Recycled tortoise lucky to be alive
22 May 2006
A tortoise is alive and well after a London resident attempted to recycle it, reports Recycle Western Riverside (RWR), the campaign that promotes household recycling in south and west London.
The tortoise's terrifying ordeal came to light after he was discovered by workers on the production line of a recycling Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Kent. Subsequently named Murphy (a MRF is pronounced 'murf'), the tortoise was said to be "shell-shocked, but otherwise unharmed" by his experience.
Murphy had remained undetected amongst mountains of recycling right through the sorting process. After being unloaded by a lorry, he was first sent through a giant spinning drum that separates glass bottles and cans from paper. Dazed, the unwitting creature then travelled along a conveyor belt where powerful magnets and laser-guided jets of air separate paper types. He was eventually picked out on the paper sorting conveyor belt - the final phase of sorting before materials are compressed into bales to be sent to paper manufacturers.
After his dramatic rescue Murphy was taken to the local RSPCA centre to be checked over he was then found a new, safer home. Thankfully Murphy survived, but he is just one of the thousands of non-recyclable items that are found at MRFs each year. While Murphy remains top of the list of unusual things that people have tried to recycle, other items include: cash; a five foot tall teddy bear; blow up dolls; and a six foot tall plastic reindeer.
RWR stress that although lots of people have started to recycle, recycling the wrong thing is an all too common problem.
Sam Jarvis, RWR campaign manager, said: "Murphy the tortoise is lucky to be alive. We can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for him to be sorted like a glass bottle. Family pets are obviously not candidates for recycling under any circumstances, but there are also lots of more everyday items that people think are recyclable that actually are not."
"Drink cartons and plastic food packaging are often put out with the recycling, but many services are unable to process these at the moment. People also need to be careful not to include any food with their recycling as it can contaminate the recyclable paper."
Recycling services differ from borough to borough, so it's crucial that people find out exactly what they are able to recycle in their area. If non-recyclables are mixed with those that can be recycled, it may mean the whole lot will get sent to landfill as it becomes too difficult to separate the items.
RWR works to encourage residents in Hammersmith & Fulham, Lambeth, Wandsworth and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to recycle as much as possible and reduce the amount of rubbish they throw away. RWR's current summer campaign aims to encourage the 1 in 4 people that still aren't recycling to do their bit. The call comes at a critical time as the landfill sites where the capital's rubbish is buried are rapidly filling up.