Every year each of us throws away 140 bottles and 200 tins. Every family junks half a ton of paper and spends roughly £100 on wrappers and packs which go straight into the dustbin.
Every scrap of paper, every piece of steel and plastic is made from imported material. Yet once it has got to our dustbin our whole refuse disposal system is geared to burying it or burning materials which are still useful.
By re-cycling and re-using our rubbish we could save millions of pounds of imports. We already have the technical know-how, but, apparently, not the inclination.

Not just a load of old rubbish: p 11