The problem with recycling is still a focus on the end of the cycle, when much better results could be had with smarter policies at the beginning -- i.e. Manufacturing. If thin plastic containers are a problem, ban them and let Coke/Pepsi/Starbucks figure out how to deal with it -- they have the profits, smarts and resources to do so. If glass is an issue, ask companies to contribute towards the cost of handling it separatedly; and so on and so forth. Otherwise we end up in the usual situation where the taxpayer is left to pick up the environmental and economic cost of somebody's shareholding profits.
I say this as a UK taxpayer with 4 different bins and forthnightly collection -- it's just a farce. I don't get to choose how the stuff I buy is packaged, but somehow I'm responsible for dealing with it AND I have to pay for the privilege, while Coke goes ka-ching. That's unfair.
I say this as a UK taxpayer with 4 different bins and forthnightly collection -- it's just a farce. I don't get to choose how the stuff I buy is packaged, but somehow I'm responsible for dealing with it AND I have to pay for the privilege, while Coke goes ka-ching. That's unfair.