Talking Rubbish

For information about SSB’s Talking Rubbish group  – please email rubbish@ssb.org.uk .

 

 

South Hams District Council Recycling Service update:

Since 3 October 2022, South Hams District Council has been operating the waste and recycling services in-house.

Households still on kerbside collections using the blue and clear sacks for recycling, should have received a delivery of: 2 green recycling boxes with lids; a reusable white recycling sac; and large (kerbside) and small (kitchen) food waste caddies plus labels and explanatory information. The boxes and sac will replace the blue and clear recycling sacks. If you have NOT yet received a new set of containers, or are missing food waste caddies, please let SHDC know via https://waste.southhams.gov.uk/containerorder.

This is in preparation for moving to the ‘Devon Aligned Service’, which will conform to the Environment Act 2021, which requires all collection authorities, such as SHDC to collect the following materials: Glass; Paper; Card; Metal; Plastic; and Food waste (the latter specified as weekly).

The new arrangements will start from Monday 20^th November 2023.

This will mean that, in addition to the fortnightly ‘Grey Bin’ collection of non-recyclable refuse (and fortnightly Brown Bin green waste collection if you have paid a subscription for it), there will be a weekly collection of paper, card, plastics, metal tins and glass for recycling, and a weekly food waste collection.

See: https://www.southhams.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/guide-waste-and-recycling.

 

Local SHDC Doorstep collections

We’ve had some enquiries regarding the situation at present with the waste collection service provided by South Hams District Council.  They have assured us that the recycling process is still operational and the collection from South Brent is definitely not going into general rubbish even if it is ‘co-mingled’

 

 

The free brown bin collection service finished in 2022 and the new chargeable service for South Hams residents wanting to have garden waste collected started in March 2023. A subscription for single bin costs £49.00 for the year – you can buy one or two subscriptions depending on your needs. You can still sign up for the new service here – https://waste.southhams.gov.uk/gardenwaste (see terms & conditions.) If you have already signed up for garden waste collection, you can find your new collection day here.

(If you do not have a food waste caddy or the ‘New Super Recycler Service’ in your locality, food waste should still be put into the grey refuse bin.).

Remember you can take suitable garden waste to SSB’s Marsh composting site on Sunday mornings. The Marsh will welcome garden waste (NB. Not kitchen/food waste.

 

Will of the Dump

Click here to listen to ‘Will of the Dump‘, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 28/12/2021

Will Self tells the story of his black bin bag… from his back door… to its final destination. It’s the story of a modern-day dump – an extraordinary, alien, nauseating world – where, instead of being buried, the rubbish will go up in smoke. Voices of waste workers intermingle with the rubbish in a go-round of garbage, scored by Jon Nicholls. There are the bin men who believe ‘you just gotta get in the groove’ as they walk ten miles a day, to ‘pick up a bit of crap, sling it in the back of the lorry and take it down the dump’. There’s the weighbridge clerk at the sorting facility taking pride in separating the ‘sheepy recycling from the goatish garbage’ to load it onto enormous steel containers. Boatmen on the Thames steer these huge barges, bright orange in colour, past the great landmarks of London in ‘a cockney pas-de-deux danced with detritus’. Downriver, the bag arrives at its destination – a giant industrial incinerator where ten thousand tonnes of waste are going up in flames, at temperatures of 850 degrees. ‘Some people are mesmerized by it’, we hear. Will’s black bag meets its ‘fiery and apocalyptic end’. It’s a raw, unnerving look at our relationship with our waste. Sound designer: Jon Nicholls Producer: Adele Armstrong.

 

Are you concerned about plastic pollution and other kinds of rubbish?

Did you know:
that globally only 14% of all plastic is collected for recycling?
that 8 million tonnes a year ends up in the oceans?
that 40% of plastic made worldwide is used for packaging?

People everywhere are working to solve the problem of plastic pollution…and we can help by choosing recycled, reusable or compostable plastic goods over disposable, and recycling as much as possible…

…AND by joining the TALKING RUBBISH group where we discuss all kinds of local initiatives that might help – and take ACTION as well as talk!

Contact: rubbish@ssb.org.uk and check the events calendar for details of our meeting times and places.

Roadside plastic and other litter

The A38 between South Brent and Plymouth comes under the responsibility of two local authorities: South Hams District Council and Plymouth City Council. To report plastic and other rubbish on our local roads SHDC can be contacted on 01803 861234 and PCC on 01752 668000. Or contact one of your local councillors.
If you are outside your local area and do not know who to contact you can report any trouble spots on fixmystreet.com. This independent website, set up by the charity mySociety, aims to help people inform local authorities of problems. (But DCC has to be contacted directly).

 

TerraCycle projects for hard to recycle plastic

Terra Cycle is an international recycling company that was founded in 2001 with the aim of recycling plastic materials that are difficult to recycle and raising money for local charities at the same time.

The company runs free re-cycling programmes across the UK which are sponsored by manufacturers. Many of you will know that we recently had a drop off location for blister packs in SB Pharmacy but this was stopped on 21/5/21. Looking on the Terracycle web site it would appear that they are now in partnership with Superdrug to recycle empty blister packs and raise money for Marie Curie. All collection points are now sited in Superdrug stores and our  nearest stores taking part in the scheme are in Newton Abbot on the Old Hospital site in East Street and Cornwall Street store in Plymouth.  Talking Rubbish is currently working to set up a Cathedral Cheese programme in the village and volunteers will be needed to manage the drop off point so please get in touch if you are interested in taking part – rubbish@ssb.org

Details for other local programmes can be found on the Terracycle site, but the information may be out of date, as some schemes have been stopped or suspended due to the Covid pandemic.  Contact details for listed programmes can be found on the Terracycle web site and probably best to ring before travelling to a programme drop off point.

For  full  details/list of all Free Programmes and further information go to www.terracycle.co.uk or email customersupport@terracycle.co.uk

Plastic Bag Recycling

Some supermarkets have introduced recycling collection points for carrier bags and any plastic bag carrying the recycle logo and the message – Recycle with bags at larger stores.
Check with the in store Customer Service Desk or a staff member to find out if your local store has a plastic bag collection point.
More information about local recycling schemes can be found on the website https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-locator.

Soft Plastic recycling in store at the Co-op: The Co-op’s soft plastic recycling facility is available in the South Brent store. There is a collection point ready for used clean, soft plastics to support Co-op in meeting its goal of using recyclable materials in 100% of own-brand products .

“Clean it: Rinse your packaging out first;

Scrunch it: Scrunch it up tight and if it pings back, it’s soft plastic;

Co-op it: Pop into Co-op and put it in one of the soft plastic recycling units”.

Soft plastic you can and can’t recycle at the Co op

YES PLEASE

General

• Thin plastic lids of all types
• Kitchen towel, toilet roll, nappy bag, cotton wool wrappers
• Pouches – microwave rice, pre-cooked mussels, petfood, etc
• Fruit & veg nets, bags and wrappers
• Plastic sauce sachets

Bags

• Ordinary carrier bags
• Bread bags
• Crisps, nuts, snacks bags
• Bags from:
  • Cereal and porridge
  • Dried goods – dried fruit, pasta, rice, sugar, pulses, etc
  • Frozen foods and ice cubes

Wrappers & Film

• Chocolate and sweets bags and wrappers
• Biscuit wrappers
• Cling film
• Pizza wrapping film
• Bread product wrappers:
  • Croissants
  • Pancakes
  • Naan bread
  • Pitta bread
  • Garlic bread
  • Fresh pasta
• Wrappers from:
  • Cheese, pastry, cakes, Yorkshire puddings
  • baby wipes, etc
  • Meat, poultry and joints
  • Tea and teabags, ground coffee, etc
  • Pies, pastries, sausage rolls,
  • Household textiles, scourers, rubber gloves, etc
  • Giftwrap, greetings cards, etc
• Flower wrappers
• Petfood wrappers

NO THANKS

• Compostable carrier bags
• Compostable and biodegradable bags & wrappers
• Plastic bottles
• Plastic trays

Please note that the labelling on packaging may not be up to date with the soft plastics recycling scheme. As such, not all soft plastics will currently be labelled as recyclable.

Most of the major supermarkets now operate soft or flexible plastic recycling schemes, but there are differences in how the schemes operate and the items they collect. Details of the different schemes can be found on their web sites. Recycling stations can usually be found near the entrance to a store or near the checkout area.

Blister Packets Recycling

Unfortunately the collection of empty pill blister packs which was operating under a terra cycle scheme via South Brent pharmacy has now been suspended again

Empty blister packs may be collected by certain Superdrug stores to raise money for Marie Curie with local participating stores in Newton Abbot and Plymouth. It is also possible to take these items to any of the 3 chemists in Ivybridge (Boots, Day Lewis, Erme Court) from where they will be collected by local Rotarians for recycling by Terracycle.

Respiratory Inhaler Recycling; update

With over 73 million inhalers prescribed in the UK every year a recycling  scheme was set up by Glaxo Smith Kline  in 2011. Many pharmacies signed up to the scheme, but it was cancelled by GSK in September 2021,  as they wanted a joined up approach  to inhaler recycling across the pharmaceutical industry and did not want to continue with a stand alone scheme.

Respiratory inhalers should not be put in rubbish bins as the propellants are known greenhouse gasses, which are harmful to the environment. The metal canister should be returned to a pharmacy and  be treated under the medical waste scheme. It will then be dealt with through an environmentally safe disposal route paid for by the NHS (April 2022)

Contact Lens Recycling

The Rotarians are also helping to raise money for South West Blood Bikes  through the contact lens recycling programme and Newsomes Opticians in Fore Street, Ivybridge have set up a collection point for lens blister packs and lens themselves.

Please help us to spread this latest news by telling family, friends and neighbours about these projects aimed at supporting worthwhile charities and helping the environment. Or you might like to set up your own local collection point?  Whatever you do it all helps so a big thank you!

Disposal of batteries

Thank you to Cathy and Kayla for highlighting this website with lots of useful information about batteries and the environment, how to dispose of spent batteries and the effects on the environment and our health of not disposing of them properly. Click on this link: https://store.intellaliftparts.com/c/battery-disposal-and-the-environment.html to find out more.

“No person is too small to make a difference”

Greta Thunberg

SSB – Reduce, Recycle, Reuse

email – talkingrubbish@ssb.org.uk