On Fri, 17 Jun 2016 08:56:05 +0100, polygonum
wrote:

On 16/06/2016 22:54, James Wilkinson wrote:

He's only trying to save money. If the government wants things recycled
or disposed of correctly, they shouldn't charge us for it. Charging
people for things makes them avoid it.

So should I pay for YOUR waste to be recycled? If so, why?

It all boils down to a lack of understanding of 'citizenship. Many of
us could 'get away' with / by not doing stuff or not doing it the way
we are supposed but don't because we understand and accept our social
responsibilities.

'James' would probably be the one of those who drops litter because
'it gives someone a job'. ;-(

There are those who don't do what is required because of ignorance ...
like the old dear we keep an eye on who puts *all* things made of
plastic in the 'plastic recycling' thinking 1) they want all plastics
and 2) they will sort it out if they don't. Talking to someone who
works at a recycling centre he said once a consignment of supposedly
pure waste like that (the best one being what should be 'plastic
bottles') becomes contaminated beyond a particular threshold the whole
lot gets rejected. Now, if someone came a knocked on her door
demanding more money to do 'her job' then *maybe* she might understand
(more so than her / our rates going up to cover the same).

The nearest to a sensible approach appears to be with electrical goods
where the cost of recycling is directly borne by the industry which
makes the goods. Obviously, they in their turn have already charged the
purchaser when the goods were first purchased.

Quite, but we (the people choosing to buy this stuff) still have a
*responsibility* to ensure it is disposed of the best way.

[I have no idea how well the scheme works behind the scenes. What
happens if a major manufacturer goes bust and is no longer a source of
funds? At the recycling centre, it seems just fine.]

At our recycling centre there is a large skip for 'Electrical goods'
and it is very saddening to me to see the quality and range of things
people just 'throw away', rather than repair, offer to others
(Freecycle) or re-purpose.

Cheers, T i m