Comments on: Should households be fined for not separating waste and recyclables appropriately?

By: PaulM

PaulM — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:23:34 +0000

In the UK there are powers available to use if householders seem to willfully contaminated recycling (ie mix the wrong materials contrary to instructions given).

Some of the media like to jump on councils when the powers are used but the is always a trail of education letters, warning letters then legal notices before fines are levied.

At the end of the day it is a minority who fail to do it properly but this minority can cost councils thousands which ends up being paid for by the majority.

PaulM

By: Dean

Dean — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:43:49 +0000

Education works too slowly in this case. People have benn told,they know, but they are not affected directly. Bottle bills are effective,but there are none in the southeast US. We need to buy products made of recycled material to create the demand for services(jobs) to recover the stuff that is being landfilled.

Government and big business need to get on board seriously with more than lip service.

By: Linda

Linda — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:45:03 +0000

I am pro-green and understand the importance of handling the trash properly, but charging people sounds a bit more aggressive. People should be encouraged to do their part. I don’t think punishing them would help. That’s just my 2 cents.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:02:19 +0000

Hi, I would support the mandate. Dumping all your waste into one trash can increase recovery cost for items that can be recycled. Also, most of the waste will end in landfills because of the limited collection and recovery centers. So, if people just want to be lazy or play though games by ignoring the information provided, they deserve to get fined.

Bobby