Bury It but not in my Backyard. This is the solution to all our waste problems, from toxic chemical waste, nuclear waste, to single use plastics. We really need to look at waste disposal before we embark on anything else because the next generations will have to deal with all our waste and that’s not right. We can’t be like an Ostrich and bury our heads anymore.
Toxic Chemicals
Mercury and Lithium are some of the toxic chemicals that can be recycled. Yet we seem to just put items that contain Mercury and Lithium, such as common household items like batteries, fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps, light globes, into our bins at home instead of recycling them. There are a number of ways to recycle these items in Australia and in most parts of the developed world, instead of them going into landfill. In Australia batteries can be recycled at Bunnings, Officeworks, and Battery World to name a few. Some of these locations offer more than just battery recycling, like old mobile phones and printer cartridges. Check out the links above to see what they can recycle for you.
Nuclear Waste
Nuclear waste is always in the news and when people think of nuclear power the waste issue always comes up. There are other things besides power that can create nuclear waste, such as nuclear medicine (x-rays, CT Scans), nuclear weapons, surveying instruments and other items. Within nuclear waste there are various levels such as: Low-Level Waste (LLW), Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW), and High-Level Waste (HLW). When I started researching this blog I was going to bash nuclear energy waste but my opinion has changed. While there is no magic bullet, nuclear waste can be recycled and reduced before it is buried. My family has been impacted by cancer and therefore beneficiaries of nuclear medicine. At some stage most of us have had an x-ray etc. and therefore we are all beneficiaries of nuclear medicine. So, I propose we lobby our politicians to deal with nuclear waste in a more responsible manner and recycle as much as possible.
Single use Plastics
In Australia of late there has been a big focus on reducing the use of single use plastics, however the problem has changed to compostable and recyclable materials being put in plastic bags and then into landfill. Let me explain, when you go to a food court and you get your fries, burger and a drink, the packaging for the fries and burger is now usually made from paper/cardboard instead of some form of plastic. Your drink is in a recyclable waxed cardboard drink cup and the straw is made of paper/cardboard. Now the paper/cardboard items could be put in your compost bin and the drink cup in your recycling bin at home. When you look at the bins in most food courts, they are either recyclable or rubbish and the items in the bin are placed in a plastic rubbish bag. These bags usually end up in landfill. We need to get all shopping centres to do the right thing and have a compostable rubbish bin not using plastic bags in the bins. Alternatively, we should take our rubbish home with us and remember not to put your recyclables into a plastic bag in your bin, as most councils will not recycle them if they are in plastic bags.
Click on this link to go to a very useful tool put out by Planet Ark to find a recycler for various locations and items in Australia.
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