Brits must do more to recycle plastic bottles
Wednesday, September 17, 2014 - 11:02:48
A new study has found that in spite of the best efforts of politicians and environmental campaigners, people in the UK are still relatively indifferent about recycling, with the pile-up of plastic bottles being a particular problem, according to the Daily Mail.
Last year, five billion drinks containers made from recyclable materials were sent to landfill, with average homes recycling just 250 bottles apiece. This is a little over half of the typical number of plastic bottles that a household will get through annually, indicating that there is still a need to make sure that more recycling is carried out throughout Britain.
Sixty per cent of people who were questioned in the report said that they were on the fence about the importance of recycling, while about 17 per cent said that they actively sought out products with recyclable packaging when shopping.
The report was carried out by a government-supported initiative known as Pledge4Plastics, which was set up to help reduce the amount of plastic waste being sent to landfill sites rather than recycled.
Of course, in spite of the apparent indifference or animosity towards recycling exhibited by some people in the UK, the growth of recycling rates over the past two decades has been a positive sign that things are starting to change.
Part of the solution to this is to make recycling as easy as possible, as well as incentivising people to responsibly dispose of their waste, rather than simply chucking it in the bin.
When it comes to electronics, there are plenty of recycling options available; you can even sell your old mobile phone online to net a bit of cash in return for an unwanted handset. So even if recycling can feel like a chore, sometimes it is worth doing your bit for the environment.
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