Good morning Mastodon!
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On the subject of Things Not To Put In Your Bin, it sounds obvious but things that will explode is a big one. Explosions can damage the specialist heat proof lining of the kiln, forcing it to be shut down for maintenance or even requiring it to be replaced, and explosions can also force gases through the filtration system faster than it can deal with them causing air pollution. People are apparently throwing away gas cylinders, which is crazy because domestic cooking and heating gas cannisters can be returned for a deposit. Empty camping gas cannisters can be returned to any outdoor shop selling gas cannisters.
@afewbugs round here (even in middle of town!) you can literally leave out any metal item that you no longer want on the pavement and someone will haul it off for the scrap metal value..
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On the subject of Things Not To Put In Your Bin, it sounds obvious but things that will explode is a big one. Explosions can damage the specialist heat proof lining of the kiln, forcing it to be shut down for maintenance or even requiring it to be replaced, and explosions can also force gases through the filtration system faster than it can deal with them causing air pollution. People are apparently throwing away gas cylinders, which is crazy because domestic cooking and heating gas cannisters can be returned for a deposit. Empty camping gas cannisters can be returned to any outdoor shop selling gas cannisters.
But the worst one is batteries. Most people now (hopefully!) know you shouldn't put batteries in your domestic waste, but only recognise batteries as the little AA cylinders rather than recognising batteries as being in little household things like toothbrushes, hearing aids, ear pods or vibrators where they're sealed in and invisible. Vapes are a huge one, and although single use vapes have been banned vapes with a recharge port at a similar price point are still being treated as single use disposable items. These cause a lot of fires in waste collection lorries when they're compacted, but also fires at waste management plants which want the fire in one place only, the kiln. So remove batteries from small electronic devices for disposal if you can, and if you can't dispose of the whole device in the battery recycling bin that every shop selling batteries should by law have available.
So basically stick your broken sex toys in the clear plastic battery bin in Sainsburys
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On the subject of Things Not To Put In Your Bin, it sounds obvious but things that will explode is a big one. Explosions can damage the specialist heat proof lining of the kiln, forcing it to be shut down for maintenance or even requiring it to be replaced, and explosions can also force gases through the filtration system faster than it can deal with them causing air pollution. People are apparently throwing away gas cylinders, which is crazy because domestic cooking and heating gas cannisters can be returned for a deposit. Empty camping gas cannisters can be returned to any outdoor shop selling gas cannisters.
@afewbugs And no doubt e-waste batteries, especially the rechargeable Lithium based ones
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On the subject of Things Not To Put In Your Bin, it sounds obvious but things that will explode is a big one. Explosions can damage the specialist heat proof lining of the kiln, forcing it to be shut down for maintenance or even requiring it to be replaced, and explosions can also force gases through the filtration system faster than it can deal with them causing air pollution. People are apparently throwing away gas cylinders, which is crazy because domestic cooking and heating gas cannisters can be returned for a deposit. Empty camping gas cannisters can be returned to any outdoor shop selling gas cannisters.
@afewbugs
That is a disposable SIP canister - for welding usually but some of us use them for other shenanigans. The gas in them isn't flammable - it's usually CO2, Argon or a mix but they're meant to go in your can recycling bin not general waste because they can still have pressure in them which is bad. -
@afewbugs round here (even in middle of town!) you can literally leave out any metal item that you no longer want on the pavement and someone will haul it off for the scrap metal value..
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@afewbugs it hadn’t occurred to me how much better incineration would be than landfill.
On the face of it, burning everything sounds bad, but I suppose it must actually be easier to manage the pollutants from that, as well as obviously producing energy from it.
@benjamineskola @afewbugs yeah, me too, my brain always went "burning stuff bad" but this thread has been fascinating. Thst they can even recycle the ash into aggregates is neat.
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@afewbugs
That is a disposable SIP canister - for welding usually but some of us use them for other shenanigans. The gas in them isn't flammable - it's usually CO2, Argon or a mix but they're meant to go in your can recycling bin not general waste because they can still have pressure in them which is bad.@jamesb I'm guessing it just expanded in the heat then and exploded from the pressure
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@jamesb I'm guessing it just expanded in the heat then and exploded from the pressure
@afewbugs
Exactly that.
They're chonky too. It's a shame they're disposable when it would be easy to set up a scheme to recycle them via Halfords or something. -
But the worst one is batteries. Most people now (hopefully!) know you shouldn't put batteries in your domestic waste, but only recognise batteries as the little AA cylinders rather than recognising batteries as being in little household things like toothbrushes, hearing aids, ear pods or vibrators where they're sealed in and invisible. Vapes are a huge one, and although single use vapes have been banned vapes with a recharge port at a similar price point are still being treated as single use disposable items. These cause a lot of fires in waste collection lorries when they're compacted, but also fires at waste management plants which want the fire in one place only, the kiln. So remove batteries from small electronic devices for disposal if you can, and if you can't dispose of the whole device in the battery recycling bin that every shop selling batteries should by law have available.
So basically stick your broken sex toys in the clear plastic battery bin in Sainsburys
Anyway I had a brilliant day, and I love seeing people work together to do very clever things to solve problems, but we can't lose track of the fact that this isn't actually a good thing it's just the least bad option we have for disposing of waste because it's still sending greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and what we really need to be working on as a species is generating less waste to start with. The presentation also shared the depressing statistic that only 2/3 of humanity has access to any waste collection and disposal infrastructure at all, and the rest just have to deal with it themselves by burning it or dumping it around their living spaces (something I encountered in a previous life doing ecology fieldwork in The Gambia https://geekinthegambia.blogspot.com/2009/06/setsetal.html)
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Anyway I had a brilliant day, and I love seeing people work together to do very clever things to solve problems, but we can't lose track of the fact that this isn't actually a good thing it's just the least bad option we have for disposing of waste because it's still sending greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and what we really need to be working on as a species is generating less waste to start with. The presentation also shared the depressing statistic that only 2/3 of humanity has access to any waste collection and disposal infrastructure at all, and the rest just have to deal with it themselves by burning it or dumping it around their living spaces (something I encountered in a previous life doing ecology fieldwork in The Gambia https://geekinthegambia.blogspot.com/2009/06/setsetal.html)
But I don't want to end on a negative note because I've had an absolutely fascinating day, and I hope you've enjoyed following along too.
I can only apologise to anyone who encountered me on my way home smelling of warm damp garbage
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But I don't want to end on a negative note because I've had an absolutely fascinating day, and I hope you've enjoyed following along too.
I can only apologise to anyone who encountered me on my way home smelling of warm damp garbage
Also as a little postscript, in a facility where 95% of the staff I saw were male presenting I was impressed by the fact that there were free menstrual products in the toilets
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@afewbugs
Exactly that.
They're chonky too. It's a shame they're disposable when it would be easy to set up a scheme to recycle them via Halfords or something.@afewbugs
Ironically a disposable camping gas cylinder would probably cause less damage, despite being flammable, as the pressure is less and the metal is far thinner. -
Also as a little postscript, in a facility where 95% of the staff I saw were male presenting I was impressed by the fact that there were free menstrual products in the toilets
@afewbugs This was fascinating. Thank you for sharing!
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@BashStKid @afewbugs Thank you for posting this. You saved me the time searching for it
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@afewbugs
Ironically a disposable camping gas cylinder would probably cause less damage, despite being flammable, as the pressure is less and the metal is far thinner.@afewbugs
The SIP ones are made of thick steel with a removable screw in valve. There's no reason why they can't be reused other than them being low value so no-one can be arsed. -
But the worst one is batteries. Most people now (hopefully!) know you shouldn't put batteries in your domestic waste, but only recognise batteries as the little AA cylinders rather than recognising batteries as being in little household things like toothbrushes, hearing aids, ear pods or vibrators where they're sealed in and invisible. Vapes are a huge one, and although single use vapes have been banned vapes with a recharge port at a similar price point are still being treated as single use disposable items. These cause a lot of fires in waste collection lorries when they're compacted, but also fires at waste management plants which want the fire in one place only, the kiln. So remove batteries from small electronic devices for disposal if you can, and if you can't dispose of the whole device in the battery recycling bin that every shop selling batteries should by law have available.
So basically stick your broken sex toys in the clear plastic battery bin in Sainsburys
@afewbugs there was a big fire at the Waste Recycling plant down in Bermonsey, London on Monday. They are still investigating what started it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't down to batteries. This was my local recycling centre when we lived in London. Needless to say not very accessible to domestic users if you didn't have a car or use of a van.
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@afewbugs
The SIP ones are made of thick steel with a removable screw in valve. There's no reason why they can't be reused other than them being low value so no-one can be arsed.@afewbugs
Actually I'm surprised they didn't come out of the pile - they used to have a big magnet to remove the ferrous waste for recycling. -
Also as a little postscript, in a facility where 95% of the staff I saw were male presenting I was impressed by the fact that there were free menstrual products in the toilets
@afewbugs I love the fediverse
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@marjolica it's a lovely ride beside the water up from St Davids, and completely flat
@afewbugs hopefully you didn't get too wet.
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Good morning Mastodon! Remember when you were in primary school and went on school trips to places teachers though were important or free, and retained nothing from them except for who was sick on whom on the way there? Now you're older and nerdier did you ever think "Actually it might be really interesting to visit a major piece of civic infrastructure and learn how it works?" Just me? Well I was in luck today because the University sustainability team has organised a tour of #Exeter Energy Recovery Facility in #MarshBarton, where all our non-recyclable rubbish ends up.
https://www.viridor.co.uk/energy/energy-recovery-facilities/exeter-erf/
@afewbugs oh superb, I wonder when the next openday is....
