trucks which have to go there to collect them when full (all of which have "warning this vehicle is reversing" things on them  ).

I've no idea where they take all the stuff after... no doubt some of it is recycled.. the 'metal' bin is where you are instructed to throw anything that has a bit of metal in it so I doubt if it is a simple job to melt it all down and re-use it... There are separate 'soil' and 'hardcore' bins which must end up in the same hole...

Overall, I just wonder if all the car journeys, containers, trucks and staff really do leave the planet any better off than just taking the waste from your bins down the landfill...?

[Miss Demeanour]

You just refuse to embrace the new multi binned culture of Great Bintain don't you  

[Barman]

You just refuse to embrace the new mulit binned culture of Great Bintain don't you 

yes! 

[Grumpmeister]

Its bucket envy Miss D. The wheelie bins are larger and in more colours..... 

[Uncle Mort]

You just refuse to embrace the new mulit binned culture of Great Bintain don't you 

He hails from Cyprus, they just chuck in the Mediterranean and hope for the best.

[tel]

We have just been told to stop using the blue bin for glass. Glass now goes in the green bin.

Now there are lots of people trying to think of some use for the blue bins.

[Miss Demeanour]

Old movies perhaps 

[Barman]

We have just been told to stop using the blue bin for glass. Glass now goes in the green bin.

Now there are lots of people trying to think of some use for the blue bins.

Exactly!

How many thousands of tonnes of blue-bins are there...? 

[tel]

We have just been told to stop using the blue bin for glass. Glass now goes in the green bin.

Now there are lots of people trying to think of some use for the blue bins.

Exactly!

How many thousands of tonnes of blue-bins are there...? 

We shall never know.

The council changed the green waste policy earlier this year and there was a big outcry. The council has now re-instated the old green waste policy. To save money on collections the blue bin has been discarded and the glass goes in with the other recycleable stuff as they now claim that it can be seperated out later.

This exercise wasted ?300,000.
It was a non-starter but the council could not see it that way.

[Grumpmeister]

We have just been told to stop using the blue bin for glass. Glass now goes in the green bin.

The green green glass of home? 

[Miss Demeanour]

You're in almost as frivolous a mood as I am 

[tel]

You're in almost as frivolous a mood as I am 

A frivolous Miss D. The mind boggles.

[Pastis]

There are three separate trucks which come and collect the three bins (clearly one of them is for glass as that is the noisy truck).

And ours arrive at early o'clock ('bout 6.45) and make a helluva racket  . We don't have wheelies, we have paladins (which I thought were medieval knights, but I digress) into which all the 'recyclables' go and thence to a sub-contracted sorting depot. How this is a better method than having the householders do the sorting I'll never know. 

[Grumpmeister]

You're in almost as frivolous a mood as I am 

Am I not allowed to be happy today? 

[Miss Demeanour]

That comment was made before you declared your good news....

My all seeing perceptiveness is on high alert today