50% RECYCLE-RATE IS NOT ENOUGH!

The Local Authority provides residents with black caddies and recycling bins. Its advertising lists 5 items to go in the caddies and 7 in the bins. It is collected fortnightly by conscientious loaders and drivers. Sadly for all their effort less than 50% of recycling collected is suitable for sale. The remainder is burned or sent to land-fill. The Council Recycle-Rate is not good!

In 2019, I thought about writing a story to educate the public about recycling. When Britain was forced into the first Covid lock-down I began writing. I also started to collect aluminium cans. I wrote the novel, Recycle Angel, and published it at the end of 2021. I collected at least one can every day until yesterday. With about 1000 cans I determined to find someone who would value them. 

BRUCE, THE PROFESSIONAL RAG AND BONE MAN AND PASSIONATE RECYCLER. 

I’m used to door knocking and soon found Bruce, a professional Rag and Bone man and passionate recycler. He was busy and while we talked about his work I watched him taking a couple of old washing machines apart. After a few minutes conversation I commented he had the same ideas as me, but a more hands on and practical man. 

At the entrance to his yard were two big recycling bins. I mentioned they will fill up quickly with his waste. He assured me he can’t put business waste in those bins. They were full of domestic stuff.

As he dismantled the washing machines he piled some pieces together and threw others away. Without being asked he explained they cannot be recycled. They look very nice but inside the shiny metal exterior they are packed with non-recyclable material so had to be thrown away!

BRUCE BELIEVES IN SAVING TIME AND MONEY

My view is recycling bins should not be collected and emptied every two weeks unless they contain a sensible amount of recycling. For many customers collection every four or six weeks would be adequate. I mentioned it to Bruce. He pointed to the 2 recycling bins at his drive entrance. The Council had missed them at the last collection and they were overflowing with recycling. They needed emptying. I told Bruce mine is almost empty, it takes more than 2 weeks to fill it, so it would be a waste if council collected it. He didn’t look up. He pulled out another clip, cut some rubber tubing and said, “If people put out the bins when necessary it would save time and money”. 

1 in a 1000. 

When I began my aluminium collection it was valued at about £600 per tonne. It was now valued at about £1200 per tonne. The cans I had collected over the last 2 years were worth over £12.

I began my can collection without considering how and where to store them. I should have squashed them, but I didn’t. Storing them became a problem. They looked untidy as they piled up in the carport. We took delivery of a new television. I put 160 cans in the box it came in. I stored other cans in random cardboard boxes and trays and when we bought Coca.Cola in packs of 12, 18 and 24 I filled those cartons and stacked them as neatly as possible.

Yesterday, I took the picture then emptied the cans into 3 black bags and took them to Bruce. Other people had dropped off carrier bags full of cans. He said lots of people do it, but I’m pretty sure no one had ever taken him a thousand. When he saw them he looked doubtful and ran a very strong magnet over the bags to pick out anything magnetic. I told him they were Coca.Cola cans made of non-aluminium. He carried on scanning and insisted the magnet would pick up anything magnetic, even if it was in the middle of the bag. I told him that if I had thought any Coca.Cola cans were not aluminium I would have put them in the Council’s recycle bin.

Bruce scanned and found one different drinks can that was not pure aluminium.  He advised me that if the business he takes them too had found it they would not buy any of them. He gave me the magnet