Plastic
The difficulty surrounding the disposal of plastic waste lies in what type of polymer the plastic item is made of and whether or not that polymer can be recycled.
- In Surrey, and for that matter in most of the UK, you can only recycle plastic bottles* . Other common household plastic items, such as yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, microwaveable meal trays, foam hamburger boxes, egg cartons, plastic cutlery, flower pots etc are not collected for recycling
- Seven out of the 11 Surrey districts offer facilities for plastic bottle recycling. For details of the locations of the collection points please visit the web site of your local borough or district council
- Some of the major supermarkets provide recycling facilities for plastic carrier bags including plastic packaging used for bread loaves, some pre-packed fruits, Sunday newspapers etc.
- Plastic comes in numerous polymer types that determine its physical and chemical properties. For ease of identification most common plastic materials are given an identification code number displayed in a mobius loop
- In the UK recycling facilities exist only for a few types of polymer
- Three of the Surrey local councils collect plastic bottles at the kerbside
* The recycling of plastic bottles is widespread as they are usually made from one of only two polymer types that are easy to identify and remanufacture. These are either PET - code number 1, as in drink bottles, squash bottles etc or HDPE - code number 2 as in milk bottles, shampoo and detergent bottles etc. There are other packaging that is also made from type 1 or 2 plastic but unfortunately, at present, these can not be accepted for recycling as any plastic item other than bottles is regarded as contamination and rejected at the reprocessing plant. The bottles also ought to be rinsed and the tops, which are made of a different type of plastic, removed to prevent further contamination.
The recycling of other plastic items in common use, such as margarine tubs, yoghurt pots and rigid food containers, is more difficult as they are made from a very wide range of polymers, many of which are blends. Markets for items remanufactured from these plastics are limited in the UK, particularly for mixed plastics which can not be easily reprocessed into high quality new products. Flower pots, which are made of polypropylene (PP), fall into this category too. These are also not suitable for large scale reuse such as at garden centres due to the possibility of cross contamination of plant diseases. . (Recoup - plastic recycling)
Many of us have drawers full of plastic bags that have accumulated from trips to the supermarket and shops. UK shoppers use on average 8 billion plastic bags per year, which is 134 per person! Here are a few things you can do to reduce the huge amount of plastic bags in circulation:
- Reuse them as bin liners
- Use the `Bag for Life´ schemes in operation at your local supermarket. Here you buy a heavy-duty plastic bag for about 10p that is reusable. When this bag finally wears out you are given a new one free of charge.
A number of the supermarket chains offer a recycling collection service for carrier bags. These banks also take the plastic wrappings from bread loaves, newspapers, kitchen rolls etc. Check with your local store for details.
Some other supermarket chains are offering degradable carrier bags. These are still made of plastic and degrade quickly into smaller pieces of platic.There are yet other supermarkets that are moving to use biodegradable and compostable plastic bags. These bags are made of plastic that will degrade completely into simple sugars and water in the landfill or convert into compost. There is growing interest in this type of plastic bags.