[signs]

I had a new neighbor move in recently ,got chatting as you do ,decided to go the the local for a couple ..hic
anyway turns out his job is to buy our recyclable waste from the councils we supply it to (free of charge ) then he sells it to China for a huge profit.

They then inturn invest into icelandic banks

are we being ripped off ?

[johntheexpat]

Like my grand-pappy said to me all those years ago: Where there's muck, there's brass. Funny how us 21st century sophisticated types forget the old adages passed down by our fore-fathers.

[signs]

Originally Posted by johntheexpat

Like my grand-pappy said to me all those years ago: Where there's muck, there's brass. Funny how us 21st century sophisticated types forget the old adages passed down by our fore-fathers.

That's a good point well put John , but ..we are giving this commodity to our councils in the belief that we are helping global warming ,and in fact we are just helping the councils to get richer ....it's a con

[johntheexpat]

Originally Posted by signs

....it's a con

It seems that most 'political' responses to Global Warming and Climate Change are, one way or another, a con. But then when things are left to politicians, what else can we expect?
It seems to me that we are using one excuse after another to do nothing about anything at the moment. We are walking into the future with our eyes wide shut.

[Philly112]

Originally Posted by signs

That's a good point well put John , but ..we are giving this commodity to our councils in the belief that we are helping global warming ,and in fact we are just helping the councils to get richer ....it's a con

Well, I work in the recycling industry (glass). And yes, we buy the glass cullet from, amongst others, local recycling centres.
And if you could deliver us 20 tonnes of soda lime glass per delivery, we'd buy if from you as well!
I'd actually be more concerned if my local council WEREN'T selling recyclable materials at a profit.

Phil

[SyStemDeMoN]

Isn't moving all the waste to china a massive waste of effort ?? The carbon footprint that a huge ship is creating getting from UK to china must be massive.

As I keep saying, nothing we do to prevent Climate change will work. It's just a way of making rich people richer by making the poorer pay more for stuff.

[johntheexpat]

Originally Posted by SyStemDeMoN

Isn't moving all the waste to china a massive waste of effort ?? The carbon footprint that a huge ship is creating getting from UK to china must be massive.

Yes, of course. But, in the good old days (ie 6 months ago) the ships that were delivering all those exports from China were going to return to China come-what-may. So the fact that they were loaded with our rubbish, while adding fractionally to the footprint of the ship sailing back to China due to the extra weight, wasn't really a significant factor. Now of course with less trade happening, who knows what the situation is.

Originally Posted by SyStemDeMoN

As I keep saying, nothing we do to prevent Climate change will work. It's just a way of making rich people richer by making the poorer pay more for stuff.

This too is looking more and more likely. While I think with the political will and public backing we could successfully achieve the required reductions in CO2 without too much pain, the spineless half-wits and self -serving sycophants that are the ruling elite would never actually have the gumption to do what needs to be done.

[signs]

Originally Posted by Philly112

Well, I work in the recycling industry (glass). And yes, we buy the glass cullet from, amongst others, local recycling centres.
And if you could deliver us 20 tonnes of soda lime glass per delivery, we'd buy if from you as well!
I'd actually be more concerned if my local council WEREN'T selling recyclable materials at a profit.

Phil

your missing my point they are/were making millions so why not give a little back ? reduced council tax ,not running out of grit in the winter ,little things like that

Obversely you have a vested interest ,but it the whole angle at which this recycling thing is approached that annoys the hell out of me .

we are made to feel guilty for not recycling ,when at a the end of the day it's all about the cash ,i would rather them be honest

[Philly112]

Hi Signs

No, I think I get your point.
But if councils are making a profit out of recycling, then surely that must be a good thing. At the end of the day, it's all revenue which the council will use for one thing or another. Without this income, council tax would be even higher, and we'd have even less grit... I doubt very much if you'll be seeing a 'recycling' rebate any time soon!
As you have gathered, recycling is VERY big business nowadays. We recycle 40,000 tonnes of glass in Europe (15,000 tonnes in the UK). It used to be a waste product, and we got it free of charge. We now have to buy it at around £30 per tonne. That's an increase in costs of £450k in UK alone, and is making it very difficult to make a profit at all.
And the big irony is that when we recycle it, we generate some waste powder for which there are very little outlets- 1500 tonnes a year. And we have to pay to put that in landfill.

Phil

[joker_zero]

Anyone know what the Chinese are doing with it?

Are we talking just glass and metals here or all recyclable waste?

I ask because I read they buy it and then use it to run furnaces....sounded iffy to me - burning that much plastic and card etc would be a fairly inefficient way to generate heat let alone electricity, but if this is the case we really should not be selling this stuff to the Chinese.

And on the other hand, if they are recycling it for profit, why not do that as close to source as you can - just like any other commodity.