Its takes money to recycle, so less money = less recycling. Recycling should be about sustainability both environmental and financial
Except Tea-Boy, it never has, nor ever will be! Recycling has become the one issue of environmentalism which the policiticians have affixed themselves to because the public are so confused, they win every which direction. They can reduce service (ie. the rationale behind wheelie bin collections being fortnightly rather than weekly) but increase costs by having to more than double the number of
types of collection! If anyone catches them out and point out that third parties are on the make from
our efforts sorting all of the crap so that they can sell it on, politicians can palm-off the blame by pointing out that all of this has been forced on them by Brussels - because its the Eurocrasy who'll be fining us for not complying with their decreed targets - making it more expensive NOT to make you comply. Politicians can take up the campaigning cudgels driving for MORE recycling (more inconvenience, smelly rubbish, vermin, flies, litter etc) because its the weakest laziest 'action' which yer average middleclass dolt can adopt to assuage their guilt over matters environmental. Its almost a political obligation to make these sorts of gestures because its what the average person has come to accept as the new orthodoxy. So, no pop at Justin, the majority of his electorate want to both have their cake and eat it and he wants to be elected.
That people think is that they're 'doing good' pratting about with sinks full of washed cans and bottles when the rest of the kitchen is full of brand new white goods, SKY's playing on their HD telly and a brand new motor subsidised by scrapage money is sat on the drive is laughable to the point of hysterical.
What everyone continues to forget is that until we start reducing the creation of waste
at the source of production rather than consumption, we just go on fooling around with the symptoms rather than the causes of environmental damage. Its the ultimate smokescreen to be honest - akin to the pontiff's self-flagellation. Both come from a sense of guilt but achieve little - or indeed, are counter-productive.
No one's EVER going to do anything meaningful, because to do so would knacker our lovely ever expanding global economy. It seems the majority of the population have tuned into little Neros.
God I'm sounding like an arnarcho-hippy. But I do wish there was a bit more realism and honesty from EVERYONE. Can you imagine anything more unhygenic or ghastly or ineffieceint than ANOTHER roadside colection for foodwaste for god's sake?!
Justin - what about some policies aimed at fining the
producers of excess packaging, of encouraging the re-introduction of returnable bottles, of bringing back paper bags etc - holistic policies which get us away from this recycling mania and back to the ideas of reduce and reuse?