WHEN A PUREGYM MEMBER ASKED HIS LOCAL GYM "WHY DON'T YOU INCLUDE ALUMINIUM CANS IN YOUR RECYCLING BINS?"
WHAT HE UNCOVERED WHEN NO ONE GOT BACK TO HIM WAS FAR MORE DISTURBING...
Hi, I'm Tom.
For more than 2 years now I have been a member of PUREGYM and use my local branch in Victoria by Cardinal Place.
something has been vexing me for a REALLY long time:
ANYONE WHO RECYCLES AT HOME KNOW THE RULES DIFFER DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE.
PEOPLE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE LABELLING ON BINS AS THEY TELL YOU WHAT SHOULD & SHOULDN'T GO INTO THEM.
IN ANY WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IT IS CRUCIAL THAT APPROPRIATE LABELS & RECYCLING SYMBOLS ARE USED CORRECTLY TO HELP THE PUBLIC IDENTIFY HOW DIFFERENT TYPES OF PACKAGING CAN BE RECYCLED.
ALL BUSINESSES HAVE A DUTY OF CARE TO PROVIDE CLEAR, CONCISE & CONSISTENT INFORMATION TO HELP SUPPORT & ENCOURAGE CONSUMERS TO RECYCLE.
IT MAY JUST BE A TECHNICAL OVERSIGHT BY PUREGYM MANAGEMENT
AND ACTUALLY THESE BINS DO ACCEPT CANS AS THEY ARE INTENDED FOR MIXED-RECYCLING
HOWEVER THE IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR CURRENT SYSTEM ARE SIGNIFICANT
HERE'S WHY.
TO ALLAY MY FEARS, I CONDUCTED 3 SEPARATE COUNTS OF ALL CANS PLACED IN THE BIN OF THE MEN'S LOCKER ROOM
OVER 3 NIGHTS JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT ..USING GLOVES OF COURSE : )
AFTER DEDUCTING A PROPORTION OF THE TOTAL TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE ACTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE SECTION OF BIN THEY USE - THE NUMBER IS STILL SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH.
AND IF THIS BEHAVIOR IS BEING REPLICATED ACROSS OTHER BINS IN THE GYM - THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM BECOMES ALARMINGLY OBVIOUS:
BUT VICTORIA GYM HAS 5
ACROSS ALL 228 GYMS*
*UK STOCK PORTFOLIO FOR PUREGYM IN 2018
THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF CANS PER DAY IN THAT PARTICULAR GENERAL WASTE BIN WAS:
17
IF THIS PATTERN IS REPEATED ACROSS 3 OF THE 5 BINS
(MEETING THE MINIMUM 60% EU REQUIREMENTS FOR PACKAGING WASTE & RECYCLING / RECOVERY - 2017)