Bury it, dig it up, recycle it. What can we do about plastic . Scientists have found a way to make a new greener fuel from plastic dug up from landfill. Opponents say it should be left where it is. We have the exclusive. This is a sample weve taken from a landfill site and it could potentially power your car in the future. Confused about what you can and cant recycle . Dont worry, help is at hand. Youre lucky because in peterborough, you can recycle black. And the man whos picked up ten tonnes of other peoples rubbish and is still going strong. On the surface, the river looks absolutely fine apart from where you get floating litter, like bottles. But 80 of the litter is below the surface, so youve got basically a Conveyor Belt of rubbish moving out of towns and cities into the wider river system and thenon into the sea. And then on into the sea. I am David Whiteley and this is inside out. This weeks programme is all about plastics. First an exclusive report on the latest attempts to do something useful with the plastic we throw away. Scientists have discovered how to turn landfill plastic like this into new, cleaner fuels. But if we dig it up, could a site near you unearth new problems forfuture generations . Every week, 1,100 tonnes of Household Waste are buried in this landfill site. It is just one of 20,000 landfill sites in the uk and between them, they contain 400 Million Tonnes of plastic. Chris quinnell has been shifting waste in wiltshire for the last three years. From your experience, chris, is this the kind of thing you see every time theres a load of waste dumped here . And what youre dealing with is mainly plastic. Yeah, definitely. These days, because everything is sorted out, the wood, the metals have been taken out on the majority of the loads and thats basically what you get left with. It is quite shocking to see how much plastic is here . And this is, you know, a relatively small landfill site, isnt it . Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, it has been noticeably more plastic in the last few years, so, what do you do with it . Where does it go . How can you recycle this sort of stuff . Thats a question scientist dr Stuart Wagland is attempting to answer. He is part of a europe wide push to promote enhanced landfill mining. Enhanced landfill mining is the concept that we can recover maximum value from landfills, so we can reclaim the majority of resources which are contained within the landfills, we can reclaim the land for development, and we can recover materials of interest, such as rare earth elements, critical Raw Materials, valuable metals, but also plastic. Stuarts leading a government backed project to recover landfilled plastic and turn it into a new fuel. He and his team at Cranfield University in bedfordshire have so far identified 850 landfill sites in england suitable to be mined. Of these, 83 are in the east and within each one, up to a fifth of the contents will be plastic. But the team think there could be up to 4,000 more sites across the uk that might be worth digging up. Whoa so, what have you got here . This is a sample weve taken from a landfill site. Oh, yeah, yeah, you can smell the landfill. Thats pretty stinky this is quite a tame sample. Atame sample . how old is this sample, then . About five years old, this one. If you take all this stuff here. Ugh some of this has degraded really quite considerably, but that has barely changed at all, has it . But the stuff youre really after is this kind of plastic that we just cant recycle. So, things like this, dense plastic, this, realistically, even if it wasnt landfilled or cleaned, this wouldnt be recyclable anyway. And film plastic, very rarely recycled in the uk. So, all of this plastic material is a potential resource. So, were looking at these plastics in particular to understand how, how theyve behaved in landfill sites. So, were looking at the construction of them, have they changed, are they the same as the plastic that went in . And then looking at the technology that we can apply to recover the best possible value for these. Stuart and the team are using a technology called pyrolysis. Its already been used to turn non landfill plastic into gas and oil by heating it at temperatures exceeding 600 degrees celsius. Until now, its not been possible to do this with the dirty plastic from landfill, but stuarts team have found a way. Can we see the oil . We can. So, this sample here, this is Household Waste which has the metals and glass taken away, but Everything Else has been used in the pyrolysis plant. So, this oil is very similar in consistency to crude oil, but we believe we can upgrade this to produce chemicals and liquid fuels. It could potentially power your car in the future. How environmentally friendly is this process of turning this into oil and gas, because the process, i believe, creates Carbon Dioxide . It does, but it doesnt produce Carbon Dioxide in the same way if we were to burn this material. And also, it saves carbon in that it replaces transport fuels and Raw Materials that we would derive from crude oil, so it has that lower carbon impact. But digging up old landfill site is controversial. At the moment, researchers are not revealing the location of the 83 sites in the east, as this may stir up opposition. As i discover on the banks of the thames. Its a Beautiful Day here on the beach, but all is not what it seems. The Thames Estuary has long been londons dumping ground for more than 100 years. And when you first get onto this beach here in tilbury, you think, wow, look at all these pebbles glinting in the sun. But theyre not all pebbles. Here on clinker beach, fragments of glass, china and hazardous materials, such as asbestos from a nearby old and unsecured landfill, are washed up with each new tide. And plastic from the old site is also on display. Julian kirby is the plastics pollution campaigner for friends of the earth. This is unbelievable, isnt it . Plastic leaching out of the bank. Thats right, its miserable. Weve woken up to being in the midst of a plastic pollution crisis, the public concern after blue planet ii, and all the rest of it. And to see this plastic rubbing out, washing out, eroding out and going straight into the thames here is absolutely shocking. Surely it makes sense to take this out, mine whats here and put it to some kind of good use . Therell be a lot in that landfill that would be good to get out and put to good use. Metals, Precious Metals that are in computers and laptops and watches and all the rest of it. But getting plastic out, turning it back into oil and then burning it, essentially, thats whats happening, that is going to be very, very bad for climate change. Julian would prefer that plastic is left in a modern secure landfill where it cannot escape. If its a secure landfill, then leave it there. Its a fossil fuel that has been put back in the ground where it came from and whilst its there, its not going to be polluting the atmosphere and driving climate change. Clearly, this isnt a secure landfill. But if there are many people who are saying they can turn this resource from plastic in landfill into cleaner fuel, that surely has to be a good thing . So if they say this is cleaner fuels, what they mean is its a slightly less terrible type of fossil fuel. Its still a fossil fuel, thats not clean in climate terms. But burning plastic, whether its a fancy Technology Like pyrolysis or whether its in an incinerator, is incredibly polluting and thats why we need to be massively reducing how much plastic we use altogether and not locking ourselves into a whole new economy of plastic. But take a trip upriver to the city of london and theres a different view. Investors are looking to see if digging up all the waste found in landfill will turn a profit. And they argue the 400 Million Tonnes of plastic held in the uks landfill sites is too valuable to be left buried. Legal practice latham and watkins is an International Law firm and partner paul davies is an environmental lawyer. What is the best way, in your opinion, to make enhanced landfill mining viable economically . I think you need to bring together what i would call the three revenue streams, and thats looking at the value of the land, taking out the materials which can be recovered and recycled, like rare earth minerals, which can be very valuable indeed. And then the third revenue stream, taking out other materials, which can then be burnt and used as fuel. Do you think would be crazy not to do this . Absolutely, i think we would be crazy. Were already seeing examples of enhanced landfill mining about to happen. Theres a site in belgium at remo, which we believe is entering the very final stages of getting approvals and that will set an important precedent for others to follow. And the idea that we have landfills up and down the country, containing all of these materials and we leave them there, ijust find bewildering. If it becomes cheaper for companies to dig up sites rather than managing them for decades, the prospect of mining for plastic will be attractive and its predicted we could be using fuel from landfill plastic within ten years. As many of us try hard to change our habits when it comes to recycling correctly, do any of us actually know what plastics can and cant go in the recycling bin . Well, Sophie Sulehria has been to meet some people on one street in peterborough as they get to grips with their waste. I keep my shelf here full of things that im not sure about, and then last minute, tend to ditch them in. So netties, not sure. Foil, not sure. And big moisturising tubs. Not sure im really not sure about this. I wasnt sure about the bubble wrap, whether that can go in the recycling or whether it needs to go in the landfill bin. Like many of us, the residents of thorpe lea road in peterborough are confused when it comes to recycling. Last year, only half the plastic that could have been recycled in the uk actually was. It seems that many dont know what to do. But help is at hand for the residents of thorpe lea road. Theyre going to get a recycling master class. And the person to do it is here, conveniently in the centre of peterborough. Her name is anne hitch, and she works for recoup a National Plastic recycling charity based in the city. Recoup, ideally, are here to try and make sure that the maximum amount of plastics are recycled. So, that means us working with the brand owners to make sure that their packaging is simple to recycle, right through to educating consumers, which we are doing today because we hear so often that they are confused. Recoup have just completed their latest survey of recycling. The good news is were putting more plastic out for collection. Last year, over 500 tonnes were collected from uk households thats almost a 3 increase on 2016. But the average household uses nearly 500 plastic bottles a year, yet only recycles around 300 of them, meaning 200 bottles are not collected for recycling. Time for anne to meet our residents to see if she can help them sort their bubble wrap from their food trays. So with this biscuit box, on the back it says that the box can be recycled, thats quite obvious. But then this black plastic tray, it says check local recycling, but i dont know how i would do that or what the answer is. Youre lucky because in peterborough, you can recycle black. And your bubble wrap is a no. Thats for landfill . Yep, so we will keep that out. Black not in all areas, but most coloured bottles and trays can go in. You know, actually, theyre not too bad as a street when it comes to recycling, theyve done a lot of things right. But they still got confused by the items that are confusing, like this net, bubble wrap. I never know what to do with bubble wrap and then on top of that, it changes depending on where you live. So each local authority has their own recycling rules, which you then have to check yourself. This is not as simple as i was hoping it to be. And sarah still has questions about her moisturiser bottle, which seems to have left both her and anne stumped. This is an odd one because we would normally say that if its a pump lid, that the pump lid you would separate away from the bottle, and you would recycle the bottle and not the pump lid. However, i cant see any indication on the bottle, or the lid. I would recommend that we take this to a Plastics Recycling facility and we see how and if this can be detected. Great idea. Thank you, anne. Were going to take sarah to a state of the Art Recycling Centre to find out what to do with the problem bottle. Morning. Good morning you ready for our big day . Im very ready. Only thing is, its a lot further away than wed expected. Do you have any idea where were off to . No, i thought it might be ten minutes or so away, but im seeing from your sat nav its about an hour and 56. Yep, its a two hour drive. Yes, the recycling plant is two hours away, in rochester, in kent, where a lot of the plastic from the east of england ends up. This is because theres only a handful of these special plastic Recovery Facilities in the country, and rochester is the closest to us. Finally, sarah and i arrive at viridor recycling plant where were greeted by ed sarasketa, the site manager. Hi, im ed. Hi, nice to meet you, im sarah. Hi, sarah. Right, shall we go in and have a look at the facility . Yeah, absolutely. Excellent. So, as you can see, youve got a real mix of colours, polymer types, completely mixed up and ourjob is to take each of those bales, separate it, and run it through the plant, and separate all the different polymer types, so we can send it on for recycling and create that kind of circular economy. Its so loud inside this plant but what you can see here are 121 Conveyor Belts, which are sorting the plastics into types. The plant can then generate up to 350 bales of plastic per day. And if you think, one bale alone can contain up to over 17,000 bottles that is a lot of plastic we effectively take any plastics that you put into your recycling, then the plant works on those plastics and separates them out into your pet, which is your water bottles, hdpe, which is your milk bottles, polypropylene, pots, tubs, trays, those kinds of things. The machines are able to detect the different types of plastics, or polymers, separates them, and squashes them down into bales. So, here at rochester, what we look to do is absolutely recycle everything that comes in here. What does come in here though isnt all recyclable materials. So we end up at a figure of about 80 is actually recycled, because its recyclable. Whats the worst thing that youve ever found on a Conveyor Belt . We get a lot of different items coming into the site. Probably the most unpleasant are nappies, so what we would ask residents is to think about what youre looking to recycle and put the right things into the right bin. Ugh, not a nice thought when you think some of the sorting involves sifting by hand. Let me show you what the end product is, as you were asking us outside. So here we have some of the flake material, then they sell this on to turn it back into water bottles. And these are effectively from the milk bottles you saw outside. And then they go in, to be turned back into milk bottles, and they replace virgin materials. But theres still one more question, can ed be the one to tell sarah where she should put her moisturiser bottle . Can this be recycled . Let me have a look. Ideally, from your point of view, youd want to be able to take the plastic top off if its different. But, again, i think the message needs to be if you put this material into the right bin, so the right stuff in the right bin, it then comes to me, then it has the best chance of being recycled, rather than putting it into your rubbish bin. So not even ed is entirely sure if the bottle can be recycled. But although recycling plastic can be confusing, the message from viridor is clear. If in doubt, put your plastic into your recycling bin, rather than in your rubbish bin. Of course we all want to make sure we keep our countryside looking like this, pristine. But picking up other peoples waste isnt everyones idea of fun but that is not the case for Nick Urquhart from kettering, picking up litterfor him is a bit of a passion. I have been fishing the rivers near my home in kettering for years. This is the river ise. But my enjoyment has been spoiled by the increasing amount of Plastic Waste littering the waterways. On the surface, the river looks absolutely fine, apart from where you get floating litter, like bottles. But often 80 of the litter is below the surface, so you have got basically a Conveyor Belt of rubbish moving out of towns and cities into the wider river system and then on into the sea. I dont just talk about the problem, i want to do something about the waste i see around me. Even while fishing, i am busy collecting discarded rubbish. Another one. Its another plastic vase, exactly the same. Some of them float, some of them go to the bottom. And once it is on the bottom, it will silt up and it will be forgotten, basically. But all the time you have got chemicals coming out of that plastic. So, yeah, it is something that needs to be tackled at source, in the small rivers all over the country. Im not alone. Other people are also getting angry and picking up other peoples rubbish. Every day they come down here because its nice, pleasant and what do they leave . Their rubbish. Every day. Three times a day i walk the dogs down here and there is not a day goes past where i dont pick rubbish up. Just dispose of the stuff that, you know, packaging. Its easy to recycle as well. Packaging. They could take it with them, they brought it here so they should really take it home with them. They have had the enjoyment, take it home, put it in the bin. Yeah. I know, thats part of the problem, they are not setting an example as well. If they are out with their kids, they tend to just discard it. The kids see them doing that and then the next generation will do that. Yeah. I have been collecting waste for the past eight years and it is no exaggerating to say it has become something of a passion for me. I reckoned i have cleared over ten tonnes of litter from kettering in that time. That is the weight of ten cars. I find rubbish literally everywhere. This is a storm water outflow, it carries water from the roads and into the river. Basically you get plastics trapped in the gratings and this is the kind of stuff that is not recyclable and it is clogging up the river system all across the uk. You get a lot of litter that is hidden in brooks like this, it is normally windblown from waste carriers on roads and, as you can see, it is actually embedded within the bank and within the foliage thats become trapped. It is pretty hard to recover it once it is wrapped around, but this is the kind of stuff that Councils Just will never get to. What sort of damage can that do . Theres the risk from leaching chemicals and toxins into the water, that can affect aquatic organisms and affect the breeding cycles of fish and other aquatic animals. And also there is a clogging risk that animals can choke on it. And eventually it will work its way to the sea and then it becomes an International Problem in terms of it. It doesnt matter where you live, this problem is worldwide and it will add to that. You can spend all day being angry about it but it is not going to clean the problem, so i think if we all tackle this together and if we get some kind of coverage of the issue, generally it is a fixable problem, but it is just a question of time and effort of people actually putting some time in to solve the problem. I take the rubbish i collect and dispose of it responsibly. Most of it gets recycled with the local council. My enthusiasm has rubbed off on some of my friends and work colleagues who often come out and join me in my quest. I am just very disappointed in the amount of mess that goes into the rivers. Its always rubbish that could be put into a bin properly. There is no reason for it, you have got pockets, you can bring a bag with you to take your rubbish with you. When i go to beaches, i am always picking rubbish up. And when i heard about this, i was like, yes, come do it. Come and help. Yeah. Ill always help nick, so, we just help. Just the fact that it is not biodegradable, it doesnt go anywhere, it stays in the rivers and goes into the seas and animals. We have all seen the documentaries about what happens to the plastic in the seas. I was recently really surprised and flattered to learn that the prime minister, theresa may, had heard of my litter picking in kettering. She even sent me a letter praising my work, calling it a fantastic achievement. At first, i didnt really want the publicity, being quite shy. But it will help the cause, it shows also it is a symptom that people are starting to talk about it generally in the public. So, it is a good thing. I dontjust clean up rivers, this public footpath running alongside the busy a14 is covered in Plastic Waste. It makes me feel frustrated that people cant take ownership of the problem. Most people dont like to litter but yet it is happening on a daily basis, so clearly something is wrong. Something is wrong with the system that we have got and doing litter picks like this, i think, will change that. People will start to notice that people are picking it up and they might get inspired and go out there and start their own group. I will continue to pick every week and basically as long as i can. I enjoy doing it and its good to make a difference. If i can go to a place and leave it better than i found it, that gives me such a great feeling of fulfilment and i know i am making a difference in my community. Well, we certainly need less plastic and, of course, fewer litter bugs. If you missed any of tonights programme, you can catch up on the iplayer and if theres something you think we should be but thats it for this week, ill see you next week. Bye bye. Hello. After a rather autumnal sort of weekend, the weather is looking a little bit better for many of us, as High Pressure builds through this week. This was the scene as the sun set on sunday. After a soggy sunday in the south, in whitstable there were some clear spells to end the day. Now, through this week, as High Pressure builds in, there will be a lot of dry weather with sunshine. Warmer in the south too. There will be more rain and more wind arriving across northern parts of the uk later on in the week. But back to the here and now, monday morning dawns on quite a chilly note. Weve got a big area of High Pressure in charge, so that is keeping things largely dry to start off with. And under those clear spells, temperatures first thing could be near freezing in a few rural spots. Through the morning, though, after that chilly start, lots of sunshine on offer. One or two showers around through monday across parts of north west scotland. Perhaps a few filtering into the north west of england too. But for the majority of people, youre in for a dry, fine day. It will be a little bit warmer than recent days, with those winds a touch lighter too. So by the afternoon, temperatures between around about 13 to perhaps 16 degrees or so. A little bit warmer than it was on sunday, but still not great for the time of year. And then as we head through monday evening and overnight into tuesday, then we keep the High Pressure, keep the clear spells around too. Fairly light winds, so yet again, another cold night, especially in the south. For england and wales too the chance of a bit of frostiness, and perhaps some mist and fog patches first thing tuesday as well. Further north west, not quite as cool. A little bit more of a breeze blowing here. Through the day on tuesday, it is High Pressure that drives our weather. Weve got weather fronts moving into the north west, though. Thatll bring more cloud and outbreaks of rain to parts of Northern Ireland and scotland later in the day. England and wales on tuesday staying dry, fine and settled in the sunshine. Fairly light winds here, but the winds will be picking up further north. Could be gusting at around 30 or 40mph for exposed parts of north west scotland, with some outbreaks of rain here too. So really a north south split to the weather. A north south split to the weather. Warming up, though, 14 to perhaps 18 degrees or so, perhaps our top temperatures by tuesday afternoon. Looking ahead to wednesday, still more rain for the west of scotland with cloud here. Further south across england and wales, again, another dry, fine and fairly sunny day with those temperatures starting to creep up too. So we could see highs of up to around 20 degrees or so on wednesday, and it looks like it could get warmer still as we head towards the end of the week, especially in the south. Thursday probably the warmest day of the week with some sunshine, 22 degrees in london. A little bit fresher, but still dry with sunshine on offer across the country as we head through into friday. Not a bad week of weather. Enjoy. Bye for now. 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