Updated 29th March 2008
'Recycling' is one of the most misused words in the lexicon of the modern industrialised nation.
Often, 'recycling' means nothing more than sending out waste aboroad to be dealt with by someone else. Once this waste is despatched abroad,there is no way of knowing what happens to it. It may be recycled, but on the other hand it may be simply dumped on a beach in Bangladseh or in West Africa It is very worrying that a large percentage of the waste which is supposedly 'recycled' actually ends up being sent aboad.
Two thirds of all paper and cardboard which Ireland claims to 'recycle' is in fact exported.
It would be a simple matter for all cardboard and paper to be composted or made into insulation products, or indeed, new cardboard for packaging. Here at the Sustainability office we recycle all our paper and cardboard wastes. Most of this is composted. It is mixed with grass cuttings and kitchen wastes for putting in our 'hot box'. The hot box is a special kind of growing container which is partially heated by heat generated from decomposing vegetable matter and paper wastes.
How much waste can an individual produce in one year?
If you live in a Western industrialised nation, probably around 500kg per annum from domestic waste alone, excluding what gets flushed down the toilet. Well under 50% is 'recycled'. Almost none is reused in any meaningful sense of the word.
As an experiment, Andy weighed his rubbish for a 6 month period. These are the figures:
Total waste for removal to recycling/waste facility: <35kg
Glass: 22kg
Plastic Bottles: 3kg
Aluminium Cans: <1kg
Steel Tins: zero
Unrecyclable Waste: 9kg
In addition, approximately 25kg of paper and cardboard waste was generated (mainly from the Sustainability office). All of this was reused or composted on site.
All waste food material was also composted on site. The most interesting component is the figure for non-recyclable waste. At 9kg over a six month period, or the equivalent of 18kg per annum, this is only about one twentieth of the average per capita figure for Ireland. Andy comments that he didn't try especially hard, and could have done better!
