There's nothing like recycling to give us a virtuous glow: we're saving the planet, and we don't have to go further than the kerb. We diligently sort beer and wine bottles from plastics, cardboards from paper. But then what happens?
That's very much in the lap of the gods, or, more accurately, the local authorities. Hopefully their recyclers will pick up the green box from the side of the road and place our carefully divided waste into separate compartments. Alternatively, however, they may chuck it into one big container with everyone else's rubbish and sort the whole thing out later.
It doesn't take a genius to appreciate that 'source-separated' systems (where waste is filtered at the kerbside) should deliver better results for the environment than 'commingled' systems, where everything is mashed up in the back of a lorry and picked apart at an 'MRF' or material recycling facility.
If you happen to participate in a commingled scheme, it is thought that somewhere between one tenth and one fifth of your waste could end up in a landfill, forming part of a noxious stew belching methane into the atmosphere. By contrast, less than 1 per cent of all materials collected through source-separated systems is wasted. That's the finding of a new alliance representing the diverse interests of eco-campaigners, waste reprocessors and community groups called the Campaign for Real Recycling.
The campaign is calling on local authorities to halt what it fears is a drift towards commingled systems. 'The best thing to do with recycling is to separate so that you don't get cross-contamination between different waste streams,' says Michael Warhurst, senior campaigner in Friends of the Earth's 'reduce resource use' team, who is on the campaign's steering committee.
This is becoming a serious issue; Britain's recyclers are crying out for decent material. 'We see quality sliding down the scale very quickly and, as a result, we can [foresee] all our glass going to road-fill,' says Brian Head of UK glass recyclers Berryman Glass. To remodel glass into other bottles requires a high level of purity as well as sorting by colour. Mixed or crushed glass is no use for re-melting and generally ends up on the roads as aggregate.
'We make money whichever way it goes, but we have a conscience,' continues Head. 'You have to have a reason for recycling. It isn't something you do for the hell of it - and the reason we recycle glass is to save energy.'
According to Friends of the Earth, last year 280,000 tons of glass collected for recycling could not be re-melted. There is no green benefit from using glass to make aggregate because, as Friends of the Earth points out, 2kg of CO2 is created for every ton of glass collected.
It is a similar story in other industries. Problems with commingled recycling are particularly acute in the paper sector, where shards of glass can cause a mill to come to a juddering halt. Industry group PaperChain blames commingled systems for 'having a negative impact on quality to the detriment of the long-term sustainability of recovered paper markets'.
Wrap (Waste and Resources Action Programme), the government-funded body that promotes recycling, acknowledges that 'although around 95 per cent of material collected for recycling is recycled, we accept that quality is a real issue'. It announced in October that improving quality would be one of its priorities for 2008. For instance, a spokesman says it is 'looking at ways MRFs can build into their contracts that they will only accept materials of a certain quality'.
Why are local authorities favouring commingled systems? 'Recycling is the front line of capitalism,' argues Matthew Thomson of the Community Recycling Network charity. 'We spend 1.5 per cent of our GDP on treating waste and we're at the bottom half of the European league. If you're looking for a growth opportunity, then you're going to come into the international waste market.' Hence the prominence in Britain of the likes of French-based multinationals Veolia and Sita - and, for commercial firms like these, the most cost-effective model is commingling plus MRFs.
Commingling requires householders to have only two containers: one for waste, the other for 'recyclates'. A spokesman for Veolia says: 'This user-friendly system offers lower collection costs and encourages greater resident participation.' He adds: 'modern MRFs are capable of producing good-quality materials and supply a range of reprocessors, including paper mills'.
Veolia also contests figures on the amount wasted by commingling, saying it is only 'between 5 and 8 per cent'. And, it adds, such wastage is 'partly the result of householders putting waste in their recyclate containers.'
To what extent does our waste end up in landfill? 'It depends where you are,' says Andy Bond of not-for-profit recyclers ECT. He reports that in parts of Merseyside the 'residual disposal' (what ends up in landfill) is 500kg per person per year compared with 225kg in Somerset, where ECT runs a combination of recycling services known as the Somerset Waste Partnership.
How can we improve our own recycling performance? 'Contact your council and really challenge them,' says Warhurst. 'Do they know where all their waste is going? If it's commingled, then challenge the council as to whether they have looked at the alternatives.'
Cash is linking up with Friends of the Earth to urge councils that commingle recycling to separate at source. Find out about our letter-writing campaign at theguardian.com/money
What's in the box?
Jon Robins puts his recycling out every week in Brighton, where he lives.
What happens to it? Picked up by Brighton & Hove County Council (BHCC) trucks, source separated at the kerb, and taken to transfer stations before being bulked and sent on to reprocessors by Veolia.
How does Brighton perform? Below par. On average the UK recycles 27 per cent of its rubbish but Brighton manages only 23 per cent.
Why is that? BHCC says: 'Cities face particular challenges in terms of improving performance. We have a large number of converted properties, limited space for storing recycling separately, and we face similar problems where the streets are extremely narrow. We also have a high turnover of population, making communication with residents more challenging.'
What's in your box? Join the discussion on recycling here: blogs.theguardian.com/money/2007/11/recycling_blog.html