South London Waste Partnership (SLWP)

Why it’s important to recycle and compost

There are many reasons why it’s important to recycle and compost as much as possible:

• It conserves raw materials – making new products out of recycled materials reduces the need to consume precious resources.  So recycling helps protect raw materials and protect natural habitats for future generations.
• It saves energy – using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than that required for producing new products from raw materials.
• It helps protect the environment – recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging), refining and processing raw materials all of which create substantial air and water pollution.  As recycling saves energy, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change.
• It reduces landfill – There are over 1,500 landfill sites in the UK and, in 2001, these sites produced a quarter of the UK’s emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is released as the biodegradable waste (such as food and paper) decomposes.  Existing landfill sites are filling up fast and there is very limited space for new ones.
• It saves you money – A massive reduction in the amount of waste we send to landfill is required if we are to avoid the heavy fines and the landfill taxes that are being imposed by Central Government on councils that exceed their landfill allowances.  Increases in your Council Tax or service cuts in other areas would be the only way of paying these penalties.

For more information about why it’s important to recycle and compost visit www.recyclenow.com

The magic of home composting

Home composting is nature’s recycling service, allowing households to recycle a substantial amount of their waste – including vegetable peelings, fruit waste, teabags, grass cuttings, cut flowers, paper kitchen towels, egg shells and cereal boxes – without it ever leaving your home.  Local authorities can also use industrial composting facilities to recycle all of the above as well as cooked food waste.

If it is buried in landfill sites, this biodegradable waste lets off methane as it rots ‘anaerobically’ (without the presence of air).  Methane is a harmful greenhouse gas that is 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.  But in a compost bin or industrial composting facility, the presence of air completely changes the way the waste decomposes and methane is no longer released.

The four Partner Boroughs have all teamed up with GetComposting.com to provide residents with reduce-priced products such as home compost bins, water butts and more. Click on your local council’s logo below from more details of subsidised compost bin offers.  For hints and tips about home composting, visit the Recycle Now home composting pages

Subsidised compost bin offers from your local council

• The Waste Hierarchy

  

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