Plastic mountain that shames UK
■ I was horrified to see the photo of the mountain of ‘recycled’ plastic – some of it clearly originating from this country – now blighting a beautiful country on the other side of the world (Mirror, May 27).
Who decides where to send this and do they not think of the effect on the environment?
Why are we wasting our time washing and sorting our recyclable waste if it’s just going to be sent away to pollute another country?
Britain should invest in its own recycling plants so this ridiculous situation is avoided. I don’t mean just plants that bundle the stuff up and send it abroad, but places where recycled materials can be reused.
It’s time to focus on other aspects of life besides Brexit.
Marian Hernes
North Cheam, Gtr London
■ John Wyndham’s 1953 science fiction novel The Kraken Wakes tells of aliens who land on Earth, settle in the Pacific’s Mariana Trench and set about changing our planet to suit their needs by melting the polar ice caps and flooding the land. Mr Wyndham was clearly a visionary, but even he couldn’t have predicted humans would create their own Kraken in the form of discarded plastic recently found even in the depths of the Mariana Trench. What are we doing to this planet? Today’s children will rightly blame previous generations for the toxic legacy we have bequeathed. Jan Kiff, Carshalton Gtr London
It was sickening to see the mountain of plastic waste in Malaysia. What added to the horror was learning much of the rubbish came from the UK, despite people having diligently washed and separated plastic containers for recycling.
It’s a scandal that what was supposed to be recycled plastic is dumped in another country. The Government must halt this and bring councils responsible to heel. Michael Smith, Chatham, Kent
■ I was horrified to read that much of the plastic we send off to be recycled ends up in rubbish dumps in poor countries such as Malaysia. What will happen when those countries are no longer prepared to accept our waste? We need an urgent rethink before our beautiful planet becomes one big rubbish pit for human waste. Disgusting.
Sue Walker, Carlisle, Cumbria
■ I’m very diligent about putting appropriate items in my recycling bin and wash everything so it isn’t considered to be contaminated, so I’m really angry that it is either being incinerated or sent to landfill.
It’s also upsetting that a lot of waste is being sent to countries which then have to put up with our pollution. We need to produce less plastic and local authorities need to devise a better system of recycling to stop this disaster from wrecking our planet.
E Taylor, via email
■ The are so many problems created by single-use plastic pollution. We also have the issue of food waste.
In the 1940s food was packed for us in the Co-op in brown paper bags which would be reused. Drinks were in glass bottles which had a deposit charge to be refunded when returned. We were on rations, so there was no chance of getting fat. Jim Temlett, Dursley, Glos