Comment by pascalmemories | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pascalmemories | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

It's much more likely that they cannot figure out from all the complex clauses and sub-clauses councils have.

Mine went along the lines of it's recycled if it's paper but not if it's certain types of paper unless it has a recycle logo on it but then not if it's has any food residues. The list went on like that for multiple pages. Handily it was in around 12 languages too, but I was in London (and technically an immigrant, so I suppose the multiple languages were for me).

Then there's the fine for having an empty bin on collection day but also a fine for having the lid ajar from ever so slightly more than the bin holds - you were allowed up to 1/4 of an inch (yup, documented in the explanation leaflet) (and they have private contractors going around at 4am to check that and issue fines before anyone gets up in the morning).

Plus, of course, once it's all collected, the council send it all to landfill and don't bother recycling it at all. [1] And still do it after being caught. [2] Or they just dump it in Africa or China instead of landfill/recycling. [3]

There are endless examples of the bone-headed UK public sector approach to recycling which makes it a waste of time. Sir Humphrey Appleby would be proud.

I don't think you're being fair trying to blame it on some sort of illiterate proles.

[1] http://www.courier.co.uk/Wealden-council-sending-residents-r...

[2] http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/10467239.Council_aga...

[3] http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/538317/Britain-sends-ton...

Interestingly, none of your three links back up your claims.

1 says that in exceptional circumstances, the council will pick up both recycling and landfill waste in the same truck. They acknowledge this is wasteful, but it's only in exceptional circumstances.

2 isn't about the waste that the council collect from homes, its about the waste in council office buildings not being perfectly sorted. Unfortunate, but this seems more of a gotcha than a real complaint.

3 states that local Chinese refuse isn't being collected because the employees who would do so are leaving for better paid jobs sorting imported recycling. Apart from the surprising lack of available labor in China, this is how its supposed to work. China has been a major importer of recycled paper which they use for packaging of their manufactured goods for example.

Recycling seems to be one of the bogeymen that a certain type of press knows will anger their readership so they make up stories about it to wind them up.

>It's much more likely that they cannot figure out from all the complex clauses and sub-clauses councils have.

Well my comment was based more on what I see at semi-public bins. Stuff like people throwing alu foil into bins marked "food waste" & similar complete disregard of even attempting to do it right. You just need one or two people doing that & the entire process can be scrapped.

Your own example actually highlights the resultant confusion I'm talking about.

I agree with you that it is not, but cooking foil could reasonably be interpreted as being food waste because it's involved in cooking food and likely to have bits of food stuck to it.

If you travel round the world, different places have very different lists of what is permitted. In London, bones were a no-no for food waste, but in Toronto, the organic waste bin allows bones, pet litter, used diapers, paper plates and even paper towel with cleaning products in it - all in regular plastic shopping bags (so no need for cellulose bags like in the UK). Frankly, I have no idea how they sort that lot out - I hope no-one actually touches any of the stuff.

The whole process is so complex (in every location) that is is almost impossible to get right and that is the fundamental problem getting an effective recycling regime to work. (Though, Toronto does have a handy trash guide on their website to help you pick where it goes http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=03ec...)

It was all so much simpler in my remote rural past where anything organic was eaten by the dog, anything flammable was burned for heating and the remains (essentially a few tin cans and glass jars) went into the trash (in theory, that was easily recyclable but it was before it was a Thing).

>but cooking foil could reasonably be interpreted as being food waste

oh I hope thats not whats going on. That would be closer to lack of common sense than rule confusion.

The tricky cases I understand - as you say the rules are difficult - its the obviously wrong stuff that gets to me where people chucked it in the closest bin.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com