Even more options to cut waste
City residents urged to recycle where possible by Climate Action Board in order to get nearer national average
THE effects of climate change are large and far-reaching impacting the whole globe. So if that’s daunting when considering how you can help the cause, why not start with something small and seemingly insignificant something like your bin?
According to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), waste sector emissions, including at Energy Recovery Facilities (ERFs) where most of our ‘black bag’ waste is incinerated, accounted for six per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.
This is a staggering 63 per cent reduction on levels in 1990 - due mainly to landfill tax, which has driven waste away from landfills.
Although huge progress has been made, it is argued there is still a lot to do - and most of this starts with us at home.
And the CCC has concerns that progress has stalled since the mid-2010s, with recycling rates having plateaued in England.
UK emissions from waste come mostly from methane from landfill and burning waste in ERFs - but if we can cut down on our waste in the first place and reuse and recycle more less waste will be burned.
Burning waste produces carbon emissions, sulphur dioxide and NOx which is a greenhouse gas and harmful to health.
The majority of the remaining waste emissions come from the decomposition of organic matter in landfill, combustion of residual waste in energyfrom waste plants and methane and nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater treatment processes
This is why the
Portsmouth Climate Action Board is urging people to reduce waste and recycle where possible.
Board chairman and director of Revolution of Plastics and the University of Portsmouth, Professor Steve Fletcher, said: ‘The throwing away of items we use only once or sometimes not at all, such as plastic bottles or sachets, uses energy and creates greenhouse gasses needlessly.
‘Encouraging manufacturers to make products we can re-use, or repair, or that are easier to recycle will reduce our climate impacts. As consumers, trying to choose products that can be used many times reduces waste, saves energy, and reduces our impact on the climate.
‘Avoiding creating waste in the first place is the best approach to dealing with waste.’
But how do we measure up in Portsmouth?
The city is actually in the bottom 15 per cent of local authorities in terms of the volume of household waste produced annually - 595kg per household.
And the majority of this waste (around 70 per cent)
A WOMAN involved in an e-scooter accident was hospitalised due to her injuries, emergency services have confirmed.
Yesterday, police and paramedics were called to Clarence Esplanade, opposite the D-Day Story Museum, after a woman came off one of the e-scooters being trialled by Portsmouth City Council.
The trial allows those over 18 and with at least a provisional licence to use the scooters, either on a payas-you-go or subscription service.
Kind passers-by also stopped to help the woman following the incident.
A spokesman for South Central Ambulance Service said: ‘The lady sustained a head injury and was taken to the Queen Alexandra Hospital following the accident.’
Her condition in hospital is not known.
It was the first day of the e-scooter trial in Portsmouth, which is running for six months.
Cllr Lynne Stagg, cabinet member for traffic and transportation, said that e-scooter firm Voi will investigate what happened and continue to ‘encourage safe riding’.