General Chat

I think I read once that the ink can be a problem in your compost, might be worth checking out?

Ours say put your shedded paper in the garden bin but they do take it with paper and cardboard as long as it's bagged up

It's never a huge amount and when I soak the papers the ink often disappears. Presumably the ink burns away too

Lizx

Most of our paper and cardboard goes into a skip at our local Scouts which is emptied once a week by a recycling company who pay them for it.

Confidential stuff is shredded and/or burned.

Can't shredded paper be used for animal bedding?

Again if no poisonous ink, but yes it can Sharron.

Ours takes it, with no restrictions. I normally bag it up anyway.
They also now take Tetra Paks. That’s new!

Sharron, we pass a smallholding that has bins on the front asking for shredded paper, so we put ours in there. They also ask for vegetable peelings too. If it's still the same, our council used to take our shredded paper with the recycling.

We have trouble on holiday complying with all the different recycling rules! It is silly that they are different everywhere and unreasonable to expect the less mobile or not mobile at all to go traipsing half a mile to find somewhere to put their glass. That's not providing a service.

We had that problem at the end of our holiday in Frinton last year and took some things to a recycling centre in the town, only to find there wasn't a bottle (glass) bank or paper bank. A sweet lady walking her dog spoke to us (they are a friendly lot in Frinton) and offered to take out things home with her for her recycling bins. We felt a bit bad dumping everything on her but she happily toddled off wth our goodie bag, bless her.

Lizx

We have a weekly collection for food waste, and fortnightly ones for general trash, plastic, garden waste and tins/glass. (also paper but ours go to the Scouts)

What I find confusing is trying to decide what types of plastic are recyclable and what goes in trash. I probably put types which are not recyclable in by mistake but as it's in a bag (supplied) they must sort it at the plant.

Looking at Sue’s updated OP, could they be trying to stop trade-waste from being sneaked in? If not, it’s only going to encourage fly-tipping/unlicensed disposal.

Brian, we’re all probably guilty of miss sorting plastics. We keep a tall pedal bin in the kitchen for plastics & tins which later gets tipped into the wheelie bin. OH still puts banned film into it! That aside, I tend to look for the recycling triangle enclosing the number 4 or less.

We have been able to recycle paper and card for many years. It is placed in a black toy box type container and collected fortnightly with our wheelie bin of glass, tin,aluminium (including foil) and plastics.Any large boxes are flattened and left beside the bins.

Generally I am a big fan of recycling and am keen to dispose of waste in the appropriate bin.
It has been quite an eye-opener though to see what the local council does with their recyclables, when I looked up to find a definite answer to Sue's question.

Some of it is sent quite some distance, adding to more big lorries and therefore fuel consumption.

Glass...................................to Dagenham or South Kirby
Tin.......................................to Llanelli
Aluminium...........................to Warrington or Redditch
Plastic.................................... processed nearby '
Paper,card, Tetra pack........to Erith
Batteries to Belgium

Thank heavens Islington (Labour) is not so picky plus collections are weekly.

Our use of paper has plummeted in the last few years thanks to online correspondence, records and billing, CAD and large screens etc etc. I have noticed that older staff (50+) find it extremely difficult to kick the paper habit.

We buy very little food at supermarkets which also cuts down waste inc paper a whole lot. OTOH food shopping takes more time with far more interaction with the vendor. It is def more fun and sometimes a lot cheaper. Some English provincial towns do not have any independent greengrocers / fishmongers / butchers / bakers so not a choice for everybody.

I have to admit to preferring real books from cheap paperbacks to hardback over electronic books which are no fun at all. OTOH electronic versions of bulky manuals are a godsend.

It is not fair to target ordinary people and small biz in dealing with the problems of waste disposal. It just leads to fly tipping.

Try this: Buy some stuff in the supermarket. Check out.
Find an empty trolley. Strip off as much of the packaging junk as possible dumping it in th empty trolley. Within 5 mins you will have security giving you hell.
Current distribution methods for pretty well anything are impossible without vast amounts of polluting packaging.

Home printing is also an envirionmental nightmare best kept to a minimum. The colored inks are a particular problem as is any kind of coated paper.. That also applies to most printed statements of one kind and another.

My personnel opinion is that we will get a lot of fly-tipping because of the charges the council are putting on..
I live in a village way out in Yorkshire and having lanes and fields at the back of these bungalows we will get a lot of people just dumping rubbish around.

So it will cost the taxpayers twice if people won't pay at the tips.

Such a shame we have a greedy council that cannot manage the money they already have.
And it;s a LABOUR council which I don't vote for.

We will have to wait and see.

Thanks Everyone for your opinions and advice.

I was told that our council would not take shredded paper but, I have just checked and it's not on their list of things not be be recycled.
The only paper mentioned on the don't list ... any paper or card that has been contaminated by food and wall paper ( used)

When recycling was first introduced here back in the day, we did get advice leaflets but, the council found an alternative option.
They visited all the local schools and fully explained how recycle was done.

The kids then came home and informed us parents of all the do's and dont's.

We got our list of instructions from kids who were under the age of 12 !
Most/all recycle material is separated by hand, so wash and squash plastics and glass before putting it in the appropriate bin and no greasy food paper or card.

Perhaps it's time the council to visit the schools again? LOL

I am trying to reduce my plastic waste and can't get my head around the bio degradable alternatives.
Some can go in the recycle bin whilst others must be composted.
Food waste is placed in bio degradable plastc bags.
Where does it go after it's been collected?
Bio degradable paper cups cannot be recycled, they need to be composted

GL,

Same here. Shredded paper is not listed, but I think I heard it can't go with recycling paper, as it will clog machinery. I will have to phone and clarify.

Our food waste is collected weekly and turned into agricultural fertiliser.
They will collect...........

Any solid food waste, raw or cooked, into the caddy, for example:

meat, chicken and fish, with and without bones
eggs and eggshells
dairy products, eg cheese and yogurts
bread, pasta and rice
tea bags and coffee grounds

They request....
Don't place anything that's not solid food into your caddy, eg oils and liquids, nappies, soil or rubble, or packaging of any sort.