Environment Recycling

[Kwality]

Singapore and Japan manage to burn rubbish and turn it into energy without releasing toxic pollution. Why can't we do that?

Well meaning activists reckon waste to energy will lead to recyclables being burnt

Will Sydney burn its trash? Cleanaway proposes new waste-to-energy project

Massive waste-to-energy proposal for Western Sydney backed by Macquarie Group set to reignite debate over merits of burning trash for energy.

reneweconomy.com.au

Well meaning but if its no economic to recycle it, it goes to landfill, these guys are effectively promoting landfills.


Meanwhile the Councils go round & round talking about issues that were in play more than 2 years back when China said no to our recyclables, called it rubbish, its rubbish !!

Talk, talk:

High cost of recycling leads to more landfill waste - Government News

Councils are dropping recycling schemes because of high costs, an industry paper says.

www.governmentnews.com.au

Recycling mistakes

According to a survey by environmental not-for-profit Planet A cited in the paper, the most common recycling mistake made by Australians is throwing non-recyclable soft plastics into the recycling bin, with 46 per cent of councils surveyed highlighting this as a problem.

The survey also revealed that residents are making also wrongly putting recyclable waste into plastic bags, with 41 per cent of councils surveyed citing this as problem. All waste in plastic bags is transferred to landfills.

Other common mistakes identified by the survey included throwing food waste into recycling bins as well as nappies, clothing and non-recyclable plastics, such as meat trays and bottle tops.

 

[Kwality]

Other common mistakes identified by the survey included .....

& more of the same:
Recycling is a feel-good act that Aussies do daily but, the truth is, much of the material collected for recycling is sent overseas.
Instead of drowning in waste, Australia could one day drown in recycled material.

“You can’t ban something if you don’t have somewhere for it to go,” Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association Australia (WMRRA) chief executive officer Gayle Sloan told news.com.au.
“We’ve still got challenges to find homes for the (recycled) product.

Sad truth about feel-good act you do daily

When the average Aussie puts a plastic bottle in their yellow bin they expect it to be recycled and made into a new product.

www.news.com.au

LETS GET DINKUM .... now !!!

 

[PoppedCorn]

Put somwthing in the big skip type bin at work the other day and noticed packaging strapping in there, heavy duty stuff too.
Asked if we were not keeping all this separate any more and the answer was no, it all gets burnt now so don't worry about it.

WTF??

 

[Kwality]

Put somwthing in the big skip type bin at work the other day and noticed packaging strapping in there, heavy duty stuff too.
Asked if we were not keeping all this separate any more and the answer was no, it all gets burnt now so don't worry about it.

WTF??

In Melbourne? Possible but highly improbable.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Nope.
Not Melb
And its not a skip bin as in one that's delivered for a week
I'm talking the big bins the trucks come and empty with the prongs on thw front and lift the rubbish into the back.

We used to keep most stuff sep, timber, some plastics etc and was told it was actually all sorted out by hand...now apparently it's burnt??

 

[radiojake]

I've always been a bit cynical of the yellow household recycling bins, and with the VISY shutdown and China/India now refusing to take our waste, it really shows what a sham household recycling really has been

I remember as a kid, before the yellow bins were around, Dad would recycle and a special truck came around once a month or something like that. Dad seperated everything for this. The newspapers were stacked and tied, the cardboard was flattened and tied, milk cartons rinsed, flattened and tied and put out on the curb side for the collection (We didn't put out bottles and cans out though, they were 5c each!)

I was in New Zealand just two weeks ago and they would have 5 different recycling bins at most places I came across - Clear glass / Green glass / Brown glass / Cardboard & Paper / Plastic

I was camping in a serviced national park and while I was there an old mate came to empty the bins. I wandered over as I had just finished a beer and so went over to put it in his trailer and just had a yarn to him. Told him our recycling is a joke as we throw everything into the one bin. He looked bemused and asked how is that supposed to work

 

[Kwality]

GOOD INTENTIONS GONE BAD
Reusable plastic shopping bags are actually making the problem worse, not better

Reusable plastic shopping bags are actually making the problem worse

UK supermarkets are handing out more plastic now, not less.

qz.com

So many well meaning people, so little leadership.

 

[Kwality]

I've always been a bit cynical of the yellow household recycling bins, and with the VISY shutdown and China/India now refusing to take our waste, it really shows what a sham household recycling really has been

I remember as a kid, before the yellow bins were around, Dad would recycle and a special truck came around once a month or something like that. Dad seperated everything for this. The newspapers were stacked and tied, the cardboard was flattened and tied, milk cartons rinsed, flattened and tied and put out on the curb side for the collection (We didn't put out bottles and cans out though, they were 5c each!)

I was in New Zealand just two weeks ago and they would have 5 different recycling bins at most places I came across - Clear glass / Green glass / Brown glass / Cardboard & Paper / Plastic

I was camping in a serviced national park and while I was there an old mate came to empty the bins. I wandered over as I had just finished a beer and so went over to put it in his trailer and just had a yarn to him. Told him our recycling is a joke as we throw everything into the one bin. He looked bemused and asked how is that supposed to work

Local government claimed the co mingled bin was the answer, it was a con yet no one has been held to account.

 

[Kwality]

Another recycling plant closes the doors, are these plants viable ...

The company is the second largest recycler of contents from yellow-topped bins in Sydney after Australian waste giant Visy. Polytrade has been operating the Rydalmere plant since 2013, handling tens of thousands of tonnes of kerbside recyclables a year.
The closure comes three years after the plant received a $5 million grant from the NSW government to help pay for installing equipment that processes mixed plastics. Polytrade also received another $5 million in 2017 for a glass facility in Sydney.

Sydney recycling plant to shut as market prices collapse, costs soar

The crisis engulfing the waste industry has led to warnings that ratepayers will be forced to pay more for recycling.

www.smh.com.au

Problems in Perth are mounting:

Another Cleanaway recycling plant hit by fire

A third recycling facility operated by Cleanaway has been damaged by fire in as many months, with a blaze sparking in the company’s Dardanup-based business on Monday evening.

thewest.com.au

In November last year, Cleanaway’s Perth Material Recovery Facility was destroyed by a fire.

The $20 million South Guildford-based recycling plan, which is the biggest in the southern hemisphere, has been out of operation ever since.

The facility received recycling from 20 WA councils, many of whom have been forced to divert the material to landfill while the plant is out of operation.
Earlier this month, the company’s Kwinana-based recycling plant went up in flames causing toxic smoke to billow across Perth’s southern suburbs.
A third Cleanaway facility has been damaged fire in three months, with a blaze sparking in the company’s Dardanup-based business on Monday evening.

WHY : the stuff that people chuck in their bins.
A CITY of Stirling truck carrying waste set aside for recycling has instead ended up in landfill.
Stirling waste and fleet manager Rick Bryant said the likely cause of the fire was non-conforming recyclables.

Meanwhile Melbourne household recycling continues to go to landfill.

 

[mr bagcroft]

* recycling.
That is all

 

[Kwality]

fu** recycling.
That is all

... you are giving it a good rogering ..

 

[Ma Xiao Long]

Started separating our soft plastic and taking it to Coles at the end of the week. Didn't know this bin existed until recently. Makes me feel a bit better about all the waste we produce in this house. I want to find somewhere to bring my glass bottles next. I get through a lot of beer in the week and our recycle bin is mostly beer bottles. I don't know how they get recycled as they must get smashed up in the back of the truck, along with all the other bottles and plastic and cardboard.

 

[Hawk Dork]

View attachment 823678

Started separating our soft plastic and taking it to Coles at the end of the week. Didn't know this bin existed until recently. Makes me feel a bit better about all the waste we produce in this house. I want to find somewhere to bring my glass bottles next. I get through a lot of beer in the week and our recycle bin is mostly beer bottles. I don't know how they get recycled as they must get smashed up in the back of the truck, along with all the other bottles and plastic and cardboard.

Ive never noticed that
I might start collecting my ones to take back to coles
I would barely have any rubbish then

 

[Kwality]

View attachment 823678

Started separating our soft plastic and taking it to Coles at the end of the week. Didn't know this bin existed until recently. Makes me feel a bit better about all the waste we produce in this house. I want to find somewhere to bring my glass bottles next. I get through a lot of beer in the week and our recycle bin is mostly beer bottles. I don't know how they get recycled as they must get smashed up in the back of the truck, along with all the other bottles and plastic and cardboard.

Does the material recycled actually have a market in the real ($) world ?

 

[Hawk Dork]

Does the material recycled actually have a market in the real ($) world ?

• The collected plastic is returned to RED Group’s facility for initial processing, then delivered to Victorian manufacturer Replas where it undergoes an incredible transformation.
• Replas uses the material as the resource to produce a huge range of recycled-plastic products, from fitness circuits to sturdy outdoor furniture, bollards, signage and more.

What To Redcycle – Redcycle

www.redcycle.net.au

 

[Ma Xiao Long]

Ive never noticed that
I might start collecting my ones to take back to coles
I would barely have any rubbish then

There's another one with a green top, but I can't remember what that one's for. Also, there are big containers outside for clothes. The one near mine has four. Two or three of them are for donations, but one of them is for recycling. I think t-shirts and jocks get washed and cut up and sold to factories for cleaning. You can put old shoes there, too, apparently. I don't know how they recycle them or what they get turned into, though.

 

[Kwality]

• The collected plastic is returned to RED Group’s facility for initial processing, then delivered to Victorian manufacturer Replas where it undergoes an incredible transformation.
• Replas uses the material as the resource to produce a huge range of recycled-plastic products, from fitness circuits to sturdy outdoor furniture, bollards, signage and more.

What To Redcycle – Redcycle

www.redcycle.net.au

Trust your recognition/sorting skills are what you think they are.
Far to often well meaning would be recycler folks effectively disrupt the economics of recycling by poor sorting requiring it to be handled multiple times.
Have you bought anything from Replas lately?

 

[Hawk Dork]

Trust your recognition/sorting skills are what you think they are.
Far to often well meaning would be recycler folks effectively disrupt the economics of recycling by poor sorting requiring it to be handled multiple times.
Have you bought anything from Replas lately?

I think they mainly sell to councils

 

[metic]

Aldi ditches plastic bags from banana displays

Sydney mum Anita Horan has spent more than four long years waging a war against one of our guilty habits.

www.news.com.au

"It will also phase out “problematic and unnecessary” single-use plastics by the end of 2020, including plastic straws, plastic disposable tableware and plastic stemmed cotton buds, and will prioritise the reduction or replacement of difficult to recycle black plastic packaging."

 

[radiojake]

why the * do you need to put a bunch of bananas in a plastic bag anyway?

The only fruit/veg that need to be bagged are mushrooms, snow peas/green beans and if you're buying loose spinach/roquette

maybe there is other vegies that i don't buy that may need it but otherwise everything else can go loose in your green bag

 

[Kwality]

why the fu** do you need to put a bunch of bananas in a plastic bag anyway?

The only fruit/veg that need to be bagged are mushrooms, snow peas/green beans and if you're buying loose spinach/roquette

maybe there is other vegies that i don't buy that may need it but otherwise everything else can go loose in your green bag

& what difference does that plastic bag make?

 

[Hawk Dork]

& what difference does that plastic bag make?

its not one but millions

All it takes is one to get in the ocean look like a squid or jelly fish and it kills the next turtle who tries to eat it

 

[Kwality]

its not one but millions

All it takes is one to get in the ocean look like a squid or jelly fish and it kills the next turtle who tries to eat it

Not unaware of the theory, its the real world application I question.

 

[Power Raid]

Recycling in perth is a waste of time with 100% going into landfill.

Use less, compost and reduce food wastage are the areas I’m focusing on

 

[Kwality]

Recycling in perth is a waste of time with 100% going into landfill.

Use less, compost and reduce food wastage are the areas I’m focusing on

The so called recycling is really just what gets thrown in the recycling bin, contamination & all - there is NO market for the stream of waste in the recycling bins.

The energy from waste initiatives in WA are leading the nation on waste disposal, recycling for recyclings sake is sheer stupidity. In Victoria we going to 4 x bins per household* to sort the waste at source - local government are at play, & this motley bunch of egomaniacs cant even agree on bin lid colours, yet they are getting a gig in solving the problem - what hope?

*https://theconversation.com/four-bi...-a-strong-market-for-recycled-products-132440