by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
According to the ONS (Office of National Statistics) we have less than 7 years landfill capacity left in the UK. The fact is that some areas have no capacity left, SE England only 3 years or so capacity left.
This information was distributed by Tweeter @earthexchange (Alex Albon) from Cheshire, UK, and I would not doubt this one bit.
In fact, in my personal opinion, I am surprised that, as a nation, we still, basically, have 7 years left. Holes in the ground are hard to come by and we must make a serious change in our habits and behavior. Exporting our waste, as we do already to some extend cannot be allowed to be the option.
In the Unites States some areas, such as New York State and New York City, and some states further south even, have run out of ground space and are shipping – yes, you read right – their waste all the way into Canada, to places in Ontario and Quebec.
This is madness in the extreme and only a serious change in people's attitude, and that of industry, will make inroads here.
A serious reduction in waste is what is needed and that starts at the manufacturer and retail store. Personally I cannot see what, for instance, the replacement brushed for a Braun electric tooth brush come in their own individual packages which are then in a huge blister package that is very hard to recycle to boot. And this is but one example of the total packaging madness.
It is, predominately, packaging what fills up the landfill sites in this country and elsewhere and it is packaging that we must reduce. Eliminating is not possible, that I know, but reducing must be and is.
And this is also the place were reuse of bottles and glass jars comes in and it is reuse not just by consumers who upcycle the stuff into something else but a reuse by the manufacturer taking the bottles and jars back to be refilled. It has been done with bottles always until the disposable came about in the 1970s though it has not, as yet, been done with glass produce jars, but it could and can.
There are but a number of opening sizes and lid types for all glass jars on the market worldwide and therefore it is not rocket science to take them back and refill and reuse them. It makes sense in more than one way too for it saves costs for the manufacturer of the produce as well.
Time we began starving the landfill in a rather serious way.
© 2011
