Tag Archives: recycling

Why Recycle?

Why Recycle

Why Recycle?

If you’re not already recycling, we explain how easy it is and how you can really make a difference.
For those who already recycle, discover the positive effect your recycling efforts are making and find out what else you could do.
Recycling conserves resources.
Why Recycle ? When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products, reducing the need to consume natural resources. If used materials are not recycled, new products are made by extracting fresh, raw material from the Earth, through mining and forestry.
Recycling helps conserve important raw materials and protects natural habitats for the future.
Recycling saves energy.
Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than that required for producing new products from raw materials – even when comparing all associated costs, like transport.
Plus there are extra energy savings because more energy is required to extract, refine, transport and process raw materials ready for industry compared with providing industry-ready materials.
Recycling helps protect the environment.
Recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging), refining and processing raw materials all of which create substantial air and water pollution.
As recycling saves energy it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change. Current UK recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road.
Recycling reduces landfill.
When we recycle, recyclable materials are reprocessed into new products, and as a result the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites reduces. There are over 1,500 landfill sites in the UK, and in 2001, these sites produced a quarter of the UK’s emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
What Happens To Our Recycling?
Ever wondered what happens after your recycling bins are collected or you drop something off at the recycling centre? We explain how your recycling becomes a valuable resource.
Recyclable items are predominantly collected from your home in two ways. There are kerbside ‘sort’ schemes where recyclables are sorted into their respective materials on the lorry at the kerbside; and co-mingled collections where all your recyclables are put into one compartment on the lorry before being taken to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and sorted.
At the MRF, all the mixed recycling is sorted and separated into different types of materials by hand or machine (or both) before being sent to manufacturers who make it into new products.
Once collected and sorted, recycled materials become valuable commodities in the worldwide market.
What is recycled in the UK?
There are many recycling plants in the UK, reprocessing million of tonnes of material every year.
All of the newsprint manufactured here in the UK is now made from 100% recycled paper.
All of the organic (garden and kitchen) waste we collect is recycled here, usually quite close to where it is collected.
Over 80% of the glass collected for recycling is used in the UK, the majority of it to make new glass bottles and jars.
There is an ever increasing range of high quality products that are made in the UK from recycled materials. To find out what happens to the things you recycle watch our short animations and read the fact files.
Does the UK export any recyclable material?
Countries such as China are prepared to pay high prices for recyclables such as waste plastic; mainly because they do not have readily available sources of virgin materials (no indigenous forests or oil supplies) and they have a large manufacturing industry that requires these products.
Even though exporting our recyclables means a bigger recycling loop because recyclable materials are transported further, it is still a better environmental option than using virgin, raw materials.
It minimises the need to use our natural resources such as oil using recycled materials significantly reduces energy use and carbon emissions during the manufacturing process.
The transport impacts are reduced because the materials are transported in container ships returning to China after bringing the goods to the UK.
It means those materials are not being landfilled.

Aluminium pack recycling records best ever performance

Aluminium pack recycling records best ever performanceAluminium pack recycling records best ever performance

Packaging waste recovery data shows reported aluminium packaging recycling’s highest ever quarterly performance at 23,330 tonnes.

Aluminium pack recycling records best ever performance

Packaging waste recovery data shows Aluminium pack recycling records best ever performance at 23,330 tonnes.The Q3 results are the direct result of adjustments made to the accreditation process, following lower than expected tonnages in Q1 and Q2, and increasing volumes of aluminium packaging recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA) being reported through the system.

An estimated 18,800 tonnes is required in the final quarter to achieve the 2015 recycling target.

Rick Hindley, executive director of the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) said: “Alupro has consistently advocated streamlining the reprocessor/exporter accreditation process and these changes have had an immediate effect. With more reprocessors coming on stream we are increasingly confident that aluminium will not only achieve the 2015 recycling target, but also that in future the figures will be a more accurate picture of the amount of aluminium packaging recycled in the UK or exported for recycling. We are very pleased to see that new reprocessors are becoming accredited to the system and are grateful to Defra and the national environment agencies for working to bring about these changes.

“We knew that 2015 would be a period of adjustment following changes to the aluminium protocols which came into effect in January. This is the first set of data since further revisions were introduced to the protocol which allows PRNs to be issued on 70% of the non-ferrous material recovered from incinerator bottom ash. We are increasingly confident that the 2015 recycling target will now be met.”

Corrugated is not part of the waste problem, says trade association

Corrugated is not part of the waste problem, says trade association

Corrugated is not part of the waste problem
IT’S a myth that eliminating corrugated packaging will automatically reduce the amount of waste in the food supply chain. Corrugated is not part of the waste problem insists the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), which is supporting its stance with recycling figures and information on enhanced production processes.
The trade association is hitting back at claims from some quarters that used corrugated is a waste material, when in fact most of it is recycled, and made into new packaging. It actually has a very low impact on the planet thanks to a recycling rate of over 80%.
CPI’s Director of Packaging Affairs, Andy Barnetson, said: “To say that using alternative packaging may result in ‘less corrugated’ misses the point. Corrugated is single trip but has such a high recycling rate that it doesn’t substantially impact on the waste problem.
“Our industry has always invested in recovery and recycling processes. Corrugated is fully recyclable through a closed loop system, so landfilling of corrugated must be viewed as a last resort. Such a versatile, easily recycled product should be recovered wherever possible, in order to make the most of the resources which went into its production.”
The Corrugated Packaging Industry in the UK has been instrumental in driving down waste within the supply chain, even before the Courtauld Commitment was introduced. It is a pioneering force in sustainable, lightweight, recyclable papers that do not compromise the integrity of goods in transit, and ensure that they arrive still in top condition.
In today’s challenging economic climate, it is quite right that supply chains are being scrutinised in an effort to drive down costs and meet environmental objectives. But when developing packaging solutions, many factors must be taken into account including transport efficiency.
With the advent of modern corrugated processes, such as new flutings that offer up to 23% storage space saving, the Corrugated Packaging Industry is offering extremely space-efficient packaging which is leading to better use of pallets, resulting in fewer vehicles on the road.
Boxes need to be designed to fill Lorries from floor to roof. If every single lorry on the road was filled to complete capacity, the savings in fuel costs and CO2 emissions would be huge. Corrugated can adapt itself to product after product. By contrast, alternative packaging options do not have this flexibility and as a result are not as space efficient.
Corrugated may not have all the answers, but it is the most widely used packaging material in the UK and has helped deliver goods to market safely for over a hundred years. It should not be considered as waste but as the safe and sustainable packaging solution that it has always been, insists the CPI.