On 28 Mar 2010 at 11:58pm Bongo wrote:
Where in the town centre can you recycle cardboard stuff and food packaging? I'm sure I've seen big wheely bin things for these @ North St car park, but they've gone.
On 29 Mar 2010 at 11:35am Jonnyboy wrote:
Cardboard can be recycled at the recycling depot, past ATS, in North Street Monday to Friday. The bins are taken in at the weekend because of fire risk.
On 29 Mar 2010 at 11:51am Down and Out wrote:
Jonnyboy - thanks for that. I didn't know that you could still take cardboard there after they took the big cage away. I'm not generally in Lewes in the week, though, and I find it daft to have to take cardboard to Ham Lane every week or two. Council recycling in Lewes, generally, is rubbish (see what I did there!) compared to Brighton.
On 29 Mar 2010 at 1:05pm Penguin wrote:
Are they actually recycling the cardboard now, or is it still going to landfill ? They have to provide facilities at Ham Lane to collect it, but I know, certainly until recently, that there was nowhere to actually recycle the stuff so it went in with the rest of the rubbish.
On 29 Mar 2010 at 2:22pm No Pot Pourri wrote:
We can look forward to the new incinerator, when at least we can burn it (maybe at the cost of some toxic fumes).
On 29 Mar 2010 at 6:35pm LOVE wrote:
LOVE EACH OTHER MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS DO U KNOW WHO I AM NOT GOD BUT THE OTHER U CAN NOT STOP ME WEBBO - Yes I can you little Devil you will always be playing catch up, six is nine.
On 29 Mar 2010 at 7:32pm Sussed wrote:
DFE !!! Where you been hiding then?
On 29 Mar 2010 at 9:06pm mungo wrote:
The recycling scheme in Lewes is a complete an utter folly. the biggest recyclable material that comes out of any house hold is cardboard and food packaging and they don't take it. they would rather spend the money on those poxy milk float things that hold the traffic up, and thats what it comes down to, money. A man down at Ham lane ( which is run by the Tory county council ) told me that the Lib Dem district council weren't prepared to pay to have the cardboard taken up to Burgess Hill for recycling, however the county council do pay for the cardboard at Ham Lane to be taken to the facility in Burgess Hill.
The recycling scheme run by the Tory led Mid Sussex council is fantastic and they even take tetra. Not only that, the whole lot goes into one big wheely bin and is sorted at the Recycling centre in Burgess Hill.
I thought it was the Lib Dems who were into saving the planet and recycling not the Torys.
On 30 Mar 2010 at 1:06pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
When we started taking our cardboard to Ham Lane, our weekly rubbish was reduced to 2 or 3 small carrier bags most weeks. I was astonished at how much of it was cardboard.
I agree that the Lewes scheme is rubbish. In other areas they do doorstep collections of far more stuff. In Milton Keynes they even recycle food waste and will collect green garden rubbish for recycling, as long as it all fits in a (large) wheelie bin, provided for the purpose. And they give residents rubbish bags for what isn't recyclable.
It hacks me off that they don't do more here. Over all, it saves council tax, as the councils get recycling credits for recycled stuff and pay landfill tax on stuff that isn't.
On 30 Mar 2010 at 2:25pm Dave wrote:
Unfortunately ACT it's ESCC who gets the recycling credit money and saves on the landfill tax, not the councils who collect your rubbish, so recycling more doesn't save them money, just costs them more.
What LDC does do is collect less waste than other councils in the area in the first place, because they have opted for encouraging home composting. Recycling green waste by collecting it is also not a sustainable option,it creates more carbon than it saves.
On 30 Mar 2010 at 2:46pm Paganess wrote:
Tee hee hee...tick tock
On 30 Mar 2010 at 3:50pm Trevor Watson wrote:
The Cardboard collected by LDC at flats and at the Community Recycling Centre has never gone to landfill, its taken to a company inNewhaven who are affiliated to Alysford Newsprint. Cardboard collected by the Household Waste site is an ESCC contractor. Cardboard comprises of less than 6% of the total waste (and some of that is heavily contaminated). The big fraction is food waste (around 38%), Plastic (around 15% but much is contaminated) and Paper around 20% (agian most of this is heavily contaminated). We are looking at food waste and extending plastics but will only do so when proper facilities for handling the material is available (at the moment plastic packaging goes to seat shops in India or to factories for hand sorting in China. A new plant is expected to become available in the UK later this year. Mid Sussex have contracted out there recycling service to the private sector, you should ask them (the private company) what happens to the material they collect - you may find it interesting. At the moment our option to go for zero emissions Electric vehicle for collection (the most sustainable option) has meant a compromise with space although this may be resolved soon - you can of course compost your cardboard, I do.
On 30 Mar 2010 at 4:08pm sashimi wrote:
Trevor, is the 'cardboard is 6% of waste' figure by weight or by volume? If it's weight, then it is quite likely that cardboard is the largest part of household rubbish since bottles and general waste weigh so much more.
The stupid thing is this stand-off between councils, one getting the subsidy for the other incurring the cost. When will they realise that most people have no idea what the difference is between the different councils. We pay one huge sum in council tax and we don't expect a screw up because of a turf war between two councils with different political persuasions.
On 30 Mar 2010 at 7:11pm Off-Message wrote:
Sashimi, you seem to be overlooking one minor matter - it's us plebs who vote more Lib Dem councillors onto LDC than any others and similarly it's the plebs of East Sussex as a whole who vote more Tory councillors onto ESCC than any others. A serious inconvenience, democracy, isn't it?
On 30 Mar 2010 at 8:13pm Dave wrote:
Sashimi, I don't think it's fair to call it a turf war causing a screw up. That's completely disreagarding the fundamental differences that these two parties have over how waste should be dealt with, which in turn reflects their major disagreement about the part the private sector should play in delivering public services and the differing priority they ascribe to environmental problems. In short that's the whole point of bothering to be political even in local government, and the electors get to exercise some choice through the ballot box. It's not just about council tax levels. In any case the answer lies in doing something no government has been or would be prepared to do. reorganise local government to get "joined up" services and not have three layers of councils in this area.
You don't need two of them at all, one council would do, the big argument would be about which layer is the one to keep, a miniscule, expensive town council. a district council or a countywide authority delivering all the services combined.
On 31 Mar 2010 at 8:16am Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Overall though, Dave it all saves a bit of council tax, whether from the LDC precept or the ESCC bit. And LDC still save in landfill tax on what they recycle.
With green composting, I remain to be convinced of the environmental arguments against doorstep collection. Most people don't chip and compost all their own prunings and other big stuff. You only have to see the car and trailerloads of leafy branches advancing on Ham Lane like Birnam Wood on Dunsinane any spring weekend to realise that. I wouldn't be surprised if the environmental cost of that was greater than collecting at the doorstep with all the other stuff.
And then there's the ones who burn it all, rather than take it to the tip - definitely not environmentally friendly, and bloody annoying when you're trying to sit out in your garden and ending up kippered!
On 31 Mar 2010 at 8:20am Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
"The stupid thing is this stand-off between councils, one getting the subsidy for the other incurring the cost."
Totally agree, Sashimi. That's one of the biggest arguments in favour of unitary local government imo. Then the incentive for getting it right is so much greater.
On 31 Mar 2010 at 1:15pm Merlin Milner wrote:
When I am at a shop and buy someting with excess packaging (mostly cardboard), I remove it and give it back to the retailer. If more us do this it may encourage manufacturers and retailer to stop over-packaging items.
On 1 Apr 2010 at 9:41pm Numpty wrote:
I'd like to see Tesco etc provide a facility for off-loading useless bits of packaging at the store exit. I don't need a cardboard box around my bag of cornflakes, and I'd rather not take it home with me. It's all getting a bit ridiculous, this over-packaging.