Tackling the plastic waste problem
There has been a worrying rise in stories about the consequences of our historical, long-standing love of plastic products.
The broadcasting of the second Blue Planet series last year saw Sir David Attenborough appealing for a change in our ways on how we approach plastic. The plea was made in an attempt to save the oceans and organisms living within them.
Arguably, it is down to big businesses and large corporations agreeing to cut plastic production and waste that will make the most difference. But it is crucial that smaller organisations and authorities get behind the movement as well.
This new awareness of the problems that come with plastic is putting increasing amounts of pressure on local councils, forcing them to address problems with recycling and rubbish within their area.
In Portsmouth, for example, statistics have revealed that residents only recycle 23.4% of their rubbish, which places them 338th out of 352 authorities in total. The rest of Portsmouth’s waste goes to landfill, which is 76.6% of the city’s rubbish overall.
Dave Ashmore, Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety in Portsmouth, said: “Portsmouth has a problem with recycling because of the facilities that the city has; they’re not as up to date as some other places might be.”
Currently, there are a number of materials that can’t be recycled, such as some plastic packaging. This includes a majority of household plastic rubbish, including margarine tubs and yogurt pots.
Local resident Rachel Baker says: “Something does need to be done about Portsmouth’s low level of recycling. I think there’s a big problem with students not recycling here, and there are a lot living in the city.”
There are over 23,000 students at the University of Portsmouth and, though not all live in the city, a large percentage of them do.
Suzy Horton is the Cabinet Member for Education and explains: “It is important that students recycle, but there are some challenges with student houses and recycling.
“A lot of students come from different areas where their recycling culture may be different.”
In an effort to encourage more students to recycle, Cllr Horton suggests that working with the University and new students will be the most effective.
In an effort to spread awareness of the importance of recycling and encourage more local residents to do so, Portsmouth City Council has introduced a new wheelie bin system that forces people to reduce their waste.
Each house has been provided with a smaller wheelie bin for non-recyclable waste, restricting the amount that residents can throw away. Dave Ashmore explains: “Since we have introduced these new wheelie bins, we have found that the amount of people requesting extra recycling bins has gone up three times.”
Recycling is picked up in Portsmouth from the roadside every fortnight; if people find this is not often enough, there are a number of recycling points across the city and residents can request extra recycling bins.
Portsmouth City Council currently allows paper, cardboard, plastic bottles (rinsed and without lids), cans, tins and aerosols to be recycled. These are taken to the Materials Recycling Facility where they are sorted to be turned into anything from fleece jumpers to garden furniture.
Although a lot of plastic cannot be recycled through the street collection service, there are a number of plastic recycling banks that do accept them throughout the city.
There is also the possibility of a completely new recycling system for Portsmouth in the coming years, says Dave Ashmore: “The Government is starting a new trial soon where they will be introducing a deposit-return system where residents can return their recyclable materials in exchange for vouchers or money.”
This is a successful system for recycling and can be seen working in many other countries, such as Germany.
