Recycle

East Suffolk Council are asking us to be more careful with the way we use our recycle and waste bins.  

"Residents in east Suffolk have been urged to improve their "bin etiquette" after a rise in household waste during the coronavirus pandemic.  

East Suffolk Council have encouraged residents to follow bin guidelines to help refuse teams provide an efficient, essential service." 

Click to see the story and guidelines.  

 – Tesco makes a start

A lot of plastic packaging is rigid. A high percentage of rigid plastic can be put in your blue bin.

But a lot of it is film of one sort or another. This is NOT for the blue bin. 

Things are changing.

Tesco gathers up used film carrier bags at its store collection points. I have discovered you can add quite a lot different packets and packaging to the same collection point.

Deposit schemes are in operation in several countries around the world. You pay a 'deposit' on the container, then when the container is returned, you get your deposit back. Older readers will remember beer bottles (and possibly 'borrowing' them from the back of pubs to generate a bit of pocket money); and, of course, milk bottles.

The present government has committed to introducing such a scheme. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is entering the second consultaion on having a Deposit Return Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Use it All hit the street today, Friday 2nd July.

There were lots of leaflets available, including Use It All's flyer.

Several interesting conversations were had – including someone very knowedgeable about the EU's failure, in his eyes, to properly implement a EU wide container deposit/return scheme. Our current government has promised such a scheme for 2024. You can find out more here  

Someone else asked about wine corks – there's some info here 

And someone else said they might join us in The Street That Saved – find some info here and here

Use It All's next collection stalls are on Friday 1st October Triangle Market and Saturday 2nd October Compass Street (opposite Uncle Sid's Zero Waste Store). We'll be collecting the usual things EXCEPT for pet food pouches which is on hold for the moment. CRISP PACKETS, TETRAPAKS, BRAS, PILLS BLISTER PACKS and so on.

We've added a new collection point - plastic plant pots - to the recycle map.

You can take filmy plastic to Tesco rather than bring it to us.

Use It All was at Heritage Open Days Market on the Triangle last Saturday the 18th September. It was busy. A lot of interesting conversations and ideas.

Most people we talked with are enthusiastic about recycling, and pleased we're offering collection points.

But doing the Use It All stall has made it starkly clear that there's a lot of confusion about what can be recycled, and where.

183 BILLION Tetra Paks produced EVERY year. A maximum of 23% recycled, worldwide. 

They are Use It All's, by volume, biggest incoming. (Crisp and similar packets come a close second, partly because of the good ship Triangle assiduously collecting for Use It All)).

Because they are mixed materials (plastic, card, aluminium) they are hard to recycle, though if they are pre-sorted, it becomes possible.

In Suffolk, the policy is - 'We-can't separate them at Great Blakenham, so they can't be blue-binned. We will collect them at Recycle Centres."

183 BILLION Tetra Paks produced EVERY year. A maximum of 23% recycled, worldwide. 

They are Use It All's, by volume, biggest incoming. (Crisp and similar packets come a close second, partly because of the good ship Triangle assiduously collecting for Use It All)).

Because they are mixed materials (plastic, card, aluminium) they are hard to recycle, though if they are pre-sorted, it becomes possible.

In Suffolk, the policy is - 'We-can't separate them at Great Blakenham, so they can't be blue-binned. We will collect them at Recycle Centres."

Use It All Collection points: First Friday of the month - Triangle Market Place; first Saturday of the month: Compass Street. 

Tetra Paks and crisp packets and batteries and medicine blister packs and flimsy plastic and bras and toothbrushes and Pringles tubes and more...

Though most of these you can recycle yourself - batteries at supermarkets, flimsy plastic at supermarkets, blister packs at Superdrug. Check out our recycling map

Next Use It All Stall – Saturday December 4th – Triangle Market – Christmas Lights Switch on day. Will be collecting usual things. Including Tetra Paks! Just a reminder – those plastic net things vegetables are often packed in – try to avoid them. If you've got them – put them in the Black Bin!