Reduce, reuse, recycle: we are never more aware of the familiar mantra than at Christmas, when a tsunami of cardboard, cellophane and empty bottles of beer and Chateauneuf sweeps through the house. Each one of us is faced with a domestic waste mountain.
But a series of reports this year have raised questions about what happens to our recycling – and whether it’s even worth doing. The biggest problem concerns plastic. According to researchers, more than 60 per cent of the 2.5 million metric tonnes of plastic that is recycled in the UK every year is sent to countries where it is less likely to be recycled or disposed of sustainably. As a result, the equivalent of 30 double-decker-bus loads of plastic waste is dumped or burned in developing countries every 30 seconds, according to a study by the international relief charity Tearfund.