Postbag
Questionable benefit of recycling policies
RECENTLY, the Journal printed a letter from a James Robertson, Salisbury District Council's portfolio holder for the environment, who proclaimed the council's household waste
policy a "Resounding Success".
I'm not so sure.
Transporting recycled waste to all parts of the UK and sometimes to the Far East for processing cannot be justified on either cost or environmental grounds.
I believe most reasonable people support the need to recycle household waste instead of land-filling it, but only if it is proven to be
beneficial, both environmentally and economically.
This can be achieved.
For example, modern waste-to-energy incinerators convert unsorted household waste into electricity and can also extract any useful materials such as non-ferrous metals for re-processing.
Last year, I suggested this to one of the council's waste management technical officers, who replied: "I do not dispute that modern waste-to-energy technology has proven to be safe, environmentally friendly and economical but it is not the solution for all waste generated."
Of course, incineration is not the sole solution to the disposal of all waste - industrial,
commercial and domestic.
However, a waste-to-energy plant, perhaps sited at Thorney Down, with a capacity of up to 2,250 tons a day (such as has been operating successfully in Baltimore, Maryland and other US cities for more than a decade), would allow the
council to convert not 30 per cent, as we do now, but nearly all our household waste into clean electricity - efficiently, economically and in a far more environmentally-friendly way than the current household waste recycling policy.
This would enable the council to genuinely recycle virtually all our household waste, instead of blindly following a deeply flawed national recycling policy of striving for spurious targets which are themselves dictated by the threat of punitive financial sanctions from the EU.
ALLY HOON, Newton Tony
THE Journal's recent Postbag page was dominated by the grossly misleading headline on a letter from the council's portfolio holder for the environment stating: "Recycling policies are a resounding success".
He congratulated the citizens of Salisbury district, the council staff and Hills Waste for
achieving a 30 per cent recycling rate ahead of schedule, giving us all two years to get it up to a target of 40 per cent.
But what happens to the waste collected for recycling?
In August 1997, in an e-mail to the council's environmental services department, I suggested that some of their so-called recycled household waste ended up in UK landfills or was shipped to China to undergo re-processing.
The council denied it. They said: "The recyclable materials that Salisbury District Council collects are all reprocessed within the UK.
"Once collected it is taken to our materials recycling facility where it is sorted and then bulked up and taken to re-processors in the UK.
"Cardboard is taken to St Regis Paper in Kent. Paper is taken to Aylesford Newsprint in Kent. Glass is taken to Berryman and Son in west Yorkshire. Textiles are taken to Devizes Textiles in Devizes. Steel Cans are taken to Corus UK in Port Talbot. Aluminium Cans are taken to Novelis UK in Warrington. Plastic Bottles are taken to Alternative Waste Solutions in Tyne and Wear."
Thus we learn that all our recycled waste is transported to all corners of the UK at
enormous financial and environmental cost.
Far from being the "resounding success" that Mr Robertson trumpets in your newspaper, the current council's recycling policy is another example of a politically-correct but misguided green policy.
LEICESTER LE SUEUR, Wilsford cum Lake
IT was very good of James Robertson, the portfolio holder for the environment on the
district council, to respond to my complaint about the recycling of shredded paper but one is forced to question if the right man is in the job.
To suggest I drive nine miles to take it to Salisbury is hardly going to help the environment.
MICHAEL GLOVER, Dinton
I AM an avid recycler and am perturbed to find that, under the new system of doorstep
collections, I will be unable to recycle my uncooked kitchen waste, as I do now, in with the garden waste.
Why is this?
I am told, by the district council, that I will have to put it with the general refuse. I do not have room for a composter, so feel that this is definitely a retrograde step.
ANNIE WHITE, Salisbury
12:05pm Thursday 1st May 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: KW, Whiteparish on 3:06pm Thu 1 May 08
[bold]A waste of glass[/bold]
I would also question the council's assertion that "Recycling policies are a resounding success".
The recent copy of the [italic]South Wiltshire Citizen[/italic] included an 8-page insert that hails the council's "improved waste collection and recycling service", and also declares that "reducing the amount of waste that we produce, and recycling and composting more, is a high priority" of the council.
Now, I am an ancient convert to this cause and would usually be elbowing myself to the front of the queue to provide the proverbial "pat on the back" for councillors James Robertson and Andrew Roberts were it not for a number of emails I have swapped with the council recently.
I am a resident of Whiteparish and an inveterate pub-goer (for the social aspects you understand), so I am blessed in that my village still manages to provide enough steadfast clientele to hold the heads of three landlords just above the waterline. Of course one consequence of all this faithful socialising, from myself and fellow imbibers, is that a good deal of empty bottles find their way into the bin at these establishments. What came as a shock to me was the discovery that these bottles find their way into landfill because SDC do not tarry at the local inns on their recycling rounds. This is not household waste you see. Now, I understand that our council tax does not cater foe waste collection from businesses, but hold on a mo, "is it me"? Why, in the name of all that's common sense are the rules not slightly amended here? It is likely that the glass waste from the three pubs will outweigh that of the rest of Whiteparish altogether, and this waste is finding its way into what I am told is costly landfill.
The council tells me they would need more crew and more vehicles to incorporate businesses. Maybe so in Salisbury, but the Whiteparish round stops either side of these pubs to pick up waste from the adjoining houses. Some people need to remove their blinkers and apply some sensible criteria if they wish to crow of success.
So there you have it, I won't be pushing my way to the front of that queue, come to that I won't even be in it. I'll be in the pub, socialising, with a tipple that does not come in a bottle.
Yours, in despair
[bold]Keith Weymouth
Whiteparish[/bold]
A waste of glass
I would also question the council's assertion that "Recycling policies are a resounding success".
The recent copy of the
South Wiltshire Citizen included an 8-page insert that hails the council's "improved waste collection and recycling service", and also declares that "reducing the amount of waste that we produce, and recycling and composting more, is a high priority" of the council.
Now, I am an ancient convert to this cause and would usually be elbowing myself to the front of the queue to provide the proverbial "pat on the back" for councillors James Robertson and Andrew Roberts were it not for a number of emails I have swapped with the council recently.
I am a resident of Whiteparish and an inveterate pub-goer (for the social aspects you understand), so I am blessed in that my village still manages to provide enough steadfast clientele to hold the heads of three landlords just above the waterline. Of course one consequence of all this faithful socialising, from myself and fellow imbibers, is that a good deal of empty bottles find their way into the bin at these establishments. What came as a shock to me was the discovery that these bottles find their way into landfill because SDC do not tarry at the local inns on their recycling rounds. This is not household waste you see. Now, I understand that our council tax does not cater foe waste collection from businesses, but hold on a mo, "is it me"? Why, in the name of all that's common sense are the rules not slightly amended here? It is likely that the glass waste from the three pubs will outweigh that of the rest of Whiteparish altogether, and this waste is finding its way into what I am told is costly landfill.
The council tells me they would need more crew and more vehicles to incorporate businesses. Maybe so in Salisbury, but the Whiteparish round stops either side of these pubs to pick up waste from the adjoining houses. Some people need to remove their blinkers and apply some sensible criteria if they wish to crow of success.
So there you have it, I won't be pushing my way to the front of that queue, come to that I won't even be in it. I'll be in the pub, socialising, with a tipple that does not come in a bottle.
Yours, in despair
Keith Weymouth
Whiteparish
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
