Plastic reduction

[elsiegee40]

I also noticed farmers wrapping bales that a lot of plastic waste from people that should be caring for the environment.

 

They’re making silage when they wrap it in plastic. Basically pickling grass to use it as fodder for livestock. There are other containers that could be used - some farms have silage pits - and I agree the plastic bag version is not eco friendly

[MrEprise]

FS.com definitely use too much plastic. Their RJ45 keystone jacks are also individually packaged like the cables. Such a waste!

 

I've noticed that Excel have started packaging their networking components in brown paper packaging. When I purchased 10 Cat5e surface mount boxes from Comms-Express recently, 9 of them came in plastic (remaining stock I guess) and the last 1 in brown paper.

[hardtailstar]

My mum went into Body Shop yesterday and they were giving out samples of products all in tiny plastic tubs all shrinked wrapped.

 

The samples were about the same size as one of their products that comes in a metal tin. Surely they can rethink the plastic tubs and put samples in metal tins!

 

I've cut down on a lot of plastic recently, most notable is that I have stopped buying the electrolyte drinks for football/running and bought a large tub of electrolyte powder that mixes with water. One scoop per 1l of water.

 

I'd be buying at least two 500ml bottles per session so roughly 10 bottles a week.

 

Not only reducing plastic waste but saving me some cash as well!

[Arthur]

Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England

 

Single-use items such as plastic cutlery, plates and trays are to be banned in England in a bid to reduce pollution, the government has confirmed.

 

Figures suggest that every year England uses about 1.1bn single-use plates and 4.25bn pieces of such cutlery, only 10% of which are recycled after being used.

 

Plastic items relating to takeaway food and drink, including food containers and cutlery, make up the largest share of litter in the world’s oceans, according to research.

 

Now the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, is set to ban a suite of single-use plastic items, confirming reports made last month.

[localzuk]

They mention takeaways - does that mean Chinese restaurants will have to stop using those plastic tubs for everything? Will it apply to those polystyrene containers you get at kebab/burger places too?

 

That'll be huge if it does.

[StevieM]

They mention takeaways - does that mean Chinese restaurants will have to stop using those plastic tubs for everything?

 

Possibly, but they can be reused at home. I have a stack of them that I use for freezing portions when I bulk cook.

 

 

Will it apply to those polystyrene containers you get at kebab/burger places too?

 

That'll be huge if it does.

Almost certainly. Apart from some slight insulating benefits, there's absolutely no reason that burgers and kebabs can't be served in cardboard boxes.

[mavhc]

Not that the cardboard would be recycled if it was covered in grease, and the metal would be heavier costing more energy to ship

[Dos_Box]

Possibly, but they can be reused at home. I have a stack of them that I use for freezing portions when I bulk cook.

 

 

 

Almost certainly. Apart from some slight insulating benefits, there's absolutely no reason that burgers and kebabs can't be served in cardboard boxes.

 

Those tubs have many post-meal uses and I too use them for divvying up portions after doing some batch cooking prior to going in the freezer. When they get too used, they go in the recycling. I suspect that these will still remain as they can be recycled at home and I suspect the ones they are on about are the polystyrene ones that many take aways use.

I also hope that they replace platic forks etc. with wooden ones as you do need them to eat from whatever packaging is being used if not at home. Festivals could get very messy affairs!

Edited January 9, 2023 by Dos_Box

[mavhc]

Bring your own tubs to the shop for them to fill.

 

In the 1950s there was a massive advertising campaign to promote throwing things away and buying new things, without advertising people were very reluctant to do that

[nicholab]

Bring your own tubs to the shop for them to fill.

 

In the 1950s there was a massive advertising campaign to promote throwing things away and buying new things, without advertising people were very reluctant to do that

 

That is disgusting and so short sighted I suppose this was started by King Camp Gillette.

 

I have a low energy face I have a beard so don’t use razor blades!

[FN-GM]

Not that the cardboard would be recycled if it was covered in grease

 

Our council recycle them. You put it in the green garden waste. They also take shredded paper in that bin.

Edited January 9, 2023 by FN-GM

[elsiegee40]

Not that the cardboard would be recycled if it was covered in grease, and the metal would be heavier costing more energy to ship

 

At least the cardboard ones decompose even if they can’t be recycled

[jmak]

As long as they don't have a sneaky plastic liner bonded to the cardboard...

[nicholab]

I don’t understand why grease is a problem on cardboard surely it the same as an oil based ink?

[Andrew_C]

I don’t understand why grease is a problem on cardboard surely it the same as an oil based ink?

My council will take cardboard food packaging as long as "there isn't too much food waste stuck to it". Or some such woolly phrase...

[mikeprice]

I don’t understand why grease is a problem on cardboard surely it the same as an oil based ink?

 

Our recycling people say that food waste 'corrupts' the cardboard and can lead to the whole batch having to be rejected

 

exactly why is unclear - but I presume a certain amount is OK but if everyone lobs their used pizza boxes into the recycling then it overloads their system

 

WHat confuses me is that mrs mikeprice always gets pizza from Pizza Hut nowadays - and they always put a little plastic thingy in to hold the lid away from the pizza

hence the cardboard look, to me, to be perfectly clean

 

however, previously we used to go to a local pizza place - when we went there te cardboard alwys had a greasy patch in the middle of the lid

 

naturally - all the big pizza companies say their boxes are recycleable - but it seems to depend a lot of exactly how you recycle and where you live

[AlistairB1983]

but it seems to depend a lot of exactly how you recycle and where you live

Oh don't even get me started!

 

Our LA says that they recycle cardboard but only if it's not wet. Which is really easy to comply with given that they:

 

a) require bins to be put out by 6:30 am (so the previous night then, I'm not waking up early just to do that!) and,

 

b) give us a recycling 'bin' isn't a bin at all but a canvas bag with velcro sides/lid, which means it's about as water tight as a sponge.

 

Needless to say that actual bin men themselves aren't fussed and just pick it all up (provided it's not a massive cardboard box - thing 52" TVs or similar).

[LeMarchand]

Our council recycles clean cardboard/paper and plastic bottles (no lids) ONLY. Useless.

 

If you pay for a garden waste bin, you can't use it for food waste.

 

Anything else you have to do yourself which is OK if you have a car. Oddly, the council tip/recycling centre accepts tetrapacks.

[maark]

pizza - buy a panasonic bread machine - makes dough in 45 minutes.

Can make them as nearly as quick as takeaway.

[mavhc]

Driving somewhere to recycle things probably negates any savings in recycling them, unless it's in an EV

[6Foot2]

Driving somewhere to recycle things probably negates any savings in recycling them, unless it's in an EV

 

At the start of this week we took household rubbish, normally collected by the council, to the dump ourselves because we wern't here to put the bins out.

 

We added the trip as a diversion to a journey we were going to do anyway.

 

[FN-GM]

a little plastic thingy in to hold the lid away from the pizza

 

These are also banned here.

[msi_school]

a little plastic thingy in to hold the lid away from the pizza

 

I have heard of Pizza places using a doughball to replace this functionality.

[FN-GM]

I have heard of Pizza places using a doughball to replace this functionality.

 

I love it! A bonus snack!

[LeMarchand]

Probably the best place for this article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/07/stop-wishcycling-and-get-wise-how-to-recycle-almost-everything Most of us probably know most of the items mentioned, but some may not. I didn't know you could recycle soap pumps at Boots.

 

It's still going to vary massively by area, as stated above our lot are pretty useless.