How much of our household rubbish could be recycled?

Friends of the Earth says:
At least 80{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} of our rubbish could be reused, recycled or composted and if products were made with recycling in mind this could be as high as 100{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62}.

Instead the UK’s recycling average is only about 11{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} and the Government aims to increase this to just 30{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} by 2010. Friends of the Earth believes that by then we should be recycling at least half our rubbish. Switzerland and the Netherlands manage this and so should we.

The Government Should:

• Stop building incinerators and put resources into less damaging ways of dealing with the waste crisis.
• Make recycling easier by providing everyone with a recycling collection service from their homes.
• Make manufacturers responsible for the whole life cycle of their products so things are recycleable and made to last.

Most stuff that ends up in incinerators and landfill can be used again:

• 25{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} Paper
  The day-to-day demand for paper is putting immense pressure on the world’s forests. Instead of using paper once and throwing it away, recycling paper and cardboard is better for the environment.
• 35{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} Kitchen and garden waste
  It isn’t necessary to use up rare and valuable peat bogs to make compost. Household tips, make your own organic compost from vegetable peelings, tea, coffee and garden waste.
• 11{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} Plastic
  Most plastic is made almost entirely from oil which takes hundreds of years to degrade in landfill or produces toxic smoke from incinerators. Companies should stop over-packaging items and reduce the amount of plastic they use. The government should ensure we recycle plastic waste.
• 9{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} Metals
  Two-thirds of the metal wasted comes from steel or aluminium cans and foil. Recycling these is easy, profitable and saves loads of resources and energy. Aluminium cans could be recycled indefinitely saving 95 per cent of energy needed to make new.
• 9{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} Glass
  The UK glass recycling rate is among the lowest in Europe. But 30 gallons of oil are saved for every tonne of glass which is recycled.
• 11{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} The Rest
  Many things like old clothes, toys and furniture can be re-used. Other products can be reprocessed if they are broken down into component parts. Manufacturers should be making products that last and are recycleable. Everything could be recycled if companies had high environmental standards that underpinned short term financial gain.