Recycling Today

Recycling is a very important thing nowadays. There are a lot of materials that people today throw out which are recyclable and made into something else that is useful. Im a big fan of recycling. Now that i have moved into a new life in University, it has made me realise how aware people are about recycling. When i first walked into my kitchen, i saw 3 bins. I was aware that one was for general waste as it had a black bin liner, but there were 2 others, a green and a blue one. I then noticed a poster on the wall about which materials to place in what bin and what not to put in there. I was amazed by how much can be recycled. A few years back and recycling was only just beginning and the bins were small when i was back home and as the awareness came about, the council had realised that recycling was becoming more popular so bigger bins were needed. When i went back home, it was recycling bin day and when the lorry went past, i was even more amazed to see more things can recycled, like glass. if you put glass in the recycling a few months ago, the council wouldnt have taken your rubbish and then within one week, the bin would be massively full. At least i now dont have to carry heavy bags full of glass to the bottle bank now.

Today in the Northamptonshire area, recycling rates have soared since the start of the century. There has been greater awareness of recycling all that you can so there is less landfill waste to deal with. Recycling helps create new products from old and this is great as it means that our landscape is less susceptible to eyesores like landfill. Over the whole of the Northamptonshire area there are variations which show that some places maybe doing more recycling than others, but the figures show that one third of all recycling in Northamptonshire is recycled. That is a pretty good figure but there are targets to make that even greater. With all this recycling, it helps the strain on getting raw materials to make things easier as the material is there, just in a different form. Also, the rates being high can also be down to the times in which the recycling is collected and this is like a ongoing operation which runs like clockwork. Supplies are always in demand and with collections every 2 weeks maximum, whoever wants this material, gets it in such a short amount of time.

But recycling has its flaws. There are many people out there who still do not recycle everything they can. Some ignore the recycling prospect and this can harm the figures, which seem to be going well. There have been many tv and paper adverts showing how much recycling can help society today. The government really needs to get the message across that would grab everyones attention, like a picture of what could happen if recycling doesnt happen. That would be a way of getting to people, showing how they are affecting future generations and then show what they could do about it as well.

In the lecture last week, we had a visitor from an organisation that helps look at waste management in business. I was shocked by the fact that legislation from the government stops companies from giving waste to other companies that may find it useful. It states that transporting any waste across to another company requires a licence and this can take ages with forms to fill etc. This is the kind of legislation that needs to be put down as it is hindering recycling rates and like the old saying goes: 'one man's rubbish is another man's treasure'.

But im happy with what society is doing to help keep resources in tact and how most people are seeing the benefits that recycling does and recycling. Just some laws need to be modified slightly and for everyone to really start looking at recycling what they can and get the most out of what we have today.