“Plastic can take hundreds of years to biodegrade” but many types of plastic can now be recycled, as I was reminded recently.
Following repeated messages that a delivery “from WOB” (?) was on the way I contacted the Royal Mail. They have a wonderful page where they not only tell you about common scams, they show you what they look like. Entertaining and a bit scary, too. Then it arrived. WOB, it turned out, was the “World of Books” at Mulberry House in Goring-on-Sea. It was a book I’d ordered.
“Recycled plastic”, the packaging proudly announced, and assured me it was “100% recyclable”. Could I believe that? Well, yes. The bag carried the secret sign (“Recycle Me!”): a Triangle made up of three arrows with a Number inside, in this case “4”.
We are encouraged by South Norfolk / Broadland Council to recycle plastic bottles; most of them bear such a triangle. An empty Epsom Shampoo bottle: yes, there’s a 2 in a triangle stamped on the bottom. Can’t see anything on a litre bottle from Oaklands Farm in Aldeby — but inside the green cap, there it is, another 4 in a triangle.
Perhaps we can start putting other plastic objects in our green bins, as well.
JC, 17 February 2022
Thanks to Good Housekeeping for the symbols.
A Geldeston Miscellany 