Brought some rubbish back from the "recycling centre"

Sounds like Daily Mail logic to me! Nothing to do with the Courts or individuals taking their own responsibility.

Look at it from the perspective of the Council. Given they're an accountable public body responsible for disposing many thousands of tons of mixed domestic and commercial waste, what's the most effective way of doing it?

Bicycles are a tiny part of a much larger problem, but OK, let's concentrate on them.

One way is for the public sector to employ someone to do old bikes up and sell them. Not a bad idea except: there isn't a roaring trade in second-hand bicycles; it's a business operation competing with the private sector; and employing people means taking on payroll, recruitment, and pension overheads. Also risk of building a costly indoor bike mountain because no-one wants them, and taking a loss. Retail selling has considerable risks and overheads, and selling stuff isn't "core business'.

Giving discarded bikes away is unacceptable because Councils have to minimise cost - voters don't like paying taxes and old bikes have scrap value. The Public Sector is supposed to protect taxpayers in general, not help passing scroungers pick up bargains!

Selling old bikes in bulk to a private sector buyer is a good compromise. The council gets at least scrap value, and the private sector buyer has the opportunity to make money by fixing some of the bikes. They take any profit in exchange for taking responsibility for storage, tooling, safety and employing people to do the work.

All in line with long established Conservative economic policy. It's efficient and fair. There's nothing to stop John Doe competing to buy old bikes from the Council and making a fortune by recycling them. It only becomes a court issue when John Doe supplies a faulty bike and the customer takes umbrage.

I'm sure the existing system can be improved, but it's not simple.

Dave

Haven't posted any replies on the thread, just been watching opinions so far, but two thoughts:-

1:Liability:- a year or two after I picked up a J&S 1400 grinder from work at scrap metal price and a few management changes later, they wouldn't sell me a Hardinge HLVh-EM. When I found out that it was because of liability worries I was somewhat livid, to say the least!

2:Cycling:- What happened to the cycling proficiency test???

3:Went to the tip again today. Third car load in three weeks. I can see some of the shed and garage floors again.

PS:- I can't count either.

Edited By Mark Rand on 20/06/2023 19:59:11

Hi, as far as smashing up glass bottles and melting them down to make new bottles, it doesn't quite work like that. You can't make new bottles just from used smashed up bottles. Glass bottles are turned into cutlet and is then mixed with new sand in the correct proportions to make new glass bottles, this helps preserving the raw material resources as well. Even milk bottles can only be reused so many times, as the cleaning process weakens them over time. I went on a Green King brewery visit many years ago, and bottles from pubs etc. came in from anywhere and any brewery house, they all went into a automatic cleaning plant, where upon the labels would be removed and various cleaning cycles where used, followed by a steaming hot sterilisation process, and inferior bottles got automatically rejected, and finally went into the bottling area. It is quite likely that the run of the mill glass jars and bottles from the shops, wouldn't stand up to the same rigorous cleaning process as not all glass bottles are the same, and window glass is different.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 20/06/2023 22:03:30

Yes, but at one time there was a deposit on the bottles, which was reclaimed when one visited the off licence on the next occasion.

When I first visited Le Mans, local youths used to plod along the ditch between the track and the stands (put in after the 1955 disaster) in order to claim the 10 centimes deposit on each bottle which had been discarded by the international spectators.

I feel guilty when I take bottles to the recycling skips, but not as guilty as when they went into the dustbin.

Hi Chris, just because you could take your bottles back and get a refund, doesn't mean they got refilled, recycling glass bottles has been going on long before people have been aware of it, glass cutlet is probably cheaper to buy than new material, as well as probably having other benefits for making new bottles.

Regards Nick.

The word is actually cullet !

It can only be used as an ingredient in new glass, unlike metals that can be melted and re-cast alone.

Something not often mentioned in any discussion of salvaging materials is the natural attrition anyway, although the point about people throwing away things that should be salvaged, seems slowly getting through.

Hi Nigel. you are correct, don't know why I said cutlet.

Regards Nick.

My original point was that glass milk bottles are reused up to 30 times according to the interweb, when I take beer, wine bottles or jam jars to the recycling they just fall into the container and potentially get broken or at least chopped. Do they reuse, or are they all smashed up for cullet.

My original point was that glass milk bottles are reused up to 30 times according to the interweb, when I take beer, wine bottles or jam jars to the recycling they just fall into the container and potentially get broken or at least chopped. Do they reuse, or are they all smashed up for cullet.

In days of old in French supermarkets you could take your bottles back and refill from a barrel

Dave, SoD; I don't mind you questioning my logic, or pointing out errors or flaws in my reasoning, but I take great exception to being associated with the Daily Mail or other such derisible 'comics'.

We will get along just fine without such comments, if you don't mind.