Sofia Perez

Today is the day in which I dispel lies with a righteous sword of truth. Here goes nothing: The institution of Recycling is a Sham. Now before you storm off angrily and tattle on me to Greta Thunberg, first read my article Greta Thunberg’s Got It Wrong…But We Can’t Get It Right Without Her, then if you haven’t double-stormed off, let me unpack this. By “Sham” I do not mean recycling isn’t a worthwhile or noble pursuit. Nor do I mean there isn’t a solid philosophy behind placing it as a priority. Nor do I mean if it actually worked, it wouldn’t be beneficial. What I do mean here by the word “Sham”, a word itself of ironically uncertain origin, is that the way we recycle isn’t working. Once again, let me reiterate, recycling is noble, but the system is broken.

And side note- who came up with the word sham, and if we can’t find out, does the word describe itself?

In any event, to understand why I’ve become a recycling heretic, let’s start somewhere familiar. You’ve just downed the last drop of water from a- I daresay- single-use plastic water bottle, and now must dispose of the ephemerally-used yet eternally-present item. Of course, for the sake of brevity we’ll forgive you for not using a state-of-the-art Klean Kanteen Classic Water Bottle with a loop cap and capacity of 27 fl oz. in turquoise blue. Naturally, you can’t be perfect all the time. However, being the environmentally-conscious citizen that you are, you turn with pride to the green recycling bin beside you. You let out a sigh of relief. Yes, you assure yourself, I forgot my Hydro Flask today, but at least I recycled. 

Webb, D. (2018). [Online Image] Everyday Plastic. Available at: https://www.everydayplastic.org/report [Accessed 22 Aug. 2022].

This story is a tragedy faced by millions, most poignantly so because millions of recyclers worldwide don’t even realize what a tragedy it is. Why is this tragic you ask? Well, a plastic bottle takes 450 years to decompose, some other forms of plastic taking up to 1,000 years. While you might think recycling takes away from this cumbersome tax on the planet, it actually makes a negligible difference, with few items in any given recycling bin ever contributing meaningfully to a circular economy. Instead, the majority of it will end up in a landfill or in nature. According to City to Sea, by 2015, 6 billion tons of plastic waste had been produced, but only 90% has ever been recycled. 79% of that has ended up in a landfill or the natural environment, with the remaining 12% being incinerated. To name just a few examples, when plastic accidentally ends up in the wild, it can disrupt food chains, leaching harmful chemicals into the bodies of those who ingest it, and put animals at risk of entanglement. To add insult to injury, recycled plastic is also more expensive than virgin plastic, leaving businesses with little incentive to actually use it. After researching, I’ve chosen not to include an overwhelming amount of additional statistics due to the range in numbers and the inherent uncertainties of quantifying garbage in a meaningful way. However if you’re interested, please see my sources for more details. 

In any event, now that you have a sense of the issue at hand, how did it actually become an issue? After all, the notion of recycling waste in an endless circular economy sounds wonderful. However the realities of material science make this process much more complicated. Think of all the things you have thrown into the recycling bin. All these things are handled differently when they reach the recycling facility and must be eventually separated accordingly. You might think you’re in the clear if you separate plastics, glass, and metals, but even that is not enough. If you were to just take the plastic category, there are several items which can’t be recycled together. To take just one example, clear plastic bottles can’t be recycled with green ones because the dye prohibits it from being turned back to a clear plastic, lowering its market value- which is already low for recycled plastic. This is why all Sprite bottles are now clear.  

Webb, D. (2018). [Online Image] Everyday Plastic. Available at: https://www.everydayplastic.org/report [Accessed 22 Aug. 2022].

However complicated this might be, few items in any given recycling bin even make it to this point at all, with much of it ending up in oceans or landfills otherwise. In fact, according to the Plastics Europe organization, only 32% of plastic in Europe is recycled. This is just one material in one continent. Why is this the case? In brief, economics. For starters, in 2018, China, the largest buyer of U.S.A. recyclables at the time, stopped importing recyclable items. Yet it’s not all China’s fault, because even in 2016, engineer and author Richard Fulmer could see the faults with this system. “Recycling resources costs resources,” he wrote. “…All this also produces pollution- from the factories that build the trucks and from the fuel borned to power them, and from the factories that produce the components to build and construct the recycling plant and from the fuel burned to power the plant.” 

The importance of economics also applies to the value of recycled materials versus their more pure counterparts. For example, according to Everyday Plastic, plastic packaging has about 2-3 cycles before it can no longer be recycled due to poor quality. Because of this gradual decrease in quality each time it goes through one of these cycles, recycled plastic has a low market value, which means it’s not as attractive as brand new plastic when being sold for usage. 

That said, contributing to a better system of handling garbage might seem like an impossible task. On the one hand some might insist that you simply cut plastic out of your life entirely. In my opinion, this misses the point. Plastic, in smaller and more manageable amounts, is necessary. After all, there are highly valuable ways to use it as well, such as for prosthetics and the use of sterile equipment in the healthcare industry. The issue here is pushing the use of one material to the extreme, which is unfortunately the case in a plastics-driven society. For this reason, a holistic approach is needed. 

Webb, D. (2018). [Online Image] Everyday Plastic. Available at: https://www.everydayplastic.org/report [Accessed 22 Aug. 2022].

To prove this, let’s travel back in time. The earliest account of recycling paper is from 1031 in Japan, where an absence of raw materials and skilled workers led to the creation of several paper mills which used recycled waste paper to produce shukushi paper, which has a gray tint. Ultimately, this recycled paper even replaced traditional paper. Another example is glass recycling in Ancient Rome, where some people would collect broken glass and sell it back to glasshouses. 

Unlike most recycling currently, these practices fit securely into a framework which was financially lucrative and socially beneficial. In Japan, it addressed the lack of raw materials while providing the population with paper. In Ancient Rome, it cleared away broken glass while providing individuals with an income. Nowadays, recycling is not a lucrative endeavor, which is why so many local governments are putting a stop to it. Rather than being controlled by the government, it will only survive if controlled by a free market which provides individuals and businesses an economic incentive to pursue it.  

With that in mind, how are you to live in a world fraught with items that probably will never get recycled? Let’s start with giving a makeover to everyone’s favorite eco-friendly mantra, the three R’s. Most of us were taught Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in school, but I say we go with City to Sea’s four R’s, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse & Refill, and only after applying these should we resort to recycling. This approach leads to less waste and consumption, offering a more economically and socially viable solution as well. Matching environmental initiatives with socio economic incentives is, after all, the only way to ensure their longevity. 

Another important step in reducing waste is shopping in such a way that will make these goals easier. Do research about the companies you shop from or invest in and reduce the friction required to be a socially-responsible consumer. Having said that, what do you do when you’re already in the store and don’t have time to do deep research? One way to filter through items is to go through a checklist. This might involve questions like Will this item add value to my life?How long will this last?Are there any options available that I know are better? Will I actually use this? With just those criteria, you are likely to end up with much fewer purchases in your shopping basket.  Ultimately though, there is no one who is always perfectly socially responsible, so it’s important to be patient with yourself and others. The crucial thing to remember when feeling overwhelmed is to focus on just taking the next step in the right direction. 

The good news is that there are already companies and individuals taking this step. Perhaps you know someone who brings reusable bags to the grocery store or carries around a reusable water bottle. Maybe you know someone who shops at thrift stores or turns down plastic straws. Maybe you know someone who has given up fish, given that fishing gear accounts for approximately 70% of plastics more than 20cm in size that float on the surface of the ocean, and 86% of plastic waste on the seafloor. Those are just a few examples. There also exist large corporations that have implemented effective strategies, such as Bodyshop, who has rolled out refill stations across 400 stores globally throughout 2021 and is launching 400 additional stations in 2022. What makes this initiative so effective is that it’s not just environmentally beneficial, but also saves customers money, as each refill contains an extra 50 ml of product for free. This synergy is absolutely essential in reducing the amount of single-use plastic that ends up in landfills and the environment. 

With that said, perhaps now you have also become a recycling heretic. If not that, at least you might’ve decided on a new catchy mantra for your eco-philosophy: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse & Refill– and if you get overwhelmed, just remember to do the next right thing. 

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Thought to Action

• One suggestion from the organization City to Sea is to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse & Refill, only opting for Recycle after the other options have been attempted. Check out their Essential Guide to Recycling for a direct explanation of how to handle different types of plastics. 
• Check to see what is recyclable in your area using this website & browse its content for more helpful tips. 
• Check out this 45 minute long documentary, Dirty Business: What Really Happens to Your Recycling
• Use reusable bottles & cups.
• Wash & dry plastic items before sending them to be recycled. 
• Avoid using plastic straws.
• Swap out your regular toothbrush for a bamboo toothbrush.
• Bring your own bags when shopping for groceries. 
• Give up gum.
  • It’s made of synthetic rubber, which is a form of plastic. 
• Switch to bar soap & boxed detergent. 
  • For your hair, you can use a shampoo or conditioner bar. This still reduces waste from packaging. 
• Bring reusable cutlery & containers for take-out food. 
  • Instead of using the single-use styrofoam  or plastic containers restaurants offer for takeout, you can request to put your food in your own container. 
  • Keep lightweight bamboo cutlery with you so you can use it instead of plastic utensils.
• Shop at thrift stores.
  • Pre-owned items have already been taken out of their original plastic packaging, so purchasing them contributes to less plastic waste. 
• Purchase non-perishable food items in bulk to avoid extra packaging.
• When shaving, use a razor with replaceable blades rather than a disposable razor.
• See here for a list of 17 ways to reduce your plastic waste. 

Bibliography

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Peters, A. (2021). Why Sprite is ditching green bottles. [online] Fast Company. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90602485/why-sprite-is-ditching-green-bottles.

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Wearth Editorial Team (2021). How To Dispose Of Single Use Plastic Safely & Responsibly | Wearth. [online] Wearth London. Available at: https://www.wearthlondon.com/blog/how-to-dispose-of-plastic-waste-safely/ [Accessed 16 Aug. 2022].

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