MORE ON MY VIEWS ON RECYCLING

Following my last post on recycling, I got two comments back (from my usual readers- all of them!) I have edited them, and here they are for reference:-

Divemaster GranDad said...

That's the sad part of recycling. It's seen as expensive and thus not worth the time and effort. I think that if the right products are manufactured in the first place, recycling will be at a minimal straight away, but for any residual waste, that can be recycled easily. Unfortunately, humans are wasteful creatures that want maximum return on as little investment as possible, and damn the environment in the process. 

Fishman said...

But it also depends on the availability of the waste. If it is used in road construction for example, how will you get the it to the construction site? I know they had this idea to recycle used tyres to add to bitumen for road laying. But the transport cost did not make it viable.

So, the reality is that as these resources become more scarce, and as the world recognizes that the continued poisoning of the environment cannot continue, the motivation for the recycling of product will grow.
In the example of tyres, from Fishman, the tyre manufacturers will be tasked to ensure that every tyre that is replaced is returned to them / a central collection point. The manufacturers could, in turn, elect a 3rd party at a central point and make them responsible for this. This would ensure greater numbers of old tyres coming to a single repository  thereby making the next steps to recycling more cheaper, and viable. The permit to conduct business in country could be linked to the proof of recycling! I know it may impact on the cost of the tyre, but at least it will happen.

This might sound a bit out there,but consider the following:-
Olive oil manufacturers will soon have to be able to prove that they have disposed of the waste from their production in a controlled, and environmentally friendly manner. If not, they will be fined, and their production permit revoked! Yup, they have for years just dug the stuff back into the ground, thinking it would rot away, and become "compost". Well, guess what - it does not. In fact, the ground becomes so saturated with oil, that nothing will grow there again for a very, very long time!
Wine producers will be faced with the same problem with the waste product after they have pressed their wine. The waste, which used to be dug into the ground, has now been proven to raise acidity levels to beyond acceptable, and it is having a negative effect on the quality of the soil!
And so with most other products / manufacturers. Internationally, motor car manufacturers are being pressed to design their vehicles so that most of it can be recycled once it reaches end of life.

I know that for now it's going to be difficult to motivate, so, the powers that be will legislate. And maybe, in 3rd world countries they may be a bit relaxed about these issues, and some would say it would be difficult to police, but there are ways and means. Soon enough, it becomes the norm, as creating all this waste has become the norm.

Just my thoughts and opinion.

Salagatle!

Economic crisis? My fucking arse!

For many years we have been struggling with varying interest rates. This goes back to the previous regime as well, it's not an ANC problem. There has always been the need to try and find a balance for the cost of money (based on the cost / exchange rate against the USD, Pound, Mark, and more recently Euro and Yen, and also to try and control inflation.
The other problem we have had, which affects the economy is the price of crude.  I have for a long time said that the real market price of crude (Brent crude in our case) should be below USD50 / barrel.

Now we are hearing how big British banks, the first accused being Barclays, have been manipulating the interest rate. I am sure that this "syndrome" will roll over to include many more of the big international banks as investigations go on.

I am also convinced, and there is an article on in on News 24 today, that the same type of manipulation has been going on in the oil market.

All of the above is directly due to greed. And shareholder value! The "demand" driving the price up is a load of crap! The sole driver of the current situation, ACROSS THE WORLD, is greed.

Those that have the money have control of these institutions, and because of their greed, manipulate the system to enrich themselves even more, at the cost of the man in the street.

So what I hear you say! Everyone knows this. Yea, maybe so, but why is no one doing anything about it. Collectively, the man in the street outnumbers the manipulating few by, probably, a million to one! Why the hell are we putting up with this?

The "World" should dictate a base price for crude. $50 per barrel would be more than enough. At that price the barons are probably making $25 per barrel profit anyway. Let's not forget that the technology used to get the oil to the surface is old, and paid for a long, long time ago. Any new equipment bought to replace old is cheap (in comparison to the original cost). More advanced technologies have in fact reduce the cost to get to the oil, and bring it to the surface. A lot less people are required. The pipelines transporting the product have long been paid off. Why are we accepting the abuse from the greedy?? Not even the fact that we may run out of oil in the next 25 - 50 - 100 years is a driver. Those who now own the reserves have more money than they could spend in the next 1000 years anyway.

And oil from coal will extend the lifespan of this product for another 100 years anyway!
The time for alternative power has been around for some time. We need to put pressure on the system to move on with this option. Or is it a way to get us to accept that the next power source that will replace oil will cost the same as the oil, based on replacement factor at the time? More greed?

Manipulation of cost of money, and interest rate, only hurts the most needy - that is countries and people. It is disgusting to think that the whole world has degenerated to the point where their only drivers are to screw their fellow man as much as possible for personal gain! What the hell has happened to us?

Salagatle!