Ever since the Waste Strategy Unit’s last report, “Waste not, want not” was made public on twenty-seven Nov 2002, the United Kingdom has been accelerating recycling rates and pushing at really serious targets which will significantly cut back the tonnages of waste to dump. Landfills which were filling at an ever increasing rate were threatening to cover the land and rise above it, finally filling every quarry and patch of waste land in our built up areas and then devouring huge acreages of farmland as well.
Over the same period public willingness to recycle in their homes has risen inspired by separate waste collections which have progressively been introduced by local authorities and which have extended the quantity and range of source separated and comingled Municipal Solid Waste diverted away from landfill.
For some time costs of engineered landfills have been rising and rules have been getting tighter.
In the background, the Environment Agency has in addition been raising the green regulation standards obligatory to of the landfill operators which has at the same time raised their expenditure which have been transferred never-endingly to the landfill users.
Over the identical period community enthusiasm to recycle in their homes has also risen encouraged by separate waste collections which have progressively been introduced in local authorities as well as which have expanded the number and breadth of source separated and co-mingled Municipal Solid Waste diverted away from landfill.
At some point it was all about to make both environmental AND commercial sense to recycle, but many worried whether the industry ever quite get there before the political will to do so was lost.
For a long while the industry pundits have talked of the necessity to reach a unproven “tipping point” at which as the dump tax elevator rises, and the mixture of lots of other smaller regulatory effects come together, and how they are going to push the cost of landfilling above the cost of recycling. The rate of landfill tax for rubbish heap active waste has increased by £8/tonne per annum from 1st April 2008 and will continue to increase by £8/tonne on 1st April each year year to 2013.
The UK presidency financed WRAP organisation which researches and promotes recycling waste diversion has made public rates for current waste treatment technologies generally in the range of £45 to £65/tonne, so it would appear that UK landfill charges are now just reaching the tipping point.
That all this was eventually adding up to profitable cost competitive recycling is being confirmed by the number 1 waste recycling corporations in the commercial and economic waste sector.
All this adds up to a family run business like Bywaters, with its friendly and eager workers at plants like the Recycling and Recovery Facility at Bow, and for so long devoted to sustainable business, to now also reap the industrial benefits they deserve for themselves and their clients.
As I found in a recent trip to the Bywaters Bow Recycling Plant, staff work extremely closely with the waste producing companies from which they accept their waste, such that quite soon after even the least “environmentally aware” organisations come aboard, they are able to up their game and massively improve the purity of their client’s source segregation systems within just a few short months
This is a win-win situation because not only is the residual waste quantity reduced for the customer, but the value of the purer recycled (source segregated) material reduces the processing cost at the Bywaters’ faciility.
These recycling corporations are now well placed to resume to raise recycling rates as a percentage of total waste produced, gratifying public demand, and to work in partnership with their clients to further invest in making improvements to the potency of the their recycling processes. These enhancements also helped by their clients will continue to push down costs, and are already providing higher quality recycled raw materials, of a consistency, quantity, and quality which could never have been imagined just seven years ago when “Waste not, want not” was published.
The future will see reliable and “main stream” bulk availability of quality controlled recycled products.
The positive feedback which will result will further stabilize and raise the markets in recycled commodities and the volatility in these markets will in turn moderate to become unremarkable.
So, for any companies that are still not recycling their waste we say:
“Be “green” and recycle – it just makes sense like never before.”.
Click on the link text later in this sentence for more articles and information about Bywaters recycling and how to recycle.
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The main additive, that I know of, is a non-toxic resin, which is the primary binding agent. In recycling, the non-toxic resin will have to be extracted, which may take a solvent. this, in its own way, can present an ecological hazard (not the resin, but the extraction process). However, if the re-pulping of the mineral-rich medium is done correctly, it may not be necessary to remove the resin, as it may provide added adhesive and "fiber" strength to successive generations of rock paper. A great discussion from the Rock Paper page below.
Best of success, and thanks for introducing this fascinating topic! I appreciate it very much.
Chromatography paper doesn't contain sizing or other addatives, it is pure wood fiber.
“TWAT” LOL!!!
I used to think so, until I started a job connected to the Council–now I realize that everything I recycle in a year (A LOT) is wasted in a day by the triplicate hard copies I send to the finance people, who passes copies to their bosses, who analyze it and send hard copies to their bosses, who probably never read it at all but make more copies to keep in case they have to prove they are filling government targets.
But in general, don't waste in the first place where possible, recycle what you must, and remember all the other ways we can help slow down our mass destruction.
Hi,
Don't know if this really helps, but here goes !!
Blotting paper is a type of paper or other material which is used to absorb an excess of substance (such as ink or oil) from the surface of an object.
Examples of its use include absorbing the excess ink left on parchment after writing with a fountain pen or in cosmetic papers used to remove excess lipstick or facial oils.
When used to remove ink from writings, the writing may appear in reverse on the surface of the blotting paper, a phenomenon which has been used as a plot device in a number of detective stories.
Blotting was needed once writing in dipped ink was invented and was first done by use of sand or salt poured on the wet ink. However salt especially was expensive. Blotting paper is reputed to be first referred to in the English language in the 1400s but there is a tradition in Norfolk, England that it was invented by accident at Lyng Mill on the river Wensum. This may be wrong as this was expressly a paper mill until about 1830, although it is clear that it did make paper before this time as it was referred to as Mr Hamerton's mill and there are many texts describing it as a paper mill in the 18th Century. However, the process of making blotting paper in bulk rather than by hand may be what was created at Lyng.
Certain illegal drugs, most notably LSD, are distributed on blotting paper. A liquid solution of the drug is applied to the paper, which commonly is perforated into individual doses and artfully decorated.
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