Inside: Is London Good at Recycling Its Collected Waste? Collaborative post
Quick answer: It’s good at it, but it could be way better. Today, only 41% of collected waste is recycled. This is the average for households and non-households. For household waste, only 33% is recycled. Meanwhile, it’s 48% for the latter.
With a nine million-strong population and growing, the densely populated city faces a lot of challenges. Along with the high daytime population that increases the amount of litter created, there are issues with encouraging some segments of the population to participate in waste management efforts.
Anylondonwaste.co.uk, a fully licensed and insured waste collection company in London, will talk about how serious the issue is.
Why London is Working Towards Recycling More
How serious an issue is waste production and management in London? To give you a hint, the London Environment Strategy has set a target of 65% recycling by 2030. That’s a huge jump, considering how complex an urban jungle London is.
As the capital of the United Kingdom, people are expected to continue to migrate to this dense urban environment indefinitely. And more people generate more waste. If the city is to at least maintain the current quantity of waste that ends in landfills, it needs to recycle more.
More importantly, recycling saves money and reduces the amount of carbon produced. Instead of waste being entirely disposed of, it becomes part of a circular economy. It is returned to manufacturers that process the materials to make them ready for public consumption again.
It also reduces the consumption of raw materials. Recycled products are already there, so they only need to supply the gap between the existing inventory and the demand.
Recycling is the simplest way that we can help the environment. If everyone contributes to this same goal, we can reach the 65% target.
What Can We Do to Reduce Waste?
Unfortunately, not all collected waste can be recycled. So, even when we try our best to recycle a larger percentage of waste, a lot is still going to end up in landfills. If you want to do your bit to combat the growing waste problem, here are a few things you can do:
- Reuse Items
Today, a lot of people are obsessed with ensuring that, down to the smallest detail, the interior of their home matches a certain theme. Don’t be mistaken. We’re not against people having a beautiful living space.
But your home doesn’t have to be magazine-worthy to be beautiful. If anything, a little imperfection can add a lot more character to it.
What we’re advocating for is using a little creativity, so you don’t keep on disposing of items. You can turn trash into treasure!
- Segregate Your Household Waste
Most of the time, recyclable waste ends up in landfills because it is not properly segregated. For example, a piece of paper that gets mixed with gravy can’t be recycled anymore.
To maximise the impact of government regulations, you must do your part. Have separate containers for glass, paper, plastic, and metal. More importantly, be sure to strictly enforce how these are to be used in the household. You don’t want all your efforts to go to waste.
- Invest in Quality
Generally speaking, items made from quality materials last longer. This means you can use them more before you need to dispose of them. If this principle were applied to everything that’s purchased, it could really make a difference.
For furniture, stick with a neutral colour. This allows you to redecorate and change the entire colour palette in your house without having to purchase new furniture.
- Purchase Items in Biodegradable Packaging
The need for recycling stems from the fact that some materials take hundreds or thousands of years before they decompose. With the green movement gaining traction, many companies are switching to using biodegradable packaging for their products instead.
Such products are now readily available everywhere, and we advise that you make the switch. By doing so, you’re increasing the demand for them, which may encourage even more companies to abandon non-recyclable packaging.
- Consume Less
This is perhaps the easiest thing to do on this list. So, if you’re having a hard time doing the other things here, you start with this one.
Consumption produces waste. So, the less you consume, the less waste you produce. But we don’t mean cutting back on necessary household items. Instead, we encourage you to think twice before making a frivolous purchase.
Ask yourself if you really need something before you buy it. Not only will this prevent you from producing waste, but it will also help you save money. That’s a pretty good deal if you ask us!
Final Thoughts
London is doing great at identifying the problems and how we can all help towards the same goal. Combining your recycling efforts with reducing the overall household waste produced is a great start.
If you want to learn how you can help more, check out London Recycles. It’s a recycling campaign in the city that will help you access resources relevant to the matter.