This post from BuilderScrap.com concerns not just building materials but also the recycling of common waste.  Consistent with 2007, 83% of respondents said there was a bottle or recycling bank in their area. However, reported usage of these facilities had increased slightly compared with 2007 (see Table 18). Around three-quarters (71%) of respondents said they made use of recycling banks, an increase of six percentage points since 2007.

Respondents who said that they used their local recycling facilities were then asked what type of items they took there (see Table 19 for a full breakdown). People were most likely to take glass items to bottle banks or recycling centres – with nearly three quarters (70%) of respondents reporting taking these to be recycled. This is slightly less than the 76% who reported that they used their doorstep recycling collection for glass. Just under half (47%) took clothes to be recycled. Around a third of respondents reported that they took paper items, cardboard, shoes or tins and cans to their local recycling banks. It is likely that this is influenced by levels of doorstep collection for certain items, for example door-step collections for glass and clothes recycling are less widespread than paper.

In 2007, similar proportions of respondents were taking each of these items to recycling facilities. Where there had been changes in recycling, the largest increases were for tins, cans and foil, and paper items where the proportion of respondents who said they took these to be recycled had increased by eight percentage points.

More on the Defra Survey from the BuilderScrap.com team.

Respondents were asked what items were collected for recycling or composting from outside their homes by the council. Table 16 shows that respondents were most likely to report that paper, tins and cans, and glass bottles and jars were part of their council‟s collection. Around three quarters of respondents mentioned cardboard and plastics. There was an increase in the proportion of respondents saying that they could recycle these items outside their homes since 2007, with the exception of paper items which was consistently listed by 94% respondents in 2007 and 2009. For some items including tins, glass objects and garden waste this increase was by more than 10 percentage points, whilst for food waste, clothes and shoes the increase was slightly less (by six to eight percentage points).

Levels of use of doorstep recycling facilities tended to reflect reported provision of these facilities (see Table 17). Use of recycling and composting door-step collection facilities had increased for nearly all types of waste since 2007 but most notably for plastic items (increased by 19 percentage points), cardboard (up by 18 percentage points) and tins/cans and glass items (which have increased by 17 percentage points). The only small decrease between 2007 and 2009 was for garden waste. In 2007, 55% of those with a garden said they normally put out garden waste for council collection. This had dropped to 51% in 2009.

Great stuff

I’m sure we all know about recycling. Now let us see how much the general public know about Energy Saving! Here at BuilderScrap.com we want encourage Interdependence and the merits of both.

Respondents to the Defra survey who had bought an appliance in the last twelve months were asked if they had looked for the Energy Saving Recommended logo on it. This logo was developed by the Energy Saving Trust to help consumers identify the most energy efficient products available. Respondents who had bought more than one appliance in the last twelve months were asked this question in relation to one of these which was selected randomly. In the 420 purchases covered by the survey, the purchaser claimed to have looked for the logo in 71% of these, while in 24% the purchaser had not. In the remaining 5% of purchases the respondent did not know whether they had looked for the logo. A tracker survey carried out by the Energy Saving Trust in August 2007 showed that the logo had been looked for in 60% of purchases, showing an increase in the proportion of purchasers reporting that they are looking for the logo.

Respondents who had bought an appliance in the last twelve months were also asked whether the appliance they bought had the Energy Saving Recommended logo on it. In the 420 purchases covered by the survey, 72% of appliances were claimed to carry the logo (1% higher than the 71% of purchasers who had looked for the logo). The results suggest that most purchasers who reported that they had looked for the logo thought that it was on the appliance they bought. The tracker survey in August 2007 showed that the logo was said to be present on 62% of appliances purchased. It is possible that there is some confusion between the EU (A-G) label 8, which was not asked about, and the Energy Saving Recommended label, which only covers the most energy efficient products.

Not sure about you guys think but I’m sure any salesmen worth his salt would have pointed this logo out. The Government could do more to let people know about this label and what it actually means.

Public atitudes and behaviours towards the environment – tracker survey.  Final Report to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs; September 2009

Alex Thornton (2009). Public attitudes and behaviours towards the environment – tracker survey: A report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. TNS. Defra, London.

This research was commissioned and funded by Defra. The views expressed reflect the research findings and the authors‟ interpretation; they do not necessarily reflect Defra policy or opinions.

Beliefs and attitudes towards the environment and knowledge of environmental terms

This looks at respondents‟ beliefs and attitudes towards the environment and knowledge of environmental terms. All attitudinal measures reported here were included in the main survey 3. Where possible, findings are compared with those from previous research carried out by Defra (2007) and the Energy Saving Trust (over a series of tracker surveys between 2006 and 2008).

Perceptions of own lifestyle

Respondents were asked two questions to establish how much they felt they were doing that was environmentally-friendly and how happy they were with the amount they were doing to help the environment. The results from these two questions are presented in Table 1 compared with the equivalent results from the 2007 Defra survey.

Perceptions of own lifestyle

At BuilderScrap.com we like this type of quantitative survey as.  The numbers suggest that respondents do think of themselves as environmentally friendly, but a tiny variable wish to do more to help than were recorded in 2007

What do you guys think?

Here at BuilderScrap.com we love to find little hint’s, tips and useful information. We loved this snippet from the good people at home recycling.

Recycling office furniture

The Facts

* Up to £13 million of furniture is reused already each year
* There are many people locally, in reduced circumstances, who would welcome what you might be throwing away

REDUCE

* If you don’t need to replace then don’t

REUSE

* Give away to, and buy from charities – you’d be helping a good cause and saving a lot of hassle too
* Try selling your unwanted furniture and look around for second hand bargains

RECYCLE BASE MATERIALS

* Only recycle as one last resort before wasting
* Attempt to breakdown into separate recyclate groups

Don’t forget us at BuilderScrap.com we pride ourselves on re-use and stopping waste ending up in landfill.

A great article from Larry West on The Benefits of Metal Recycling. All of us in the BuilderScrap.com offices had a look at this one.
The United States recycles 150 million metric tons of scrap materials annually, including 85 million tons of iron and steel, 5.5 million tons of aluminium, 1.8 million tons of copper, 2 million tons of stainless steel, 1.2 million tons of lead and 420,000 tons of zinc, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). Other metals such as brass, bronze, magnesium and tin are recycled as well.

What are the benefits of recycling all that metal?
U.S. Exports Recycled Metal

In 2008, the scrap recycling industry generated $86 billion and supported 85,000 jobs. The recycled materials that the industry processes into raw material feedstock every year are used for industrial manufacturing around the world. In 2008, the United States exported $28.6 billion—roughly 44 million metric tons—of scrap commodities, which contributed significantly to U.S. trade balances.
Metal Recycling Saves Energy

Recycling scrap metal reduces greenhouse gas emissions and uses less energy than making metal from virgin ore. The amount of energy saved using various recycled metals compared to virgin ore is up to:

– 92 percent for aluminium
– 90 percent for copper
– 56 percent for steel

Metal Recycling Conserves Natural Resources

Metal recycling also conserves natural resources. Recycling one ton of steel conserves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone. Recycling a ton of aluminium conserves up to 8 tons of bauxite ore and 14 megawatt hours of electricity.

Can the UK do more?

Last week, BuilderScrap exhibited at the Recycling and Waste Management Exhibiton in Birmingham.  We were met with a great response, as reported by Edie.net

Edie filmed this interview with BuilderScrap‘s Eddie McGee

Next week, BuilderScrap will be exhibiting at the Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition in the Birmingham NEC. 

The team from BuilderScrap will be looking to meet with builders and contractors, as well as people involved in the recycling and environmental industries.  Visit the team at stand 1540.

BuilderScrap around the world

Just to finish off our BuilderScrap.com recycling around the world series.  Today we’re looking at the amounts highlighted countries send to Landfill. How much waste is recycled, composted and incinerated.

This chart illustrates the point most countries could be doing to recycle.  Our thoughts are that some countries really are on the ball. Some need to implement a cultural shift, and it falls to governments and pressure groups to force the issue.

Thanks for reading.

The last part of the BuilderScrap.com recycling around the world series. Today Hamadou Tidiane Sy focuses on Senegal.

Recycling is not done on an industrial scale, but it is part of daily life for many resourceful Senegalese. Everything is recycled, from plastic bags to school exercise books, food cans, bottles of mineral water and even fruit peel. The peel is said to be collected for use in cheap perfume.
Tomato tins become drinking cups in rural areas or are used by beggars in the streets, old newspapers and administrative documents are used to wrap bread, fruit or peanuts you buy in the street. Some artisans also use metal waste to produce anything from chairs to kitchen utensils and children’s toys. Plastic bags are used to make shoes. In the old days, worn tyres used to be made into sandals, but these are much less popular now.
Recently, some smart people have started collecting all the metal waste they can find to send it back to factories in Europe.
The Swiss waste disposal firm Alcyon has signed a contract with the government worth more than $9m to collect and treat rubbish in the capital Dakar. The project is being managed by AMA-Senegal, which will remove a huge tip called Mbeubeuss and recycle much of the city’s waste.