How easy is it to dispose of your rubbish?

Tetra Paks must have the worst record for recycling and I can imagine a huge percentage go to landfill.

Do any councils accept them in household collections? Some areas don’t even have collection points for them. If people use a lot of them like we do with milk substitutes, chances are they might try and recycle them, but for the odd orange juice, they are likely to end up in general waste. And there will be a lot of ‘odd’ fruit juices consumed around the country.

This is one area where a national scheme is badly needed. There was only one collection point near us until recently and it was always overflowing. The container often didn’t get emptied for weeks at a time and you often saw people leaving taking their cartons with them that might have ended up in general household waste.

Fabric recycling is another area that needs looking at. Only good quality or pairs of shoes seem to be wanted. What about all the fabric and shoes that have no use left in them? Surely they can be turned into something else?

TetraPaks are accepted in the recycling bin in Norfolk. I presume they sort them out and process them differently at the plant.

I can understand shoes being a difficult commodity to recycle or reuse, especially with the modern types that are made of bits and pieces of weird and wonderful materials.

Textiles are widely accepted by charity shops even if they are not complete garments as they can be sold to rag merchants for reprocessing. Textile recycling banks seem to have unjustified restrictions, possible because all they want is stuff they can push into a container and send to a developing country. I expect my Harris Tweed sports jackets are the hot property in the tropics.

I read recently that Norwich City Council will collect small electrical appliances if left in a standard carrier bag alongside the recycling bin on collection day, and will also collect any sort of textiles which if they cannot be reused are sold for reprocessing, the fabric for upholstery padding, insulation and industrial blankets. They will also take shoes but don’t say what they can do with unusable ones.

John, your Harris Tweed jacket could have been sold twice after you donated it for free.

I once watched a video of what happened to garments left in a textile recycling bank. They went to a sorting depot owned by someone with a very nice house and car, sorted into bundles and shipped and sold to a receiver dripping in gold somewhere in Africa. The receiver then sold them to market sellers who looked like they were the ones who needed new clothes. A very small donation went to charity.

I haven’t put anything in those banks since but we can also leave textiles and small electricals on our bins now and good clothes go to a charity shop.

I realise that, Alfa, and I think I saw the same programme about the export of clothing bank donations. Because of the intense competition between charity shops on every shopping street, their prices are generally ridiculously low and they are not raising anything like enough for the good causes they represent. I think they do feel that, as well as benefitting the specific charity, they are also helping the less well-off to buy decent clothing and homewares at low prices. However, it is well know that many ‘customers’ are using charity shops to feed their on-line auction activities.

When dropping some things off at a shop run by the Children’s Society recently I had a chat with two of the volunteers and they feel that they are sometimes just used by people to discard unwanted and unsaleable goods, that the prices they can realistically charge do not reflect the work and effort that goes on behind the scenes to prepare the clothes for sale, some of which have to be washed and ironed to make them presentable, and the hours that volunteers have to put in to keep the shop going. They said that sometimes the nett weekly takings hardly cover the operating costs of the premises and that they have to pay to dispose of other people’s rubbish. As donors we wish there was a way of pushing up the selling prices of the charity shops’ stock to sensible levels but they are flooded out with garments and goods they need to shift and what doesn’t sell quite quickly gets sold in bulk to dealers. There are two very attractive leather handbags in the shop window at the moment that probably cost around £100 new but they are priced at £10 each; both are in near perfect condition. The person who contributed them probably hoped they would make a useful sum for the charity. It’s best not to look.

I remain in two minds about charity shops and I also have strong views on the questionable charities that deliver bags door-to-door for later collection. Another time or Conversation perhaps, but it’s all about disposing of waste.

Our charity runs an information centre and at one time made a steady income from bric-a-brac but now there are few items that sell. Well meaning people still bring their donations and they sit around for a few months before being passed on to charity shops or disposed of, as appropriate.

I don’t understand some people’s mentality. I have been to houses where people I know don’t bother to wash food containers before putting them in the recycling bin. Dirty clothes and general rubbish get taken to charity shops often left outside in all weather to get ruined. Rubbish litters our streets and countryside……….

I always separate items a charity shop might not want and ask them if they want them. Most of it goes to a local charity shop that supports a local disabled centre. Our local tip has an on-site shop for items that might have further use. I did find a nice hall mirror at a charity shop and at £25 didn’t consider it particularly cheap but it was what I wanted at the time.

If anyone leaves a “charity bag” at the door, they get it back empty.

I turn them inside out and use them to wrap things I take to the charity shop.

I started to do this when pensioned off my cylinder mower and replaced it with a petrol rotary mower. Hedge clippings and shrub prunings – everything except the thicker stems. I just put lay them on the grass and the mower deals with them. It’s particularly useful with prickly items such are pyracantha and rose prunings. It’s the only way I have been able to get all my garden waste in the brown bin. A couple of people have said I would damage the mower but it has survived for nearly 30 years.

I have noticed that many people site their compost bin out of sight in an obscure or shady corner of the garden. The best place is somewhere that will catch the sun since the heat will stimulate the decomposition and produce good material sooner.

I had not appreciated that any councils charged residents from using their local tip – or recycling centre as these are often branded, William. It seems a good way of encouraging fly-tipping.

Have you any idea of how many councils do charge, other than for home collections?

Our local tips are free to residents but not for commercial users. If someone’s business is collecting rubbish for profit then someone also has to pay for its disposal- I don’t see why my council tax should be used for that.

I’m referring to large items like sofas, mattresses, fridges, freezers etc. If you want large items collected most councils will probably charge, I looked up Aylesbury cos someone on another forum couldn’t believe her council charged. They charge £75 for upto 3 items.