Recycle this newspaper! - Article in Southern Evening Echo on 25 July 2003

This autumn Southampton, with the assistance of funding from the Department of the Environment, will be introducing a 'two bin' waste collection system. You put all the waste that can be recycled into one bin and whatever cannot in the other. Schemes like this are going to be vital if Britain as a country gets to grips with a pressing, but almost completely hidden challenge. That is to cut down on the amount of waste going into landfill, and instead use it to make new products and materials.

At the moment we're losing the battle. Every hour, we as a country produce enough domestic waste to fill the St. Mary's stadium almost half way to the top - and we're adding to that amount by 3% more each year. Almost all of that - some 80% - is simply buried, largely unsorted, in holes in the ground. Not only is this bad environmental news - the landfill sites emit methane, a highly destructive greenhouse gas - but we're running out of holes. Almost as unsatisfactory is the 'solution' being touted by many local authorities as an alternative to landfill - of burning the lot in large incinerators. Either way, we're wasting valuable raw material for re-use that could save the use of more energy and virgin resources.

Southampton, in conjunction with Portsmouth and Hampshire is doing well now in managing the recycling of waste: recently for example a new facility to collect crush and despatch reused glass by sea was opened, but even Hampshire's record of recycling will have to improve if long term targets are to be met: the Government has set a goal of reducing waste going to landfill by two thirds over twelve years. This means that we need to take far more waste out of the stream before it is disposed of, and instead of dumping, produce shredded plastic for making pallets and traffic cones, glass for remelting, chipped wood for plywood boards, and garden compost from vegetable trimmings.

Above all we need to stop putting the waste out in the first place. And eventually, this is in the hands of every householder. Can we recycle first, or not buy that overpackaged item, that mostly ends up in the bin? I personally favour a system of Council tax rebate for families putting reduced amounts of waste out for the binmen to collect? Perhaps a £10 'cashback' would help make the long job we have between us of getting to grips with our national habit of throwing stuff away: any takers?

What do you think about this - email me and let me know