Why many people still don’t separate their rubbish for recycling?

It may not be a high priority for some people to worry about the environment or global warming. As a result, they have little drive to participate in environmentally responsible activities like recycling. Furthermore, many individuals are unwilling to spend an additional amount each month on a recycling service or on the gas needed to travel to a recycling centre. People also don’t like the idea of shelling out extra cash for things like reusable grocery bags.

Recovery of all usable materials is a primary objective in recycling. Paper waste can be recycled into new sheets by having its fibres pulped, but this process shortens the fibres each time. In contrast to the shorter fibres found in toilet paper and newsprint, printer paper is ideal for producing crisp, clear text. This is a noticeable improvement in both appearance and texture. While it is true that copier paper can be reprocessed, a perfectly good piece of paper will never again be printer paper because its fibres will be hacked into smaller parts during the recycling process. Instead, it may find new life as a newspaper or a Kleenex because those products use shorter fibres. Since recycled materials can never be brought back to their original, pristine state, perhaps a more accurate term for the practise would be “downcycling.”

The act of recycling requires cooperation.

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that recyclables are properly sorted and that as much trash as possible is recycled. Anything put in the recycling bin that can’t be reused or is contaminated with food waste will be thrown away.

With regards to greenhouse gases, reducing the amount of mixed trash sent to a landfill is preferable. Food scraps and yard waste, like other organic materials, are typically compacted and covered when disposed of in landfills. This results in an anaerobic breakdown as oxygen is removed. Methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, is eventually released as a result.

The time it takes for certain types of trash, like plastic, to break down is a major problem. The typical landfill decomposition time for plastics is between 500 and 1000 years. However, common plastic bags take tens of thousands of years to decompose and plastic water bottles can take four hundred fifty years or more.

The less trash that has to be resolved at the landfill, the better!!

Why are we so slobby that we can’t sort trash into the right containers? Yes, it will require a little more time and energy, but in the end, you’ll be glad you did it. It only takes a little bit of work to leave a better world for the next generation. By sorting our trash, we can make sure that as much as possible is sent to the recycling and composting facilities, and as little as possible is dumped in landfills.

It’s disheartening to pass by a general trash can that’s overflowing with recyclables like glass bottles, aluminium cans, cardboard, plastic, fruit and vegetable peels, and so on, when you know deep down inside that they could have all been separated. A portion of it could have been donated to a community centre or bottle/can recycling programme. By reducing the amount of trash you have to haul to the dump, you can save money and feel good about doing your part to protect the environment.

Less garbage will end up in the general trash can if you put every bin to good use. This will lessen the amount of garbage sent to the landfill or incinerator, as well as the environmental impact of your garbage.

The Recycling Bin:

Top Tips:

If you want to save room in your trash can, flatten any cardboard boxes, tins, cans, or plastics, and fold any paper. It’s not just food packaging that can be recycled; think about the shampoo, bubble bath, and other beauty products you use. You should keep a container in the toilet to serve as a constant visual cue to help you remember to gather them all. Before throwing away food waste, such as tins of tomatoes or soup, plastic jars of mayonnaise, ketchup, or butter, etc., it is recommended that you give each item a thorough rinse under running water. Be sure the contents don’t get wet. A clean bin would be the recycling bin.

What Can’t Go in Your Recycling Bin:

All plastic bags – black bags, bin liners, shopping bags, bread wrappers, crisp bags, coal bags, compost and fertiliser bags, pet-food bags or pouches, plastic film – cling film, wrappers, packaging, bubble wrap, hard plastics – toys etc, tin-foil or tin trays – I.E. Disposable barbecue trays, take-away food containers, no meat, poultry or fish (raw or cooked) wrappers, trays or packaging, ashes, vacuum cleaner bags and contents, rocks, bricks, gravel & timber, glass/ceramics, clothes/shoes, green waste (kitchen or garden), dryer sheets and lint, personal hygiene products, medical waste, paint, motor oil, wax or petroleum, cigarette butts, animal waste, polystyrene

The General Waste Bin:

Anything that doesn’t belong in the recycling or compost bins should go in the general trash can. By sorting your trash and placing recyclables and organics in their respective bins, you can cut down on the amount of trash you have to throw away.

What Can’t Go in Your General Waste Bin:

Medical waste, paint cans, motor oil, wax or petroleum, rocks, bricks and gravel, electrical goods (you can bring them to the local civic amenity centre), hazardous waste

The Organic Bin:

If you use your brown/organic bin properly, you can cut down on the amount of trash going into your green general trash bin by more than 30 percent. Fertilizers with a high nutrient content can be made from this waste as well.

Top Tips:

Brown bin principle: if it was once a plant, it belongs inside the brown bin. Because trees were once used to produce paper, all pizza cartons, paper food wrapping, and wine corks are considered organic waste. Wrap your food scraps and peelings in daily paper before throwing them away. The fruit flies will be kept at bay. Bio degradable liners or bags are available at most major retailers and can be used to keep the organic bin clean. Both conventional trash bags and biodegradable trash bags should not be placed in an organic waste container.

What Can’t Go in Your Organic Waste Bin:

Chemically sprayed grass/weeds, ashes, rocks, bricks and gravel, vacuum cleaner bags and contents, dryer sheets and lint, clothes, shoes and rags, glass, metal and plastic, nappies and personal hygiene products, medical waste, paint, motor oil, wax or petroleum, cigarette butts and animal waste

More information at:

Waterford Council
Bring/Bottle Banks & Civic Amenity Sites  in Waterford City & County
Kollect.ie
It starts with you in your home, workplace or wherever you are when you have to dispose of your rubbish – spread the word  – a little more effort taking the time to recycle can make a huge difference!!