There are many reasons why we should all reduce our waste - and reuse and recycle our resources.
Landfill
We are running out of landfill space
and nobody wants a new site near their home or in an area of natural beauty.
Using landfill is expensive. The government
is putting greater limits on the amount of rubbish allowed to be sent to landfill and are enforcing this with a fine of £150
per tonne sent over the limit.
Pollution
Although some methane is often collected from landfill sites and used
as a power source, much of it still escapes into the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.
The water that
drains through biodegradable waste, and also chemicals contained in rubbish, can pollute nearby land and water sources. The
mercury from one fluorescent tube can pollute 30,000 litres of drinking water.
Recycling paper in the UK reduces
fuel used in transporting paper made from wood pulp from abroad.
Energy and resources
By reusing resources less habitats are damaged or destroyed in order to extract new resources.
These resources are finite, and as demand is increasing we cannot predict how long they will last. Waste such as glass should be seen as a valuable resource as it can be recycled an infinite amount of times.
Less energy is used in recycling products in comparison to making them from virgin materials. This helps reduce our impact on climate change.
Environmental considerations
We know the great benefits of recycling for saving energy, pollution, and resources, but we also take into account the energy, pollution and resources used in the collection of materials for recycling.
With this in mind:
- materials for recycling are sent to local reprocessing plants wherever possible to reduce 'waste miles'
- collection routes around Cambridge are organised to be the most efficient
- collection vehicles are fitted with fuel efficient engines
- new collection vehicles have electric (rather than hydraulic) bin lifts, which save energy
- organic waste is composted in specific conditions, which means that we can take all cooked and uncooked food waste including meat and diary.
We are always looking at ways to recycle more of our rubbish.
