Recycling up as recession hits home
December 11, 2010 at 5:15 pm
The recession has had numerous devastating effects for consumers living in the UK and indeed across the world. However, there are a few sectors and industries that have received unexpected boosts from the recession, and one of these just happens to be the recycling industry.
Official figures have revealed that, over the past ten years, the amount of household waste being recycled by those living in England has more than trebled and, despite the effects of the recession continuing to worsen for many people over the past year, there has been an increase in the level of household waste being either recycled, composted, or reused. In 2008/2009, 37.6% of household waste was recycled in some way, whilst in 2009/2010 39.7% was the improved figure for Brits to feel proud about.
With the recession reducing the effects of our traditional ‘throwaway’ society, consumers are now more interested in learning new ways to reuse or transform everyday items around the house, rather than chucking them in the bin. However, there is clearly room for improvement, with householders still throwing away more than 60% of their rubbish despite government incentives intended to reduce the pressure on landfill sites.
The winter months pose many problems for recycling collections, with councils struggling at times over recent weeks to make it through the snow and ice and stick to bin collection dates, and major recycling centres forced to shut as well, but as consumers with an environmental conscience, we need to ensure we’re still doing our bit to continue reducing the amount of waste thrown away per household over the next year.
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