[seanxair]

Spotted on FaceBook
https://www.facebook.com/playgroundenglish/videos/2260496370839081/?t=95

[Rob L]

I'm sure it's really bad.
Can you post the video so that all & sundry can see it?

Rob

[edit} we all don't do Facebook [/edit]

[seanxair]

I'm sure it's really bad.
Can you post the video so that all & sundry can see it?

Rob

[edit} we all don't do Facebook [/edit]

Don't know how!

[Rob L]

Fair enough, Sean, I hope someone else will post it direct!

Rob

[seanxair]

Fair enough, Sean, I hope someone else will post it direct!

Rob

It's pretty shocking

[PaulB]

This isn’t the same video, but is the same person. (Who seems to trave the world in a bikini with a surfboard )

[Foo Gee]

The problem is not plastic, the problem is how we have dealt with it once it has been used.

Recycling in this country could be so much better. The kerbside collection will vary between local authorities who set their own agendas. It should be much simpler and with incentives for people to do more but this is where it needs to be led by government who do not really seem overly interested in changing anything.

Retailers will try and get away with the least costly process because their business is selling goods and not recycling. Yes, pressure can be put on them by the public but ultimately it will need to be legislation that changes the current situation.

I would like to offer our customers the option of having biodegradable packaging (I have mentioned this before in an earlier thread some time ago) but it can't be separated at the recycle centre so could get mixed with plastic. Even if it can be separated (which it could be if the right machinery was installed at the recycle centres) there isn't a facility in the UK to process the biodegradable bottles once it's been sorted.

Plastic, on the other hand, is generally very easy to recycle so let's do more of it in this country and not ship it in bulk to far away countries instead.

[Cowshed]

Depressing . The scenes in that video makes the occasional litter picking I do and our household recycling seem rather pointless/pathetic.

Plastic is a wonderful material – it is used everywhere due to being light, and easily moulded and coloured. It makes for great packaging too.

As I see it, in developed countries the issues are:

That a significant percentage of the population don’t care (or don’t think) and throw stuff away that could be easily recycled. A lot of people think litter/waste is someone else’s problem.
The different types of plastic, and uncertainity about what can and cannot be recycled, don’t help.
Contamination also affects the ability to recycle easily (I can’t imagine a used plastic container of engine oil is easy or cost effective to recycle).

In undeveloped countries the main issue is there just aren’t the recycling facilities to start with.

In the last year with a failing elderly parent I was amazed at the amount of plastic-made medically-related items that are simply thrown away after use (often single use). This is an area of plastic waste I hadn't really thought about before. That was from just 1 patient - extrapolated across the World's population the amount of waste generated is terrifying.

I try to minimise buying things in plastic, but unless you have a lot of time and dedication it is virtually impossible. Where there is a choice of a product in non-plastic packaging I do tend to buy that if possible, but ultimately it is a bit of gesture.

[Boxkite]

I think they ought to start with the manufacturers and retailers using over-sized packaging just to attract our attention or to fool us into thinking there is more in the packaging than there is or to make the goods appear more grander in status or value.
Walk around your local Asda and notice the unnecessary packaging. As an example, Costco used to sell printer cartridges in massive plastic hanging packaging, don't know if they still do.

[cockney steve]

If the general public didn't see retailers of high -value, small-size items, as a soft target for thievery and shoplifting, there wouldn't be any need for a big package with a small object.....and, yes, that's why you need a Stanley-knife to break-out the contents....too many empty packs on the shelves in earlier times.

I had about a 6foot high stack of clean, tape-free cartons they were pallet-size when flat.....council refused to take them unless I paid almost £20 for a skip....likewise clean, untorn, folded potato-sacks......gave many cartons to house-movers and bags to a local garden-centre....but a lot just went in the landfill-waste.
It is, indeed not a simple issue. Strangely, each year, there is a council list of the items which they can now recycle (but couldn't "yesterday") Coincidentally, they manage to meet the increased percentage of waste that's recycled,each year.

[akg1486]

I'm sure it's really bad.
Can you post the video so that all & sundry can see it?

Rob

[edit} we all don't do Facebook [/edit]

You don't need to be a Facebook user to see it. I'm not. And I never will be.

[PaulB]

Indeed - I watched it on a laptop that needed to log in to FB - I ignored the login screen and watched the video.