Local Authority Waste & Recycling Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/365321
COMMENT 4 Local Authority Waste & Recycling September 2014 The resource journey: What do I become and where do I go? Consumer confusion is perhaps the worst enemy of efforts to reduce waste. Yet, give people good, clear communication about waste routes and recycling, and you will be rewarded with excellent recycling rates and response. People want to know about the resource journey, as much if not more than how to stop wasting things. This fact was highlighted in a recent study by Coca-Cola which showed that the majority of households do not have an accurate understanding of what happens to waste once it has been collected for recycling. Participants in the study indicated confusion about the recyclability of different materials with some checking their neighbours' bins to see what they can recycle. Householders often assumed the recycling process ended when they discarded an item, while those who knew more about recycling, harboured some scepticism over whether recycling materials were really being recycled and not sent for reprocessing/landfill abroad. You put out all your rubbish for recycling and then see it all chucked into one big lorry – how can you believe it won't be taken straight to the nearest landfill site and dumped in there? How many members of the public understand what an energy from waste plant or MRF is? How could anyone know that this effective sorting goes on behind the scenes? Anaerobic digestion (AD) is starting to get some media attention, but still woefully little given the opportunities this technology offers. Communications is a key element in filling in these blank spaces. In this issue of LAWR, Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority's (GMWDA) Claire Standish outlines how the authority is using social media to implement effective targeted campaigns (see page 22). Elsewhere, waste expert Paul Levett gives top tips on how to encourage the 'wrong behaviour' in recycling (see page 6)! Finally its RWM time again. Am I getting old or does it come round quicker each year? Once again I am looking forward to some lively debates. Read LAWR's comprehensive preview from page 11. Special features are included to whet your appetite for the show. I hope to see you there. Liz Gyekye, Editor Follow me on Twitter: @LAWR_editor