Ripple effect
the clue’s in the picture
Friday, 7 November 2008
Stories abound today about the potential for massive stockpiles of recyclable goods, as a result of a collapse in prices for the items that we all sort from our waste and put in orange bag /green box / whatever.
It seems to me that we’ve somehow got into the situation where most people think that ‘recycling’ consists of sorting it out and leaving it on the doorstep. The reality, of course, is that recycling is what needs to happen to those items after they are collected. New goods are made, which requires serious investment in manufacturing plant. Beyond that, for recycling to work, products need to be conceived,
Comments Widget
designed, marketed, sold/purchased and used, just like any other product.
The problems being reported today are linked to the economic slowdown, which is a useful reminder of how easy it is to get away with laissez-faire approaches when times are good. Now they’re not so good, we’ll be regretting the limited government intervention to prompt the supply chain.
I’ve seen some of the work of London Remade up close, and it’s good. But you get a clue as to how tough it is to prime the supply chain when you hear of their having to import essential equipment from Germany, where the economy is well ahead of ours in terms of using recycled materials.
Public services can assist through sustainable procurement of course. Again, progress has been painfully slow in many respects. But that’s a long story for another day.
Let’s hope that today’s news provokes a creative reaction, rather than the usual Council-bashing. At the very least, it should help us all understand that recycling doesn’t end at the doorstep.
