Plastics are entrenched Globally in modern life, we all use/have them…issues are overuse/misuse and lack of recycling…
and UK is prob ahead of some other countries…
We seem to be way OT but in interesting territory. Useful to remember I think that lead was “entrenched” in modern life right up until its harm be and obvious and it was legislated out of that entrenchment. There is nothing in life which cannot he changed.
Lead is still used by the building industry at least, so not unentrenched - just certain uses stopped. That is the currently intended case with plastic, alongside development of new plastics that are truly biodegradeable, and plastics which don’t rely on finite resources such as oil.
Surely that was to do with tetra-ethyl lead in petrol. I don’t think lead flashing presents a hazard and where it does need replacing recycling of lead is very easy.
And yet … and yet … for those lovers of Vinyl, manufactured from, er, PVC.
Sorry, just being controversial.
I think the points made earlier, regarding the country’s dismal performance on recycling, sum things up nicely.
where would we be without the plastic (rare metals, gases etc) that underpin almost everything we do - phones, TVs, Computers, cars, watches, hi-fi’s…
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If the 45% waste recycle rate is correct that is better than I expected it to be, though I guess still room for improvement (some waste that can’t be recycled is probably inevitable, while changes to reduce waste are as important as increases in recycling). However, the figures in the table you posted appear anomalous: the percentages don’t tallying with the amounts, so it seems that either some of the amounts or their stated percentages, or both, are very wrong…
I was just looking at waste management world, prompted by this thread, and there was a piece saying that 50% of what people put in the residual waste could be recycled or composed if put in the correct bin. I’m a fervent recycler but many people just don’t care. The world of waste management is quite fascinating (that may sound a bit sad). In the stats above the proportion incinerated is certainly not 3.8%, I believe it’s over 50%. Better than landfill of course.
But it’s not just about recycling, it’s about avoiding unnecessary plastic in the first place.
There are also an awful lot of plastics used in areas unrelated to luxury, not all of which could be substitutes - medical tubing as just one example - and even where alternative materials may exist, such substitutes may have other adverse environmental effects associated with processing of raw materials and recycling or disposal.
I know, no easy answer to any of it - how much of the LFT tests and medical masks are recyclable?
Local tesco’s has not long started a plastic film recycling point - so all crisp packets etc going there - just trusting it goes somewhere proper and actually gets recycled.
I suspect if we had tried to stay sustainable from the beginning we may not have had many of the essential or luxury items we have and enjoy / rely on
Let’s not kid ourselves that recycling plastic is actually a good thing to be doing. There is a heirarchy most people will probably have heard of, ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.’ People seem to act as though doing just one of those three things, recycling, is enough. It’s not. It’s the lowest option in the heirarchy; not even the least bad option. ‘Reduce’ means just don’t use the stuff in the first place, and that is what any resposible person who wants to play their part should be looking to do.
Probably not ingesting a credit cards worth of plastic per week, which is what we’re all currently doing.
Poor countries in all over the world are paid by rich ones to accept all the billions tones of unrecycled plastic. It’s dramatic.
But of course, in very specific cases, where it’s not possible to use other materials, and specially for our cherished LPS 
, there’s no other choices than using it.
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I feel horribly guilty now. To compensate I do collect and bin a lot of McDonald’s and other crap dropped by those who hope to inherit the Earth.
I have used about300 of these so far. Finding a cd is not quite so easy but if you don’t pack them too tightly(apart from falling over) I find them useable.
Slim-disc.com. Well made.
N
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Spent last night putting 4 decades worth of gig tickets into a photo album. Immensely satisfying. Tonight I will spend some time trawling through the back covers of CDs to see how many can just go.
The trouble is most, maybe all, crisp packets are multi layer with different materials so might not be recyclable.
Ive been using these for a few years now, they are called Fleecepack CD covers, and have 3 separate pockets for the sleeve notes, the CD, and the back cover.
They were out of production for a while but they are back in stock again at places like Covers 33 and Planete Disque.
Helped me rationalise my CD storage, now I just keep the Digipack CDs in the lounge which is a much improved situation!
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I have a number of CD releases that came with single sheet ‘cover’ in a plastic wallet - does save on space, but none of them ever ‘catch my eye’ as I look for something to play.
I’m not sure how I would manage if all my CDs were stored like that…
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