WEBVTT 00:00:05.385 --> 00:00:12.748 Hello, my name is Erin McCluskey. I am an outreach worker for BDA Scotland. 00:00:12.748 --> 00:00:15.657 I’m very excited to be making this video with my amazing guest today. 00:00:15.657 --> 00:00:16.667 Could you introduce yourself please? 00:00:17.090 --> 00:00:19.446 Hi. My name is James Colhoun. 00:00:19.446 --> 00:00:23.446 In this video we’re going to cover an interesting topic. Under the BSL (Scotland) 00:00:23.446 --> 00:00:27.446 Act 2015, local councils across Scotland have certain obligations. 00:00:27.446 --> 00:00:29.666 One of the services councils provide is rubbish and recycling collections. 00:00:29.666 --> 00:00:33.126 In this video we want to focus on why it’s important to separate out your recycling. 00:00:33.126 --> 00:00:36.489 Before I get carried away, I should ask James to explain his role. 00:00:37.047 --> 00:00:42.197 Sure. I work at a recycling centre dealing with the glass. 00:00:42.631 --> 00:00:47.401 The glass is all processed and recycled and reused to make the special white paint 00:00:47.401 --> 00:00:52.311 used to paint lines on motorways. The glass makes the paint glow at night 00:00:52.311 --> 00:00:55.081 when it is lit up by headlights. It is also used to create a similar effect 00:00:55.081 --> 00:01:01.541 in the reflective strips on Hi-Vis jackets. These things are both made from recycled glass. 00:01:01.779 --> 00:01:06.195 They are really made from glass? That’s amazing! Can I ask James, 00:01:06.195 --> 00:01:10.195 why is it so important to separate out your recycling, your glass, your paper, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 your plastic and so on? Why do we have to put all these things into separate bins? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is really important, yes. I really want to emphasise that. It’s important to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 separate it all out. In Glasgow, the green bins are for general waste 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so anything that’s not suitable for recycling should go in those. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The purple bin is for your bottles and jars, the brown bin is for food waste, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the grey bin is for plastics, and the blue bin is for cardboard and paper. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You can put shredded paper in there too. It’s really important to keep all this 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 waste separate, and I will explain why. So, as I said before, I work on the glass. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When the lorries come into the recycling centre, all the glass that they have collected 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 up is put into a big hopper. It is my job to load it into the hopper, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which is like a giant funnel. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So the glass goes into the top of that? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, that’s right, into the top and then down into the hopper. Obviously, I can’t 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 see inside it. If a piece of wood for example or some food waste or plastic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gets mixed up with that, it makes a real mess and destroys the whole process. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It can break the machinery and then that will need to be fixed. This means that the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 lorries returning to the recycling centre back up because they can’t unload. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It’s the same thing with the plastic. If it gets mixed up with other types of waste, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it causes all sorts of problems. Please, please don’t do that! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There is no way for us to sort through it so if it does get mixed up, we just have to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 throw the whole lot away. It gets compressed and dumped into landfill! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So that means it can’t be recycled? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Unfortunately not, no. It has to be dumped because it’s contaminated. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Lots of people don’t follow the system and just dump their waste into any bin, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so it all gets mixed up. It’s no good though if it’s not done right. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I see your point. Recycling needs to go into the correct bin and that’s really important, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 judging by what you say. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is, yes. If everything was separated out correctly, the process would run really 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 smoothly, and everything would get recycled. Recycling helps the planet, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it saves trees. We all need to look after the environment. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If people just sorted their rubbish properly, the recycling process would 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 run smoothly. If people ignore the instructions, we’re just going to end up 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 repeating the same thing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you for explaining why it’s so important, James. This is a great opportunity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to remind everybody that each council has its own system for collecting recycling. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The bins are not the same colour in every place. It’s best that you check your 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 own council’s website to find out what the system is in your area. If you can’t find 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the information you need, you can contact the BSL Helpline, and they will make sure 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that you find the information you need to recycle effectively and do your bit to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 keep our environment clean. Thank you so much for your time today, James. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 No problem, thank you.