I-Plas Blog
Waste Lands
The simple fact is that the human race generates waste. But the word "waste" has such a negative connotation and yet it doesn't have to be that way - it just requires a different mindset.
It wasn't so long ago that we didn't have multiple bins for separating household waste - bins that seem to be taxing The Daily Mail at the moment in terms of the blight they have on good old blighty. It also wasn't so long ago when we had limited recycling facilities and those that existed were council run rather than the multiple options now available at supermarkets, village greens and car parks. We used to throw everything in one bin and that was merrily dumped in one of the few holes left in our green and pleasant land. Now at a weekend you will see armies of people posting bottles (partly to here that lovely smashing sound!), flattening cardboard and creating the biggest compost bin with waste from the garden.
But we see the input into our recycling process - mixed plastic that no one needs anymore - not as "waste" but as a vital, precious resource and the more the better as far as we are concerned. We see recycling as a social and economic imperative. And when something of no value and potentially a cost to society can be taken and turned into something useful then surely this is the way to go?
The latest forecasts concerning the rapid depletion of global oil reserves means that where possible oil-based products must be recycled. The lack of landfill space is an urgent issue and in general our conspicuous consumption and profligate ways only goes to exacerbate the problem - or opportunity, depending on how you look at it.
"Waste" plastic is a useful, versatile raw material that the UK is just discovering how to use. It is time that we stopped talking about the "waste problem" and started thinking logically about this resource at our disposal.
