A nationwide survey carried out on behalf of Riverside Waste Machinery has revealed that only 29.6% of respondents feel the Government is taking enough action to raise awareness about the UK’s waste and recycling targets.
Passionate about the country’s ever-changing attitudes to waste management, Riverside managing director Chris Oldfield was keen to understand what the viewpoint was amongst general members of the public. When analysing the results from the 1955 individuals polled, he feels this demonstrates that education remains a crucial issue.
“Such statistics may surprise some people, but this has simply reaffirmed my belief that more has to be done,” Chris commented. “The UK has made significant progress in recent years but there is still a way to go if we – as a nation – are to meet ever-more stringent recycling targets and legislation.”
Whilst there aren’t any targets imposed on individual members of the general public, the generation of household waste, and the recycling attitudes of these households subsequently plays a significant part in the UK’s overall approach to waste management. Time and resource therefore be spent educating the entire population from the bottom up because everybody has a role to play in the UK’s waste chain one way or another.
Interestingly respondents aged 18 to 24 were least impressed with the Government’s efforts, with only 26.5% of participants from this age group believing the Government is doing enough. On the other hand those aged 65 and above were most content, with 36.9% believing enough effort is being made.
Results suggest different attitudes amongst the Welsh perhaps, with 41.5% of respondents from Wales satisfied with the Government’s efforts.
Chris Oldfield concludes: “There are important things to be noted here. We cannot ignore the issues facing the UK as a whole, and we must concentrate on encouraging everyone to make a difference. However this isn’t about allocating blame – it’s about taking positive steps to initiate positive change.”
