Waste at home

What we produce？

We all produce waste of some sort, whether it is the empty drinks can, or the grass clippings from the garden. We estimate that nearly 30million tonnes of household waste were collected in the UK in 2003/04. That's over 500 kg, or half a tonne, of rubbish per person per year!

So where does it all go?

A total of 72% of municipal waste is landfilled - which means it's buried in the ground
9% is incinerated - which means it's burnt - this is also called energy from waste.

Dealing with our rubbish in this way is not an ideal solution. When we bury or burn our rubbish we are losing valuable natural resources and wasting the energy, water and transport costs used in its production. Landfilling and incineration can harm the environment if not properly managed. Many landfill sites are nearly full and we are rapidly running out of suitable land, close to where the rubbish is produced, for new sites. In any case, these sites are often unwelcome neighbours - we keep producing the rubbish, but we don't want it disposed of near to where we live.

The alternative?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

We would all benefit from:
Reducing the amount of rubbish we create
Reusing as much of our rubbish as possible
increasing the 19% of waste that we currently recycle and compost (although the latest figures suggest we are now recycling 23%)

That is what the 3Rs are about - reduce, reuse, recycle.

Reducing - every year the amount of rubbish we produce increases and this leads to increased costs for society - both financial and environmental. The majority of the resources that we use to make things - only to throw them away - can't be replaced. Throwing away our rubbish puts pressure on the environment - not only from the landfills and incinerators, but also because we have to extract and process even more resources, and transport our new goods and our old rubbish so increasing vehicle emissions. As consumers, we have the ability to reverse this trend - buy only the right quantity of what we really need, choose products with less packaging, and buy from producers employing sustainable practices.

Reusing - we can cut down on the amount of rubbish we have to get rid of by reusing our materials. Computers, furniture, clothing - so many items can be reused. Setting the printer to print on both sides of a sheet of paper, repairing our broken appliances and shoes or finding a charity that will make use of them - we help ourselves and others, and delay the point at which materials become waste.

Recycling - putting materials aside for recycling helps in many ways: we send less rubbish to landfill or incineration, and we save valuable materials and energy - for example, plastic bottles can be converted into fleeces and garden furniture, whilst recycling aluminium cans saves 95% of the energy used in making a new can. New technologies are furthering our ability to recycle what was previously our waste and turn it back into the resources that we need.

Buy recycled - If you find that a material is not being recycled in your area, it may be because the markets are not strong enough for the local authority to pay for collecting it. To help alleviate this, support those industries that use recycled materials by buying recycled products. Buying recycled 'closes the loop' in recycling - remember that it's not enough just to recycle, buying recycled ensures that the materials you send for recycling are actually used again.

You may also be interested in other ways to use your power as a consumer to help promote sustainability - visit green choices for further suggestions on environmentally friendly shopping.

Sustainable solutions - The problem of what to do with the waste we produce is worldwide though the solutions have to be provided locally. In the UK there are many organisations - governmental and independent, local and national who are trying to move Britain forward towards a sustainable society.