As we all know, plastics can be a pain to recycle. Not all plastics can be recycled and sometimes it’s not even clear with the ones that can be. Here’s what there is to know about one of the tricky ones – plastic bags for soil, compost and bark.
We visited The Old Well Gardening Centre, situated off of the A38 in Devon, who are trialling a recycling scheme for these plastics. The bags are currently unavailable for kerbside pick-up so this trial is a fantastic, local solution for the single-use bags which are wasted when taken to a tip.
Once the bin is filled with enough bags a supplier will come and collect them to be bailed and processed into pellets – ready to start another life. They can be repurposed into anything from back into soil/compost/bark bags or even plastic outdoor furniture such as school benches.
We love this idea to encourage our dream of a circular economy and to stop unnecessary waste heading to the tip. It is great to see local, independent companies using their initiative to implement waste solutions and hope that schemes such as this one can be introduced for other tricky plastic problems yet to be resolved. The bins are informative for customers (showing exactly what can and can’t be put in them) and bonus points from us with how aesthetically pleasing they look!
If you’re not from Devon, no problem! Look out for these bins nationwide as they have been enrolled at many other places as well. More information here: (https://www.lovethegarden.com/uk-en/sustainability)
catching up with our customer.
During our visit we also had a chance to catch up with The Old Well Gardening Centre to talk about our service with them. Here is a Q&A we did:
what led you to working with Binit?
“We heard about you at an event in Exeter where Philippa (CEO) was giving a talk. I was inspired by her different approach to waste collection and was unhappy with our current suppliers.”
what is your favourite feature of the Binit service?
“We really like the fact that they hold events and the educational side of the company. You guys are more of a bespoke service and I like that Philippa is actually looking for solutions to the problem.”
how has your recycling and waste improved?
“It is being collected (unlike with the last suppliers) and I am hopeful our recycling percentage will improve in the future. Unlike anyone else the QR codes are unique and useful for tracking data in our bins.”
Special thanks to The Old Well Gardening Centre for having us. If you have anything new you’d like to share with us about how your company is making changes for a sustainable future feel free to get in touch!