We are being told that "Our Resources" are being wasted, we must recycle newspapers glass etc.
A socialist would agree that there is much wasted in a capitalist world, saving newspapers may save the amount of trees felled, but he would no doubt be aware that the ownership of the trees are not his and any savings made would benefit the capitalist owners of trees, not him. However, a socialist agrees recycling is something that would benefit the planet and would certainly be encouraged in a socialist society where the common ownership and control of the world's resources would be used to benefit everyone not the privileged few.
An article in the Sunday Herald( 19th December 2010 ) demonstrates once again that the profit motivation of capitalist society throws a spanner into what would appear could never be a problem,
"Scotland is aiming for "zero waste" by attempting to increase recycling and reduce the amount of waste created. Over the last five years the amount of waste recycled by Scottish local authorities has risen from 17% to over 37%."
Can't be much wrong with that one would think, but in a capitalist world some people own the land and they want to make a profit, so if you want to dump your waste you must get signed up in a contractual manner and pay for the privilege of dumping, dressed up to a better term called landfill.
As can be seen from this link, the success of recycling by the councils have caused problems which certainly would not arise in a socialist society.
" This means that much less waste is being disposed of as landfill, where it rots and causes noxious pollution. But some councils signed contracts with waste companies in the 1990s that oblige them to deliver minimum amounts of waste to landfill sites every year.
The City of Edinburgh Council signed a contract in 1995 under which it now has to supply 110,000 tonnes of waste a year to a landfill site near Dunbar in East Lothian run by waste company, Viridor.
A report estimated that shortfalls in meeting this could end up making the council liable for "fresh air payments" of £2.5 million a year for three years from 2017. This is because of Government plans to introduce bans on some kinds of waste being dumped as landfill.
"It is ridiculous that Edinburgh is locked into a contract which requires it to either generate rubbish, or pay for empty landfill space," said Dr Dan Barlow, head of policy with WWF Scotland.
"This must act as a warning to all local authorities to avoid locking themselves into long-term landfill or incinerator contracts which undermine progress to cut waste volumes and increase recycling."
Edinburgh council argued that it had to honour contracts it had signed in the past. "Our aim, along with the Scottish Government, is to minimise the amount of waste being sent to landfill. We are extremely proud of our successes in recycling to date," said a council spokeswoman.
"We don't yet know the impact new Scottish Government legislation will have on our contractual commitments to Viridor. However, if we are still bound to pay for any shortfall, the maximum exposure would be £2.5m per annum from 2017 to 2020."
Several other councils are thought to have long-term landfill contracts that could give them similar headaches. Dumfries & Galloway Council admitted that it was committed to a minimum tonnage of waste going to landfill."We're not currently liable for 'fresh air payments', though we could be in the future," said a council spokesman. "But we want to reduce our waste. Income from processing waste from private waste companies could offset any future fresh air payments."
Viridor, part of the £3.9 billion Pennon Group, claims to be the largest waste and recycling company in Scotland. Last week it was given the go-ahead for a £200m incinerator at its Dunbar site."
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