Have you ever worked out how much of the rubbish you produce each week is plastic of one sort or another?  An empty shampoo or washing up liquid bottle, yoghurt pots, perhaps trays for the meat and fruit you buy at the supermarket, soft drink bottles, cling film, plastic bags, the list, unfortunately, goes on and on…… as does the plastic itself if it is not recycled.

A plastic soft drink bottle will take hundreds of years to decompose, while a more solid item like a plastic jug will take far longer.  While it is decomposing plastic can potentially pollute the soil and water around it.  In many countries, much plastic waste ends up floating out to sea, causing immediate and longer term, life-threatening hazards to marine life - more bad news for the environment and, once plastic particles enter the food-chain, eventually for the human population too.

So, what can we all do to help?  This is where it starts to get complicated!  The problem is that there are many different types of plastic - you have probably noticed that some are identified by a 'PET' mark and number.  At present, the different types cannot be processed and mixed together to form a new plastic product.   Most of the specialist, plastic recycling plants in the UK therefore process each type separately - and some cannot be re-cycled at all.  The good news is that you can put your empty, rinsed out plastic milk containers into your BLACK RECYCLING BIN - a good start.  And Mid Devon District Council is considering adding other types of plastic to its doorstep recycling collections in the future.

Of course another solution, wherever there is a feasible alternative, is not to buy products packaged in plastic, and to remember to re-use your existing bags and refuse unnecessary plastic bags when out shopping.  In fact, most supermarkets have collection points for plastic bags of all types including:  carrier bags, magazine wrappers, plastic bread bags, plastic wrapping for toilet rolls and paper towels, and plastic wrappers from multi-packs of drinks.