Do we have a globally responsible Ceredigion?

Where do our recycling and black bins get processed and what happens with the contents? Is it productive or destructive?

In the UK, we are often faced with various news articles claiming what happens to our rubbish. In one article in The Guardian, we get taken around a fairly detailed process of what each step consists of with our recycling and what problems it has faced recently. It points us in the direction of what percentage of recycling is done in-house and what we ship to other countries to be dealt with.

Clearly, not all is what it seems. UK waste is being sent to Malaysia to be 'recycled' but there is evidence that it is just being dumped, burnt in the open air, or blowing into local water systems [1]. When members of the public see reports like this, the first question that comes to mind is 'WHY Is my council shipping waste to developing countries?'.

In Ceredigion, our recycling is sorted at GWM Environmental in Carmarthenshire. What can be recycled is shipped off to relevant plants and the rest is added to the general waste. The general waste for Ceredigion is incinerated and turned into energy that is put back into the grid [2].

With little evidence as to what happens to our recycling once processed in Wales, it is very difficult for the public to decide whether or not the outcome is productive or destructive. As council taxpayers, shouldn’t the community have the right to follow the route of disposal?

For now, Ceredigion has taken the general waste problem into their own hands and is dealing with the situation in-house e.g., burning waste for electricity. This shows that they are taking responsibility for immediate waste disposal.

However, Is This 'Globally' Responsible?

Ceredigion has a moral obligation, as a body of power, to behave correctly towards the environment. In the long run, Ceredigion should also observe the effects it has on the rest of the world as a means to keep generations safe and healthy.

As it is well known, the world requires immediate action to be taken regarding the rising of the Earth's temperature. Burning resources like fossils fuels and waste will only accelerate the process. From this perspective, maybe using landfill sites is more attractive, but the evidence shows the opposite. By incinerating the waste and collecting the energy as opposed to landfill biogas recovery, the UK could save up to 129 kt of CO2 eq. per year. Therefore, it is more globally responsible to use the ‘waste-to-energy’ system than using landfills [3].

Could Ceredigion Do More?

As the UK is set on a quest to become completely run-on renewable energy by 2050, Ceredigion has committed to its plan to become a net-zero carbon emissions county by 2030 [4][5]. This is more than they are being asked of by their government; however, the incinerating of its waste will provide a real roadblock for that target. Ceredigion can get ahead by trying to introduce change further up in the production line. Becoming a no single-use plastic county could help skyrocket this process and decrease the amount of black-bin waste an individual produce. Ceredigion has recognised that there is a real need to update its waste management strategy and has set a goal to improve it within five years.

The Last Century

The UK has been recycling for more than 80 years. During the Second World War, household food waste was used to feed pigs because of food shortages and other rubbish was separated and used for ammunition and other military uses. The public consumerist attitude exploded in the '60s and led to an extreme spike in single-use packaging. This left councils with more rubbish than they could handle. Councils left the recycling ways behind and started opening landfills wherever they felt like it.

The introduction of mass burn incinerators was backed by the government but sadly were not even producing electricity. This let the unfiltered pollution go straight into the atmosphere. In the '80s, waste management companies were privatised, which brought down the cost of recycling and their ability to cope. The individual society also brought around the new use of things like bottles, clothes, and paper banks, where this waste was viewed as resources.

From there on, there has been a steady growth in support for recycling and waste management. However, there are still problems with overconsumption and so the solution needs to come from further up [6]. This shows that Ceredigion has more to do to become a globally responsible power.

[1] Franklin-Wallis, O. (2021). ‘'Plastic recycling is a myth': what really happens to your rubbish?’. The Guardian. 17 August. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/17/plastic-recycling-myth-what-really-happens-your-rubbish> (Accessed 24 February 2021).

[2] Ceredigion County Council (2021). What Happens to My Waste? Available at: <http://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/resident/bins-recycling/what-happens-to-my-waste/> (Accessed 22 February 2021).

[3] Jeswani, H. K., Smith, R. W. and Azapagic, A. (2012). ‘Energy from waste: carbon footprint of incineration and landfill biogas in the UK’. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 18, 218-229.

[4] GOV.UK (2021). New plans to make UK world leader in green energy. Available at: <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-plans-to-make-uk-world-leader-in-green-energy> (Accessed 22 February 2021).

[5] Ceredigion County Council (2021). Council declares global climate emergency. Available at: <https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/resident/news/council-declares-global-climate-emergency/#:~:text=Ceredigion%20County%20Council%20has%20declared,zero%20carbon%20within%2012%20months.> (Accessed 22 February 2021).

[6] Rubbish Please. (2018). ‘History of Recycling in London and the United Kingdom’, Rubbish Please, 15 January. [Blog] Available at: <https://www.rubbishplease.co.uk/blog/history-recycling-london-uk/> [Accessed 24 February 2021].