LAWR

February 2015 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 25 LANDFILL MINING This is where so-called 'virgin' plastics once used for food and drink, will be reincarnated as carriers for non-food items or garden products and, ultimately, almost Karma-like, reground into the plastic pellets that go into becoming the next generation of household goods – and so the cycle, or 're-cycle', goes on. We are constantly learning more about the tolerances of the plastics we use everyday, many of them now sitting under our very feet. Although rubbish when they went into landfill, there is a new value to these throwaway items because they have simply not rotted because, like mummies, they cannot. Buried Treasure? Taking this argument further, is the UK becoming a 'treasure island' which could see landfill sites reopened to capture old PET bottles that once upon a time could not be reused, but have now earned their 15-minutes of fame? This obviously creates some logistical and not to mention expensive compulsory purchase challenges as many of the former landfill sites now have executive homes sitting on top of them. But who is to say that the market will dictate that it is cheaper to dig up millions of tonnes of reusable plastics buried more than a generation ago, than to continually drain our resources producing new bottles and cartons? Ironically, this exhuming of landfill sites or former corporation 'tips' could resemble and replace the kind of mining or oil exploration for the raw materials that plastics came from in the first instance. We have to turn conventional thinking on its head. I believe waste and rubbish is a new currency that it could yield huge returns to industry, so much so, that local authorities could soon be paying householders to take their rubbish away, rather than the other way around. Although I am talking about rubbish, what I say is not rubbish, it is rot, or rather the inability to rot! We may have developed a unfortunate reputation for being a throw away society, but why should we not gain one as a nation that embraces the virtuous cycle and recycling of everyday items? We all have a role to play from the consumer to the manufacturers to Defra, EFRA and importantly the Government's so-called 'nudge' units, those charged with influencing our collective behaviours for the better. Let us not bury our differences, but dig deep to find better solutions. Carsten Diekmann is the general manager of George Utz UK which is a plastic container specialist Local authorities could soon be paying householders money to take away their rubbish, claims Diekmann. We manufacture bespoke Shredders for Shredding... \Clinical Waste \Tyres \Metal \Mobile Shredding \Plastics \Confidential Documents \WEEE \Electronic Media Storage Devices \Textiles \Organic Waste \Fuel Large, coarse, superfine and everything in between at Ulster Shredders. Cogry Works, 65 Creagh Rd, Castledawson Magherafelt. BT45 8EW T. +44 28 7965 0050 F. +44 28 7965 0025 Want to find out more about our range of Industrial Shredders? Email us at info@ulstershredders.com or visit our website. ulstershredders.com

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