Sir, – Walking along a beach near Kenmare, Co Kerry, we saw a lot of plastic waste. I asked how plastic recycling works and was told that plastic waste can be brought to a local recycling centre in Kenmare. Besides collecting our household plastic waste, we went the following day to the beach and retrieved plastic bottles, bags and parts of fishing ropes and nets. In a relatively short time we filled up a 120-litre bag with plastic residues. Next day we went to the recycling centre in Kenmare and asked if we could drop the complete bag with plastic waste into one of the plastic collecting containers. I had to pick it out item by item and to squeeze the rubbish through a narrow slot in the container. Additionally I was told by the man at the counter that they normally take only sorted plastic bottles and we would have to buy a special bag for the rest of the plastic waste.
How can such a system work? Nobody will feel responsible for collecting and bringing plastic residues at his own cost to a remote recycling centre and feeding the rubbish piecemeal into a container.
Some plastics could be separated and reused. Some could be converted to energy. Could local authorities not install a collecting system for marine litter so that fishermen or anybody else concerned about this could be encouraged to bring these plastics to a collecting centre, ie one near local harbours, and through being paid for this collected rubbish by the kilo?
RICHARD ELFNER,
Bechtheim, Germany.