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On you Don't list that's me pretty much, but...

I don't know much about the processes involved in the production of virgin material like paper, glass etc but is the environmental impact less for recycling used material less that collecting raw materials, which are often very heavey and or bulky? Surley it is better to cart a load of glass bottles maybe a few hundred miles at melt it down and reuse it that carting raw materials across continents?

I do get where you are coming from. We used to be told recyling was for aving energy, then they decided it used more energy, then it was for saving land fill space. Make up you bloody minds and give us accurate information.

Living and working as close to the landfill site as I do and knowing it only has about 5 years tipping left does kinda bring it home just how much stuff we waste. Where is my rubbish going to end up once that place if full? We can't go on chucking stuff in holes inthe ground for ever, the place is just too crowded for that. I'm quite sure that as the recyclers get more experienced and technology progresses the process will become more effecient. I understand that the mud gaurds and possibly the fuel tank on my tractor come from recycled plastic.

I don't think so. The problem with recycled plastics is that they don't have the mechanical or cosmetic properties of virgin material. Therefore the profiles have to be thicker to get the mechanical strength. You fuel tank is probably blow moulded which cannot use recycled plastic.

I was involved in a study on using recycled plastics in automotive applications. The penalty of weight and mechanical strength makes it a non-starter in most cases. The same applies to re-cycled rubber. Its only good for car mats and the like, nothing "technical".

The best use I have seen for recycled plastic is in garden benches and decking in the place of wood. Other possible applications are strictly limited.

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Speed camera policy Kills

Don't know a lot about thermoplastics but I understand their strength is something to do with the length of the polymer chains which get shorter each time they get recycled. I read somewhere that fleece garments are actuallly made from old drinks bottles and road traffic cones are at the very, very bottom of the plastics recycling chain..i.e. you can't recycle a road cone into anything else. Very apt if true

Like I said, recycled plastic bottles don't make more plastic bottles. If you want to reduce waste don't buy products in them....

The other crazy thing is that some councils insist you wash the stuff before you put it out just to add more wasted resources and potential pollution from chemicals into the process.

It just keeps getting drafter. Its about time somebody stood up and said that its all b*llocks.

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Speed camera policy Kills

Recycled cardboard boxes make more cardboard boxes, though.

Having worked for a number of years in the paper industry, paper recycling is certainly economically viable, although you always need a small proportion of virgin fibres to prevent the quality degrading.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

From what I understand there is massive over supply of recyclable material. I was involved in a recycling program where I worked. The company collected all the paper waste then sold it to a recycling plant. Then oversupply meant that the recyclable material became worthless. If this is the case then why recycle. If the wood comes from sustainable sources are we not removing carbon from the atmosphere. Also most paper is compostable so is perfect to put into the ground.

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Speed camera policy Kills

Most paper is not made of wood. Google for "wood free paper".

Some paper is not made from wood. Newsprint, cartonboard and corrugated board certainly are, though.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Can you recycle the non-wood stuff?

If so into what?

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Speed camera policy Kills