Recycling
There could be dispensations for clay grounds that clear up their spent lead shot. That would incur some cost but some of that could be offset by the recycled lead value. And for disciplines conducted on set ‘compact’ ranges, such as Skeet, Down the Line (DTL) and Sportrap, it would, in many cases, be possible to skim-off the metal for recycling. The lead shot fallout area is reasonably well defined. But could smaller clay clubs that shoot these disciplines afford to recover lead?
In the disciplines such as English Sporting, and particularly FITASC, the whole ethos of the competition is to be as close a copy of the game shooting environment as can be simulated. The chance of economically clearing up on a scattered clay layout in woodland and on grassy hillsides is not good as it would be very difficult to scour for shot. That would be the end of Sporting clay shooting with lead cartridges at game fairs, county shows and the village fête, for example,as well as at most Sporting clay grounds, from the major national grounds to the local weekly clay club. But really, what risk is involved in just letting the lead sink into the ground in woodland and meadowland? The other side of the coin is that the legislators and environmental scientists need to have very strong evidence that simply leaving lead shot in the ground is truly harmful. But you can see that one outcome could be that some disciplines shoot lead and clear it up, and some disciplines shoot iron and don’t. It is similar with plastic wads. Skeet and DTL ranges sweep plastic wads up with motorised brushes and send them for energy incineration or possible recycling. Spent plastic cartridge cases ejected from the gun have always been retained by any sensible clay or game shooter and placed in a collection bin. Older readers will remember when cartridges had card or paper cases that were waterproofed with varnish; these are still produced in relatively small quantities and maybe we will go back to that technology. This is all speculation, but the key factor is the stance that the Government will take on metallic lead in the land environment. There are other uninvestigated questions, such as what happens when we deposit iron, bismuth, tungsten or other pellets on top of existing lead pellets in the soil?