Recycling in the UK

For the last years the amount of recyclable litter in the UK has increased from 11% to 40%. Today we will learn: what is the penalty for the wrong waste sorting; what is the reason for chip installation into the litter bins in the UK; what an example sets the Buckingham Palace.

The rules of waste sorting Englishmen didn’t get used to waste sorting at once. For a long time the UK took the last place among the countries of the European Community with the lowest amount of recyclable garbage. Only 18% of waste was recycled in the UK, instead of 65% in the Netherlands and 58% in Germany. Nowadays the residents of the UK sort their litter into the three bins: organic and food waste; recyclable garbage; non-recyclable garbage.

The rules of waste sorting may differ in various counties in the UK The rules of waste sorting may differ in various counties in the UK. For example, in some districts of Great Britain organic wastes should be thrown away into special biodegradable bags. In other parts of the country the owners of private houses must have a special bin for yard rubbish. Branches, cut grass and dead flowers are thrown into it.

An excellent example for British people is the royal family An excellent example for British people is the royal family. In Buckingham palace about 99% of ecological waste is recycled just right there. Branches and boughs from Kensington Gardens, Marlborough House and St. James’s Park are brought there. Then the whole yard garbage is passed through a shredder in order to compost it.

In big cities, like London, there are special containers for old clothes, toys, cellphones, household appliances and batteries. Such bins are usually placed in every district of the city near large supermarkets.

Instruction booklets on garbage collection In order to make it clear what kind of garbage should be thrown in this or that bin British authorities decided to distribute special leaflets on waste sorting. These measures bring their results: earlier the UK recycled only 11-18% of wastes, nowadays – more than 40%.

Careless house-owners who don’t sort their garbage are strictly punished. If a garbage collector finds wastes in an inappropriate bin he puts a warning sticker on it. If it happens again a fine of 1000 pounds is imposed on the house-owner.

Spy garbage bins In some counties of the UK the house-owners possess garbage bins with chips. Such chips read information about the trash and its owner. Then computers import information about who owns the container and where it is to the database. This information is very important because in the UK people are fined not only for the wrong waste sorting but also for its weight and location of the bin.

“The rule of two fingers” The weight of wastes is also regulated by the law. In this way, the government is trying to reduce the amount of litter produced by the Englishmen. For that reason a term “The rule of two fingers” was introduced into practice. According to it, the weight of the garbage bag shouldn’t be too heavy in such a way that you can easily pick it up with the help of two fingers.

Biofuel from garbage Most of the garbage trucks in the UK are electric ones. Some of them use the fuel produced from litter. The first ecological garbage truck was made in the UK in 2009. Electricity generated from garbage is used to charge the battery of the truck. After 6-8 hours of charging this truck was able to drive 160 km.

Food wastes One of the greatest problems in the UK is food wastes. Every year citizens of that country throw away about 7 million tons of food. Meanwhile 60% of that food you can eat. In fact British people get rid of the food which is not stale yet but also is not 100% fresh. In some districts such food is sent to hostels, homes and canteens for the homeless.