<\/p>\n
We may be seen as a nation of busy bees but the reality is, up until recently, we\u2019ve become complacently lazy when it comes to single use plastics and the importance of both recycling and reusing them in the correct manner. Convenience and cost have taken precedence over sustainability and environmental awareness, with items such as polystyrene cups, plastic cutlery and clingfilm sent by the ton every day to landfill with no further thought as to the hundreds of years they\u2019ll then be sitting there before they eventually break down.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s frustrating that single use plastics have become such a problem, as technically, most types of plastic can be recycled. The problem isn\u2019t always the material, it\u2019s the recycling logistics and also the (lack of) consumer awareness of what can (and will be) recycled and what can\u2019t (and won\u2019t).<\/p>\n
For example, consumers may think that clingfilm can be easily recycled; after all, it\u2019s made from polyethylene which is the same plastic at top level that bottles are made from, and we all know that plastic bottles are recyclable. However, when you drill down a bit closer, clingfilm is not accepted by many local authorities because of the likelihood of food contamination, but also because it is high risk to clog up the machinery used to recycle it. Even if you clean it or discard unused clingfilm into your recycling bin, it\u2019s most likely going to be sorted into the landfill pile when it reaches the sorting stage.<\/p>\n
The same applies to items such as Polystyrene cups, which again are chemically and mechanically possible to recycle. However, because Polystyrene breaks down so easily, many local authorities won\u2019t accept it because logistically it will cost too much to recycle properly and poses a high risk of damage to the machinery. Different councils do have different policies so it is always best to check with your local authority before deciding whether something definitely can or can\u2019t be recycled.<\/p>\n
As a whole and with this in mind, it\u2019s obvious that we need to further our understanding, individually and as a nation, as to what can and can\u2019t be recycled, then tailor our usage accordingly. Single use plastics such as plastic cutlery may be convenient for both businesses and consumers, and technically they tick the recycling box, but in actuality even if you do the right thing and try to recycle them, they\u2019re going to landfill anyway. Carrying reusable cutlery around with you or offering a more sustainable option may be less convenient or costlier, but it\u2019s the better option in the long run for our planet (and can definitely earn businesses big brownie points in this eco-aware age)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We as a nation have become complacently lazy when it comes to single use plastics; wake up to what can and can’t be recycled to help build an environmentally friendly future!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eco-friendly"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16227,"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/16227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hydropac.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}