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Channel 4: Dispatches: Bin Wars
Channel 4, tonight aired Dispatches, a documentary investigating fortnightly bin collections. The show gave an even sided view of the problem from various members of different communities who have implemented the scheme.
Whilst I appreciated many of the findings in the documentary, I have to say I did disagree with those that felt that fortnightly collections of waste lead to increased maggots, flies and odour. I have had fortnightly collections for several years now, and have not had the problems encountered by those in show, but the lack of recycling receptacles clearly need to be addressed to further encourage householders to recycle. Small crates simply do not fulfil the requirements of even an one-person household. Over a fortnight my green recycle bin is easily half to three-quarters full in a three person household.
One way to reduce the burden from household food waste which was the major concern in the documentary is to create a compost heap in the garden. A compost heap should not have a bad odour and can take up to 60% of household waste.
To find out how you can start a compost heap, view our Guide to Composting.
In addition the unstatistical way in which many of the tests were carried out. For example the bin test, in which 60 households received bins clearly knew who had received which bin. In an area with such objection to the policy of fortnightly bin collections it is highly likely individuals could have interfered with the experiment. Similarly the bins were give indiscriminately to households without ensuring the number of participants were similar.
I do agree that manufactures need to reduce the amount of packaging they use, in addition I believe that they need to find a solution to the packaging issue in such a way that it makes it easier to recycle the current plastic recycling system is complicated and many consumers are unable to identify, and even if they are, facilities do not exist to recycle plastics. If the facilities exist plastic can only be in some cases recycled once.
"What do the Numbers on Plastic Mean?" may help you decipher the numbers on plastic.
Overall the documentary certainly helped ensure that the issue of household waste and recycling is back on the public agenda.
For more information on this documentary visit Dispatches: Bin Wars. You can join the debate at Bin Wars Moblog. If you have any comments please feel to leave them in the comments section.
Watch Dispatches: Bin Wars in full.
Whilst I appreciated many of the findings in the documentary, I have to say I did disagree with those that felt that fortnightly collections of waste lead to increased maggots, flies and odour. I have had fortnightly collections for several years now, and have not had the problems encountered by those in show, but the lack of recycling receptacles clearly need to be addressed to further encourage householders to recycle. Small crates simply do not fulfil the requirements of even an one-person household. Over a fortnight my green recycle bin is easily half to three-quarters full in a three person household.
One way to reduce the burden from household food waste which was the major concern in the documentary is to create a compost heap in the garden. A compost heap should not have a bad odour and can take up to 60% of household waste.
To find out how you can start a compost heap, view our Guide to Composting.
In addition the unstatistical way in which many of the tests were carried out. For example the bin test, in which 60 households received bins clearly knew who had received which bin. In an area with such objection to the policy of fortnightly bin collections it is highly likely individuals could have interfered with the experiment. Similarly the bins were give indiscriminately to households without ensuring the number of participants were similar.
I do agree that manufactures need to reduce the amount of packaging they use, in addition I believe that they need to find a solution to the packaging issue in such a way that it makes it easier to recycle the current plastic recycling system is complicated and many consumers are unable to identify, and even if they are, facilities do not exist to recycle plastics. If the facilities exist plastic can only be in some cases recycled once.
"What do the Numbers on Plastic Mean?" may help you decipher the numbers on plastic.
Overall the documentary certainly helped ensure that the issue of household waste and recycling is back on the public agenda.
For more information on this documentary visit Dispatches: Bin Wars. You can join the debate at Bin Wars Moblog. If you have any comments please feel to leave them in the comments section.
Watch Dispatches: Bin Wars in full.
1 comment:
just to tell you dover district council run atrial test on plastic recycling for two years.it just finished.when i asked why over the phone a lady read two pages out to me outlining it was more friendly to the environment to landfill plastic than recycle it !!!!!!!
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