Sustainable Harborough

24th April 2023 | Community

Imagine – or is this Cloud Cuckoo Land?

I wonder if you have taken a trip to the new Recycling Facility along the A6 out of Kibworth? What an amazing selection of choices for our recycling. Now which number was it for electrical goods or plastic bottles? Thankfully staff are around to answer our queries.

Do they recycle black or hard plastic now? Sadly, no, it’s still destined for landfill!

Let Us Imagine

Imagine

there is a policy for all recycling that deals with everything. All packaging is designed to be recycled and reused. We can put it all in to a general area to be sorted. Rather like the Casepak facility for dry mixed recyclables itself, but for everything. The policy is the same for the whole country, every recycling facility recycles everything.

none of it gets exported to countries that leave what they can’t recycle rotting. In turn making the local people ill, especially the children.

the recently published Environmental Improvement Plan in January 2023 is actually implemented. So as a start, 30% of land and sea become protected areas. Greatly improving our country’s ailing biodiversity and water quality.

the plan for producers to be made responsible for the cost of recycling their packaging, removing the cost from councils and council tax, is also implemented.

glass and plastic bottles carry a refund when returned, especially helping poorer children, as previous generations were.

we stop buying more food than we can eat. And what food waste there is, is recycled as compost.

most food and cleaning-product containers can be safely refilled, removing the need for a replacement plastic container. All single use plastic was banned for the sake of marine life, as well as our own.

Finally, imagine this was just the start! Imagine….

With thanks to Vikki Brown’s blog at Casepak.

For more from Sustainable Harborough Community, please see:

Julie Fagan, Volunteer, Sustainable Harborough Community and Eco Church