The sorting of household waste is essential. But if he has now entered the customs, there are still many mistakes by throwing our plastic bottles …
Faced with the worsening of the ecological crisis, it becomes essential to limit our impact on the environment, and it starts with simple daily gestures, starting with the sorting of waste. Because garbage management represents a major challenge at a time when overconsumption and production continue to grow. Adopting rigorous sorting practices is therefore essential.
The yellow trash can play a key role in the process. As a reminder, it is intended for metal packaging and waste (cans, cans, aerosols, etc.), cardboard packaging and food bricks (milk bricks, cereal boxes, yogurt packaging, etc.), papers (newspapers, magazines , envelopes …) as well as plastic packaging (water bottles, laundry cans, frozen bags, bottles in plastic, etc.).
However, there is an error that we often make, and which is however absolutely to be avoided: crush or flatten plastic bottles. Many people think that crushing the bottles to optimize the place in the yellow trash cans. This practice therefore starts from a good intention, but its effects are counterproductive, since it distorts mechanical sorting.
Indeed, today, the treatment of our waste in sorting centers is largely automated. However, not all machines are equal when distinguishing waste. Some, designed to recognize the cylindrical form of bottles, are likely to poorly identify the container, confusing it with a preserved or a card for example. Result: these bottles finish cremated or in discharge, instead of being recycled.
It is all the more problematic that, according to Siredom, the Ile -de -France waste management union, in 2022, sorting errors represent 38 % of the tonnages collected. An alarming figure, especially when you know that France is already struggling to achieve its European objectives in terms of recycling.
To avoid ruining your recycling efforts, there are a few easy -to -remember gestures. First, as we have just explained to you, do not crush the plastic bottles and keep them in their original shape. Also remember to empty them well, but you don’t need to rinse them. Finally, be sure to leave the traffic jams in their place – even if, today, all the plastic bottles and the drinking bricks are equipped with an attached cap – in order to avoid increasing the amount of plastic waste in the environment.
Finally, do not wire the packaging between them, because it makes the waste inseparable and, there too, it distorts the sorting system. The best is to leave the packaging in their original condition to facilitate their recognition and treatment. Even if it seems to take up more space, it is a necessary harm to optimize recycling.