As a nation we are addicted to plastics and they are engrained in our day to day lives. We store our food in it, drink from it and use it to transport our shopping. But we all know that this is not a sustainable way of living. Every year 16,000 tonnes of plastic waste ends up being dumped into landfill, with a further 8 million tonnes of plastic making its way into our lakes, rivers and oceans. Over recent years there has been a drive to encourage us to do more to recycle the plastic we are using, but reducing our dependency on plastics would help us to go even further. So what steps can you take to reduce your plastic waste? Here are three simple suggestions to get your started:
- Reusable Water Bottles: It is estimated that in the UK we go through 15 million plastic bottles every single day. If you send your children to school with a plastic bottle of fruit juice or regularly grab a bottle of water on the way to the gym, consider investing in a reusable bottle.
- Use a ‘For Life’ Bag at the Supermarket: We have seen more and more businesses charging customers who require a plastic carrier. Despite this, British shoppers used 8.5 billion single-use bags during 2014 – an increase of two hundred million bags from the previous year. So next time you are going to supermarket, consider take a reusable ‘for life’ bag and ask yourself if you really need a plastic bag for those two items.
- Ditch Your Lighter for Matches: With a variety of scents now available, candles have become a fashionable item to have in the home. Instead of using a plastic lighter, consider lighting your candle with matches or a reusable metal lighter. Not only will they not take years to degrade in a landfill site, they will also not harm the wildlife that have been known to ingest them.
How We Recycle the Plastic Waste We Receive At WT Skip Hire we always look to recycle as much of the waste we receive as possible and have achieved recycling rates of 90%. As you can imagine, the skips that get returned to our waste management centre are often filled with a considerable amount of plastic waste. These mixed plastics are cut down into small flakes and washed before being melted down to be made into new plastic products. Booking one of our skips in incredibly simple and all of our sizes and prices available online. To book your skip, simply give us a call on 01493 668118 and we will arrange a convenient time to deliver it to you. 