Garbage again

Since I wrote about trash in this diary, I have been paying attention to the garbage sorting problems. It has turned out more complicated than I first thought. One of the stories that exemplifies this is, according to a newspaper, paper is not always biodegradable. When we just bury paper in a landfill, it is likely to remain intact. It needs air to decompose. So burning is the only solution. This is all about the reduction of the volume. Not the reduction of waste itself because it is producing another garbage, CO2.
So why not plastics. As I mentioned, they release huge amount of heat when burned, which causes a fatal damage to the incinerator. But now that this problem has been solved, the municipal cleansing department started burning them. But such plastic as PVC, which releases toxic and corrosive gases, is still difficult to treat in an incinerator. See? it's thus complicated.
Garbage treatment policy cannot help changing according to technical improvement and people's lifestyle. Invariably important may be public awareness toward garbage problems. It is not yet enough. Education is also essential aspect to ingrain the awareness in us. Sorting out garbage may be important as a part of this attempt of public enlightenment.
Why this picture? I'm not sure but somehow the rows of letter boxes caught my attention. Taken in Oelickon, Switzerland.
I noticed that I used two words for the waste; trash and garbage. I think British prefers trash and Americans garbage. Don't worry, they understand both.
The following blog is also interesting to visit.
http://tglobe.exblog.jp/