Separating waste is commonplace for most households these days. But why do we separate our waste and what is the best way to separate raw materials?
Why is separating waste important?
By separating your waste properly, you will keep less residual waste. This reduces waste and is better for the environment. Valuable raw materials such as PMD, paper, organic waste and textiles are preserved and given a new life in new products. So we need to take fewer raw materials from the earth and waste less.
In addition, good separation saves on costs. Disposing of residual waste costs money, whereas you can hand in most raw materials free of charge. Separated waste is also cheaper to process than residual waste. Good separation therefore helps the environment and keeps the costs of waste collection and processing manageable.
Does separated waste actually stay separated?
Yes. Everything you hand in separately stays separated. Our trucks collect one type of material per trip. At the waste disposal site, the different flows are collected separately and processed separately. So old glass becomes new glass, old paper becomes new paper and VGF waste becomes compost or biogas.
You sometimes hear that "everything goes back into one pile anyway". This is not true. Only when there is a lot of residual waste between a raw material, the material cannot be recycled properly. Then, unfortunately, it still has to be incinerated, and valuable raw materials are lost. This is why proper separation is so important.