The Wheelie Bin Lives On

Wheelie bins have a relatively short lifespan, typically just 5 hard years and they are ready for retirement. But what happens to them after we cast them aside, have you ever wondered or even care?

Because wheelie bins have such a hard life and quality does vary between manufacturers UK/EU bins will be certified and tested to EN840. In addition quality wheelie bins are treated with ultra violet protection which is needed to extend the lifespan and resist damage as without this the wheelie bins exposed to sunlight will become brittle much quicker and tend to split very easily.

The number of plastic rubbish bins that are replaced each year from damage and wear is considerable, 100’s of thousands of plastic bins are replaced and rather than sending these bins to landfill they are collected by local authority’s and then passed to a specialist plastic recycling company.

Once the worn out wheelie bins have been collected by the plastic recycling company they need to go through a few steps prior to being recycled,

Step 1:

Power washing, all the dried on muck and rubbish inside and outside needs to be removed, along with any stickers, as stickers will be stuck on with adhesive this will need to be removed prior to any recycling taking place.

Step 2:

Removal of all the non plastic components such as rubber wheels and metal axles, all that a plastic recycler is interested in is the parts made out of plastic, metal and rubber components would be isolated and passed to other specialist recyclers.

Step 3:

This is where the body and lid of the wheelie bin get dropped in to large shredders and gets transformed in to small regrind pieces of plastic, this regrind plastic is then tested as to its composition. Regrind plastic is often re-used as is by adding small percentages to a mix with virgin plastic in the production run of a new plastic manufacturing process.

Step 4:

This is the final stage in the recycling of plastic wheelie bin, here the plastic granules are processed in to a fully recycled compound by melting and extruding in the form of pellets. These pellets are then used to manufacture new products, some of these could be more plastic wheelie bins but equally likely is your cars bumper could have been your old wheelie bin in a past life.

Now there’s a thought for next time you are cleaning your car.

Age Exclusive Properties in Cambridgeshire

To meet the demand by people over 55 in the Cambridge region Larkfleet Homes an award winning new house builder has created an age exclusive development of properties all aimed at the over 55’s The Bourne-based house builder and development company has already sold fifty per cent of properties on its new 'age exclusive' Spinney House development in Yaxley, near Peterborough. Many of the properties on the site have been purchased 'off plan' as the development is not due for completion until later this year, demonstrating just how popular this type of housing is in the local area. The Spinney House development is located within an existing residential part of the Cambridgeshire village and consists of 14 apartments that are all marketed for people over 55 years of age. The site has been so popular that there is currently only one duplex two-bedroom apartment left for sale, as well as several one-bedroom apartments. The development includes lift access to all two-bedroom apartments on site. Spinney House is located in quiet, attractive grounds complete with outside patio and seating areas. The site also includes plenty of existing mature trees and Larkfleet will provide allotments and cycle storage with each apartment within the grounds of Spinney House for residents. The apartments are being sold through estate agent Sharman Quinney with prices starting at only £119,995 for a one-bedroom apartment. Yaxley is in the perfect location for those who prefer rural living but enjoy easy access to city amenities. Yaxley is located close the A1, providing excellent transport links. It is also only a short drive or bus ride away from Peterborough that boasts a large shopping centre, cathedral, cinemas, theatres and many restaurants.

Storage Services

If you are looking to store your property or goods possibly for short or long term storage then look for a storage company that will supply you with purpose made crates made from wood,  these are designed for safer long term storage and are often delivered to your property by the storage company. You can then fill the storage crates at your own pace and then taken to your local secure storage depots, these storage premises often allow access either during set hours.

Flexible Storage Solutions

If you need a flexible storage solution then self-store may be the answer, self-store facilities come in a variety of forms and room sizes, from a cupboard to an entire room were you could store a car, add to this the ability to access your stored items as and when you wish making self-store storage an ideal solution for storing your property. Typical access to self-store facilities is via a swipe card and peace of mind comes with on-site security and CCTV monitoring. 

Custom Clearing Storage Facilities

If you are considering moving to the UK then look for storage locations that double up as custom clearing houses. There are a selection of approved by HM Customs storage facilities in the UK that can hold your shipment under “Bond” until customs have cleared the goods. The benefit here is the elimination of inspection at the port and no third party broker involvement, saving you time and money.

Document Storage

As businesses have moved more closer to paperless systems for day to day running the legacy hard copy company documents and records can take up much needed space and ever increasing costs of office space the requirement to utilise every square metre for productivity rather than storing company records and historic files becomes more important.

Remote document storage solves the problem of knowing what to do with these old company files, professional document storage companies tailor the storage to your needs by creating a bespoke solutions based on your current filling systems, on-going requirements for access are taken care of by means of bar coding the storage containers and logging these to a computerised database of contents. Document storage centres will be purpose built to high standards offering total peace of mind security and temperature control is crucial.

Containerised storage

A common problem  arises when having extension work done on your home, what to do with the furniture, yes you could keep this covered over with dust sheets but they will only prevent larger particles of dust and rubble from getting to your furniture or fabrics, small dust particles always find a way through no matter how much sheeting and tape is used, major extension work at home can really damage your furniture, especially if something drops and workmen place tools on your best dining room table.

The best and easiest solution to this is containerised storage, these purpose built wooden containers are larger enough to hold almost any item of furniture or lots of smaller items, simply have these containers brought to your house prior to the work starting, they then will be placed in a storage facility safe and sound awaiting the completion of all the building work, you can rest assured they will be returned exactly the same as the day they left.

Safety Of Old Houses

One thing that is sometimes over looked when comparing new houses against older ones is not just about structural or energy efficiency it’s about the reliability and safety of the electrical and gas systems throughout the house. For example would you budget for a new central heating boiler, how old is the one fitted to the house your considering, any guarantees with it. On a more important note is that of the electrical wiring, buying an old house can bring some expensive remedial work, years ago houses and regulations on electrics wasn’t as strict as today, and given we are more reliant on electrical equipment toady the strain on the circuits is greater yet older houses often have poor earthing and years of add on wiring by DIY home owners.

Modern Living

Lifestyles have changed over the years and we have all come to expect a higher standard of living, 30 years ago only very large one off build houses had en-suite bathrooms, today we have come to expect them as standard within the family home, strange that families are generally smaller today than they used to be.
Utility rooms, again another area of a house that was once only seen in very expensive and large houses, todays modern living families often use their kitchens as focal points of the home and also use them as entertaining or relaxing areas so washing machines and clothes ect are preferred out of sight, new build houses are incorporating utility rooms in to the design when possible and even if space is short the appliances are being built in to hide them.

Why Buy a New Central Heating System

Naturally a new, modern boiler is going to be more energy efficient than an old one, will cost less to run and develop more heat per unit of fuel consumed, modern radiators throw out much more heat than old radiators, hot water tanks will keep the water hotter for longer thus saving you from re heating the same water over and over again.

Energy Efficiency of Houses

New houses are built with energy efficiency in mind, the cavities between the outside walls are wider to allow more insulation to packed in to the space which keeps the cold out and warmth in, in real terms this means your house will stay warmer so you are not paying for the heat to simply escape through the walls and your new house once heated will stay warmer for longer.

Older houses typically have these cavities so heat will escape through the walls and to keep the internal temperature up the heating will be on for much longer periods because the house will cool very quickly once the heating is turned off.