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Question 7
I try and recycle as much as I can and always fill my green bin every month but so much other stuff can't go in. What can I do with stuff like polystyrene, aerosol cans and batteries?
Steve Jones: Batteries should not go in the bin for landfill as they are toxic. Most recycling centres take them nowadays but I admit it is very inconvenient - use rechargeable ones where ever possible.
I don’t know what to do with polystyrene, it's nasty stuff. There is a bio-plastic alternative available which dissolves in water (it's made from corn starch or tapioca!). All you can really do is try to avoid buying things that are excessively packaged. Eventually manufacturers and retailers will be obliged to take more responsibility for waste they have generated, so you could try returning it to the retailer.
Question 8
How do you dispose of your energy-saving light bulbs when they run out?
Steve Jones: They used to make ones with replaceable filaments, so you could reuse the socket part of it. However, as they last so long anyway it didn’t seem to catch on.
My guess is that we will be replacing them with even more efficient ones in a few years time when they do eventually fail. Maybe by then there will be adequate recycling facilities for the metals inside them.
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