History of Recycling
1901 - Present Day
1930s
People start making plastics from chemicals produced from petroleum (plastic products had been made from plants since 1862).
1939
What with trying not to get invaded and fighting evil dictators, people forgot about waste management during World War Two and ended up with huge dumps outside of cities, where sometimes vast tips up to a mile long would burn continuously.
1948
Fresh Kills Landfill, what a lovely name, is opened in New York. It’s so big it can be seen from space apparently, we’re not sure who was in space in 1948 to tell them that.
1960
The Duke of Edinburgh has a go at the government about how messy everything is. This leads to the setting up of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.
1971
Friends of the Earth return thousands of bottles to the drinks company Schweppes. They tell all the newspaper and TV channels they’re doing it and suddenly everyone hears about waste management and recycling. Recycling has entered the public consciousness.
1977
The first bottle banks appear in Britain.
1986
Environmental protection finally gets included in the Treaty of Rome through the Single European Act. Translation: Every country in Europe has to look after the environment, or else!
1990
The Environmental Act – The most signature piece of environmental legislation ever.
1994
The European Union decides anyone who puts packaging on their products has to not use too much and try and recycle more.
1996
The British Government says 25% of household waste should be recycled by the year 2005 and 40% by 2010.
It was around about this time or shortly before that you lot were born. So we’ve stopped writing this brief history here and you can carry on. Check out the rest of the website to find out how you can start making recycling history today!
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