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They urge businesses and the public
to keep sorting their waste, amid
confusion about where our rubbish
ends up.
One TV documentary claimed our
recycling was being sent to Nigerian
and Indian landfill sites.
Other mainstream press reported
that the country’s councils are
stockpiling materials they can’t
sell in a worldwide recession.
Stir it up talked to the three leading
environmental groups to find out if
recycling really is a waste of time.
Linda Scott, spokeswoman for DEFRA,
(Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs) tells us: “These reports are
simply not true, the Local Government
Association did a survey of local
authorities at the end of last year
and they found that 95 per cent
of recyclable materials sent for
recycling were being recycled at
home and abroad.
“It is a very small number of local
authorities which have had problems
shifting their recyclable materials.
“It is not a case that they can’t sell their
waste - they are storing it for a short
period of time until they can get
a betterprice for it as the market
improves.”
WRAP (Waste and Resources Action
Plan) produce a monthly market
report - and their latest shows
that all the markets seem to
be stabilising.
The organisations spokeswoman,
Dr Liz Goodwin, backed Defra’s
call to keep recycling.
She says: “This backlash threatens
the environmental benefits. Recycling
is good for the environment, saves
energy, reduces raw material extraction
and helps combat climate change.
“We need everyone to keep recycling.”
And the organisation Recycle Now’s
latest research shows the value of
materials sent for recycling has reached
£1.1 billion since 2003.
Their spokeswoman Laura Underwood,
says: “Recycling is a success story
and it’s having a major impact.
“By recycling we’ve saved 30 million
tonnes of CO2which is the same as
taking a third of our cars off UK roads
for a year.
“Research proves recycling is the best
case scenario for both the government
and our pockets, so there’s every
reason to keep a good thing going.”
Recycle Now told us that
selling the UK’s used
plastic bottles and paper for
recycling in China actually
saves carbon emissions.
Shipping these materialsmore than
10,000 miles produces less CO2than
sending them to landfill at home and
using brand new materials.
Effectively more energy is saved by
recycling plastics than is gained by
burning them.
Laura adds: “The feedback we’re
getting from recycling businesses
on the ground is that markets are
open and recycling is still worth a
considerable amount to the UK
economy at today’s prices.”
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