Plastic Isn't Nice: Three Ways To Recycle Your Plastic.

Saturday 24 July 2010

Three Ways To Recycle Your Plastic.

Here is a great article written by the ever inspiring Mrs Green, of 'My Zero Waste.' Do look at her site for many more ideas, tips and inspirations to reduce our waste.

What is polythene used for?

Soft (low density) polythene is a type of plastic used to wrap toilet rolls, kitchen towel, magazines, bread and fruit and vegetables in the supermarket. You use it to wrap your sandwiches and rings made from low density polythene hold your four pack of beer together.

How do I know if I have low density polythene?
You'll rarely find a code or description on soft plastic packaging to know what it is. But if there is a code, you're looking for a 2 or 4. If you have no code, the way to test whether or not you have polythene is to stretch it.
If it’s soft and stretchy without splitting or snapping, then you've got yourself a whole heaping pile of glorious polythene to send to the lovely people at www.polyprint.co.uk/pages/recycling.php in Norwich for recycling.

What type of polythene can I send for recycling?
The lady I spoke to at Polyprint told me that it doesn't matter if the polythene is plain or printed but it must NOT have degradable or biodegradable written on it. The biodegradable polythene contaminates the new batch and starts to break it down. In addition, Polyprint will not recycle plastic bottles (high density) they only recycle the soft plastic polythene used for wrapping and packaging.
For details of your nearest recycling facility for plastic bottles, check the Recycle Now site.

Can anyone send their plastic polythene for recycling?
I learned that Polyprint have been in business for over 10 years and people from all over the UK, including Jersey, send their polythene to them for recycling. Whether you have a business or are a regular householder, you can mail your clean polythene packaging to them. Cut out any sticky labels with your address or similar on before sending to them, as this clogs up their machines.

In addition she asked that people include their contact details with each batch of polythene you send to them. Sometimes people send them materials that are not suitable and they have no way of contacting the sender to inform them. If they know who you are, they can tell you what you have done wrong and why, so that you don't do it again!

There is another company who will recycle polythene called GHS. I send them my yogurt pots as they also reprocess code number 5 - PP : http://myzerowaste.com/2008/08/recycle-plastics-thanks-to-ghs/

And do remember that many large supermarkets who recycle carrier bags, will also take polythene - it's worth checking your local facilities.

Posted with the very kind permission of Mrs Green, from My Zero Waste: http://www.myzerowaste.com/

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Welcome

I've been aware of the dangers posed by plastic to the environment for a while now. But it was whilst watching a video clip which showed graphically the effects the stuff is having in our oceans, that inspired me to create this blog. I hope that you will feel able to contribute in some way, either by adding comments or sending pieces for me to post. We won't rid the earth of plastic over night, but we can make our voices heard, so those who produce this highly versatile yet dangerous material, will begin to question the logic of manufacturing a product that takes hundreds of years to break down and which is filling our rivers, oceans, and fields with its detritus, causing millions of wild creatures to suffer painful deaths. We can but try to lessen our dependency on the stuff!

Some Sobering Plastic Facts

To clean the oceans, you'd need to fill 630 oil supertankers to the brim at a cost of about $56,000 per each a day to charter

To give an example of how long plastic lasts in the ocean. In 2001 a piece of plastic found in an albatross stomach bore a serial number that was traced to a World War II seaplane shot down in 1944 (US Fish & Wildlife)

All plastic breaks down into particles.It does not dissolve; it just breaks into tiny pieces and stays there. At this size it is small enough to be ingested by every single organism in the world's oceans - animals as small as krill and salps (plankton feeders) right up to the great Blue Whale.

It's estimated that over 10's of thousands of seabirds choke or get tangled in plastic debris (including domestic waste and disused fishing gear) and about 100,000 seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, other marine mammals and sea turtles suffer the same fate, although some scientists believe this figure to be much higher. (DNR) (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission)

UK beaches have on average 2000 pieces of litter for every kilometer. (MCS)However this average is only given to larger items.The number of plastic particles (small plastic pieces) on a beach in just one square foot can range from hundreds to thousands in some of the worst polluted area's. (Thompson) (Algalita)

The world produces over 200 million tonnes plastic annually. Around half of this is used for disposable items of packaging that are discarded within a year. This debris is accumulating in landfill and the problem is growing. (Thompson).

Since the 1950's almost every piece of plastic that we have ever made, used and thrown away is still here on this planet in one form or another, whether its in our homes, in landfill or in the environment; and it will be here for centuries to come.

An estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given away annually by United Kingdom supermarkets-enough plastic to cover an area the size of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and west Yorkshire combined.

On average we only recycle 1 plastic bag in every 200 we use. (londoncouncils.gov.uk)