|
Talking Rubbish column: 29th April
Number crunching
They say that the devil is in the detail and when it comes to looking at recycling figures it’s certainly true.
There were reports last month that the amount of waste going to landfill in Wiltshire was up. It turned out that the figures had got garbled and misinterpreted.
Actually the good news is we’re sending less waste to landfill in Wiltshire than last year and more is being recycled.
But is that the whole story?
Hidden among the official figures was the telling statistic that households are sending us less waste to deal with.
It’s a small but important step. Reducing the amount of waste generated in the first place and dealing with more of it at home is better for the environment and cheaper for the council tax-payer.
Wiltshire should be proud of its recycling rates – but it seems we’re also getting smarter at wasting less.
Spring has sprung
Like most people I will be spending part of this coming bank holiday tackling some of those household jobs which have been festering over the winter.
The garden has become a bit of a wilderness and there is painting and general maintenance on the house as well.
Inevitably this will generate some waste – but if you’re planning to take a trip to your nearest household recycling centre then consider avoiding peak times.
Eight of the household recycling centres stay open until 7pm on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and 5pm on other evenings. The remaining two, at Warminster and Salisbury, are open until 8pm every day.
Weekends through May are expected to be busy so if you can take advantage of the later opening hours mid week then please do so.
Norwegian Blue
There are more than two dozen items you can recycle at your household recycling centre and the processes used to deal with them are often amazing.
For instance, 100% of unwanted computers can be recycled, right down to siphoning off the tiny amounts of precious metals inside them.
However an item taken to one of our recycling centres has given us pause for thought – it’s a stuffed pheasant in a glass case.
Still, we’re always up for a challenge and it’s better than simply throwing it in the wheelie bin.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
ENDS
|
|
