Proposed new recycling scheme isles-wide

[Ghostrider]

Those who have swallowed hook, line and sinker the 'recycling' gospel spin put about by the man, will undoubtedly diligently follow Maggie's bags and bins and banks instructions to the letter as they "save the planet", and the rest of us who see this for what it is, a smoke and mirrors tick box exercise, will just continue as we are, but putting all our rubbish out in one bag every fortnight instead of every week, and in a few years they'll change their minds again to some other pie in the sky palaver.

 

Such are politics these days, all about appearing to do something positive about something, that is nothing more than doing things differently, and actually makes no overall improvement to anything at all. Change for change's sake.

 

Going to the ends of the earth as they are to 'recycle' something makes it pretty unlikely that any worthwhile reduction in overall carbon footprint and/or consumption of non-renewable natural resources will result, especially when replacement material has to be obtained to do the job that what you recycle is currently doing.

Edited September 27, 2017 by Ghostrider

[fionajohn]

i am 76 years young living in a remote area so i will be contacting the S I C ...(very apt name ) to supply me with a home help to arrange my recycle meterial and move same to the end of my uphill croft track to the main road pick up point 

[Ghostrider]

Results of top secret testing of new rubbish collection system at selected exposed locations earlier tonight less than promising.

 

[MuckleJoannie]

I was at a meeting recently where the SIC representatives assured us that wheelie bins were in widespread use in Tiree, the windiest place in Scotland, and no problems were found with wind. I suspect most of remain to be convinced.

[Guest Mr.Brown]

^Maybe Tiree have a council that doesn't take much notice of their electorate, sound familiar?^

[Ghostrider]

I was at a meeting recently where the SIC representatives assured us that wheelie bins were in widespread use in Tiree, the windiest place in Scotland, and no problems were found with wind. I suspect most of remain to be convinced.

 

I suspect the veracity of that SIC person's statement relies greatly on the definitions of 'widespread', 'windiest' and 'problems' within their statement.

 

Lies, damn lies and statistics......As always its easy to get the numbers you want when you also get to set the parameters of eligibility for the data you work from.

 

Meanwhile, don't suppose anybody has a pal that lives in Tiree....So we can get the other side of the story.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Ghostrider

[Property2017]

If you don't follow the guidelines regarding recycling and decide to just put all your waste in one bag , then they will most likely warn you , then if it continues either fine you or not collect your waste until its properly separated.

[Ghostrider]

^ That'll work well. Folk passing have a habit of slinging their rubbish in among yours on bin morning even now. More and more places are getting communal bins/collection points - whose going to take the time and trouble going through the "bad" bags in the hope of finding something that I.D's the contents source?

 

Any 'fines' levied are paid voluntary, otherwise they're unenforcable/uncollectable and pointless.

 

If they refuse to collect your rubbish, you could sort it as per their unreasonable demands, or, you could just make it 'go away', 'somewhere' - Which is the least evil in terms of work/time/hassle.....Hmmmmm.

[Property2017]

Why are you so against recycling Ghostrider ?

[Guest Mr.Brown]

^I am going to dare to wade in here a bit though I'm sure Ghostrider is more than capable of speaking up. My understanding of what G has been saying on the subject is that he questions the validity of how the recycling is being handled & not that it isn't a good thing to do where possible.

[Urabug]

There is a number of folk here in Shetland that have no wish to see the hills covered in wind turbines,like wise there is also a number of people who have no desire to see the place covered in wheelie bins.

 

It cannot be that difficult to have a refuse truck with separate compartments that could hold plastic bags filled with the segregated waste as we used to have,then at least we would not have the problem of these horrible objects blocking pavements,stinking the place out and blowing onto roads and streets constituting  a hazard to all and  sundry.

 

Many folk have to work and these bins will have to have to lie around all day as their is no one at home to retrieve them.

 

At least when the plastic bag is picked up the problem has gone.with the bins the problem remains until the bin is removed.

 

God grant the Council some "midder wit" 

[suuusssiiieee]

And now their thinking to spend £700,000 plus on a "large shed" to collect, sort and store said waste, surely they can rent a LPA shed at Dales Voe to do the same job? 

 

Methinks there's more rubbish outside of the bin than in it......

 

The old system of colored bags seemed to do alright, the stuff was bagged and the re-cycling truck came and had it away, why complicate the whole process with thousands (and it will be at 2 per household) of wheelie bins loitering around all over the place, bonkers!

Edited October 17, 2017 by suuusssiiieee

[Property2017]

The new shed is a great idea, the current system is no use for a recycling area, hopefully this will create a good few long term jobs in the council.

 

forget dales voe that's earmarked for decommissioning.

[Ghostrider]

Why are you so against recycling Ghostrider ?

 

What leads you to believe I am against recycling?

 

You would be correct in saying that I am extremely against 90+% of what the government states is, and pushes upon us as "recycling", for it has everything to do with ticking boxes, PR and providing soundbites that are positive to them politically, and sod all very little to do with actually reducing the use of, and re-using resources. Sitting here in a pre-owned chair, typing this on a pre-owned laptop, and everything I'm wearing bar my socks and drawers are also pre-owned, I'm probably "recycling" more than most.

 

What the SIC are proposing as "recycling" is as actually "reusing for a specific purpose at any cost", and when that cost gets close to, or exceeds the alternative, it doesn't take many brain cells to realise you're not gaining a damn thing by doing it.

 

Do an audit yourself, and tell me which way the cookie crumbles for you.

 

As I see it, this proposed system on the negative side has, new bins - cost = raw materials and energy to manufacture plus transportation/distribution consumption of energy. New shed plus machinery, quoted at £3/4 Million, but SIC projects almost never come in on budget - Again, raw materials and energy to manufacture and transport, plus energy to construct. Then the shedful of machinery will consume further energy on an ongoing basis. Processed paper and plastic bales incur energy use to transport between shed and boat, the boat consumes energy to carry those bales 200 miles, then onward transportation to the end recycling facility uses more energy, as does the facility itself as it turns the paper and plastic back in to whatever.

 

Then, by shipping out what very likely constitutes the greatest majority of SHEAP's best heat producing fuel something's going to have to be shipped back in to replace it, otherwise whats left to go in the incinerator won't serve the needs of anywhere near so many customers, SHEAP will become less viable, and in worst case scenario close down, leaving what heat the incinerator still produces being blown off to the air and lost/wasted. Whatever is shipped in incurs yet more ongoing energy usage for its land and sea transport.

 

On the plus side, we have an incinerator, we have a district heating scheme that utilises the heat it produces positively and reduces the consumption of natural resources. That in and off itself ticks all the boxes of the dictionary definition of "recycling", its just that Holyrood in their wisdom have written their own dictionary, and made recycling mean re-using material again as the exact same material, and absolutely no other purpose, than makes what we're doing already not "recycling".

 

They told us back when the incinerator was built that the chimney filters were so good you could breathe the air coming out of them pretty much for the rest of your life, and there would be no ill effects. So there can't be emissions to factor in one option over the other - or were they lying to us back then? Likewise, they told us back then that converting our rubbish in to heat to heat buildings thus saving on fossil fuel usage either in individual buidings or in the power station was "the greenest thing Shetland could do with its rubbish", as shipping it off isle was just far too prohibitive it terms of cost, both actual and carbon footprint. Yet now they're expecting us to believe whoever takes our paper and plastic will pay us for it enough to make it worthwhile, and not only that, others will pay to send their non-recycable rubbish here to burn in the incinerator. When did the recycling market change so dramatically, and if it hasn't, are they lying to us now, were they lying to us back then, or do they just lie to us all the time.....Rhetorical question.

 

*IF* we were on or at least relatively close to the mainland, and *IF* we didn't have a district heating scheme recycling the energy locked up in our rubbish, what the SIC are proposing would make quite a decent amount of sense. But we are where geology put us, and we are already recycling our rubbish energy in to usable beneficial heat energy. Against that backdrop I fail to see how what energy needs to be expended to put in place what is necessary to make this specific type of 'recycling' of our paper and plastic waste to happen, plus the ongoing expenditure in energy to keep the system going, and without detriment to what facilities we currently have, can create a carbon footprint that is less than what occurs right now, and it would be no surprise if it was actually greater.

 

Bottom line, if you're not reducing your carbon footprint as a result of your proposed "recycling", then its pointless/harmful recycling. Recycling in name only so that a box somewhere can be checked, and/or somebody somewhere can make a positive (to them) statement, and thats all I'm seeing in what the SIC are currently proposing.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Ghostrider

[Lerwick antiques]

The council making all this carry on about waste and throwing large sums of money at this recycle scheme.

 

Completely ridiculous if you ask me when the council could not/would not continue to help the local saleroom to keep going, best recycling scheme of the lot. Shame on SIC.