This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Tuesday 1 October 2024
Soft (Plastics) Sell?
Soft plastic packaging, like polypropylene, is difficult to recycle. Such material's not even currently collected by UK councils. In 2021, Sainsbury supermarkets announced an "..innovative recycling system (that) allows customers to recycle polypropylene film found in several household products". Such packaging was returned to the store by the customer (driven by car?), baled and sent for 'recycling'. Very soon, another supermarket chain, Tesco, claimed to have adopted a similar system. Campaigners, Everyday Plastic, along with the Environmental Investigation Agency, surreptitiously inserted trackers inside 40 packages of soft plastics, collected by Sainsbury and Tesco supermarkets. They found that 17 reached their end destinations. Twelve of the 17 were then used as fuel pellets or burned for energy. From this, Everyday Plastics concludes that 70% of soft plastics collected in supermarket recycling schemes, is being burned (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/01/soft-plastic-collected-for-recycling-burned-tesco-sainsburys-campaigners). The results of this investigation clearly confirms that customers are being misled. The customers will be believing that returning their soft plastics to the store is having a beneficial environmental effect. It's, however, very difficult to put a precise figure on the extent to which soft plastics are being burned. Presumably, trackers were only inserted in bales from a relatively small number of stores. Twenty-three of the trackers appear to have been detected (ansd removed?), before reaching their planned end destination. Perhaps such end destinations changed (for better or for worse?)? It's consequently highly uncertain what happened to these bales. It's also difficult to know, which party is the prime misleader. Perhaps the supermarkets know their schemes are flawed. It could also be the case, however, that folk at the end destinations are misleading the supermarkets. It could even be a combination.
When Did They Come to the UK? 3. Fallow Deer
Fallow deer (Cervus dama) are originally from Asia. They were introduced for hunting to the UK by the Normans, around the 11th Century.
When Did They Come to the UK? 2. The Grey Squirrel
The Grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) was introduced to England from North America in 1876. It was used as an ornamental species, to populate the grounds of stately homes (e.g. Henbury Park in Cheshire).
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Soft (Plastics) Sell?
Soft plastic packaging, like polypropylene, is difficult to recycle. Such material's not even currently collected by UK councils. In 20...
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Garden plants in France, The Netherlands, The UK and Sikkim (NE India).
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Common toadflax ( Linaria vulgaris ) contains a moderately toxic glucoside.