Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Waste in Perspective
As a society, the UK is consuming natural resources at an unsustainable rate. If every country consumed natural resources at the rate we do, we would need three planets to live on. In May 2007 the Government published the revised National Waste Strategy for England. The main environmental objectives for action are:
- Separate waste growth (in all sectors) from economic growth and more emphasis put on waste prevention and re-use.
- Increase diversion from landfill and secure a better combination of treatment facilties for waste.
Get the most environmental benefit from that investment, through increased recycling of resources and recovery of energy from residual waste using a mix of technologies. - Biodegradable waste (waste that easily rots) degrades in landfill anaerobically (without oxygen), producing methane and leachate. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (approximately 20 times more potent than CO2) which contributes to accelerating climate change. Using garden composters and food waste digester allows waste to degrade aerobically (with oxygen) thereby preventing the production of methane.