Newsletter

Since July we have been ploughing ahead urgently seeking homes for our sharp-free glass chippings which are mounting up. There are so many things they can be used for it is just a shame that without an advertising budget we cannot get the message across.

With regard to other materials: aluminium cans, the price rallied and then fell back and cardboard and foil are still generating no income at all. Although of course we still accept them at our constant rate.

Finally, for this newsletter we thought it time to give some interesting facts and figures, especially for those of school age who wish to impress their teacher at the start of term:

• On average every person in the UK throws away their own body weight in waste every seven weeks.
• Every UK household produces over one tonne of waste every year.
• Every eight months the UK produces enough waste to fill Lake Windermere.
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a colour TV for 15 minutes.
• It is not known how long glass takes to break down, but it’s so long that glass made in the Middle East over 3,000 years ago can still be found today.
• Each tonne of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 KW of energy and 7,000 gallons of water.
• Incinerating 10,000 tonnes of waste creates one job, land-filling the same amount of waste creates six jobs but recycling this much waste creates 36 jobs.
• The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle will power a 60W light bulb for six hours.
• Once an aluminium can is recycled it can be part of a new can within six weeks.
• If all the aluminium cans sold in the UK were recycled, there would be 14 million fewer full dustbins each year.
• Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
• It takes just 25 two litre drink bottles to make one adult size fleece.
• 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials.
• In India, there is no such word as ‘waste’ as they believe everything has a further use; with thousands of poor people eking out an existence on landfill sites to prove this point.