Study highlights common recycling misunderstandings
Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - 09:05:29
A new survey from the British Science Association has pinpointed some of the areas in which British consumers are lacking when it comes to their comprehension of recycling.
The Guardian reports that even with growing awareness about the benefits of recycling, lots of people across the country do not know enough about what can and cannot be processed, or how to prepare materials for collection.
Eighty per cent of respondents said that they were convinced that recycling waste rather than sending it to landfill was a worthwhile practice. But there are lots of bad habits which need to be changed in order to make the UK more eco-friendly.
Forty four per cent said that they did not know that it is necessary to take the pump out of hand soap dispensers before sending them for recycling. Almost a third said that they believed it was possible to recycle used paper kitchen towel.
There are also misconceptions surrounding old paper coffee cups, discarded takeaway boxes and other items which cannot usually be included in street side collections.
Plastic bags, for example, are not eligible for collection in the vast majority of areas. Instead they need to be taken to local supermarkets where there are usually bins where they can be deposited for specialised recycling.
Report spokesperson, Ivvet Modinou, said that while there was growing awareness about how important it is to recycle as much as possible, there is still a real need for Brits to be better educated about what they can and cannot leave out in their kerbside bins.
One way to address this is to improve the clarity of instructions on the packaging, she argues. Another is to encourage local councils to engage residents with their own campaigns so that the current issues can be overcome quickly.
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