Recycling and the Junk dumpsters
I very diligently collecting my glass, plastic, aluminium and paper/cardboard garbage for recycling, take it to the Junk dumpsters by Hurley’s, then, aside from glass, which is kept separately, dump all the bags into the same dumpsters. There are three of them, each marked for plastic, cans and paper. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have one dumpster for each?
Auntie’s Answer: I am really glad you asked that question. While Junk has an explanation for why the bins are being used to collect plastic, cans and paper all together, which I will get to in a minute, you have touched on one of my pet peeves – people who do not separate their recyclables even when the dumpsters are clearly marked. All too often, when you take stuff to the bins, you will find a right mess. There will often be bags filled with both plastic and cans thrown in the general vicinity of the bins or dumped inside them without separating the items.
Even worse, many times people throw rubbish in the bins as well.
If you are willing to go through the trouble of collecting items to recycle, how difficult would it be to keep them separate at home? I cannot imagine that task would be very onerous. Why make it necessary for those who empty the bins to then have to open all the individual bags and separate everything? At the very least, keep each type of recyclable in its own bag. This is not rubbish we are dealing with; we are all trying to do the right thing and be as green as possible.
OK, I feel better.
Now, about Junk. We contacted Rolston Anglin, one of the owners of the junk-removal company which has put out those aforementioned recycling bins at Grand Harbour, as well as all four branches of Foster’s Supermarket, Kirk Market and Chisholm’s in North Side, and he explained why the bins aren’t marked, except for the separate blue receptacles for glass.
For the moment, you are correct that plastic, cans and paper are all going into the bins together into special strong inserts. There are separate flaps that cover the bins but the company is waiting for new labels to arrive that will clearly mark where each item should be thrown. In addition, he says that the company is “tracking usage to see which items the bins get more of (plastic, cans or paper) and will organise the bins to accommodate that”. That could mean there might be two bins just for plastic and one divided for the other two items depending on their location.
So, my advice and request is for you to check before emptying your bottles into the bin and make this process as painless as possible for everyone.
Category: Ask Auntie
Make a random visit to any of Junk’s supermarket collection points and you will see the mess that is being created. The small blue plastic domestic bins with lids are not suitable for collecting bottles and the large metal bins,.now with canvas liners, but with dirty heavy lids are not suitable for mixed plastic, cardboard etc. Why, oh why, did whoever was responsible for setting the scheme up look elsewhere in the world to see how to do it properly. Also the frequency of Junk,s collections needs to be looked at. Unless Junk gets its act together then someone who can do the job properly ought to be given it .