Is recycling encouraged enough?

Connor IbbetsonData Journalist
November 04, 2019, 9:12 AM GMT+0

More frequent collections, local recycling facilities and cash incentives would encourage Britons to recycle more of their waste

The British public want supermarkets to do more to reduce plastic packaging, but also think that more needs to be done to make sure products are recycled after use.

The majority (83%) of Britons say that more needs to be done to encourage recycling in the UK, with only 12% saying they think they get all the help they need to make sure their waste is reused.

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Among the biggest issues keeping Brits from recycling more in the UK are a lack of local facilities, councils not collecting certain types of items from the kerbside and confusing rules.

One in six Brits (16%) say they would recycle more if their local authority collected more types of recyclables, more often, from their kerbside bins. Another one in nine (11%) want better or more accessible community recycling facilities closer to home.

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Despite half (50%) of Brits knowing about the deposit recycle scheme (the scheme, popular in European countries, sees members of the public paid for recycling) only 9% of Brits say that financial compensation through tax reductions or cash for the time they put into sorting and recycling waste would get them recycling more.

One in twenty Brits say they won’t recycle anymore until they are assured that items they send for recycling are actually recycled and not destined for the landfill like regular rubbish.

However, 10% of Brits say they think they already recycle all of their waste, and nothing could help them to recycle more.

Image: Getty

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