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Originally Posted by Jumbles
I could go on, but this is already the longest post I have ever posted on jumbletown lol!
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And a fabulous post it is too, Jumbles! It contains a fine analysis of a complex situation and also very commonsensical solutions.
The question for Government and people alike is what are we doing about it.
JumbleTown was set up with the intention of making people more proactive with regard to waste production of bulky items in particular by providing a re-use/life-cycling forum but as you state in your post, the amount of packaging waste is enormous. The government-backed Repak organisation has certainly helped in managing and disposing of this particular type of waste, but its production in the first place is cause for concern.
JumbleTown was devised in 2003 but because of other work commitments we didn't go "live" till 2006. The bad reports from the OECD and Forfas spurred us into action, as did the seemingly positive reports about the increases in the amount we were recycling. Though we're no experts in waste management, we felt that a lot of premature recycling was taking place (especially of bulky items such as computers), and that a lot of unnessary landfilling was taking place (especially of furniture). Hence, the birth of JumbleTown.
We like to think that we're are having some effect on the waste situation but the simple fact remains that recycling instead of re-use/life-cycling is generally the first option for many. As you state, our recycling facilities are still woefully inadequate. For example, in a recent press release, the Dept of the Environment said that
83% of our recycled material is "necessarily exported" for [re]processing. Why can't we recycle it here? Well, that's a topic for another post...
Regards
Chris P
Admin