One fateful afternoon, during the leisurely research of the correct way to recycle different types of plastic (thrilling, I know), I fell down the rabbit-hole of how the process actually works, and consequently, how it came to be. We view recycling as the norm, we take it for granted, and we feel good about our waste – it’s out of sight and out of mind. And yet we never stop to consider it critically and ask pressing questions: does it really help? Where does the waste go? How do we maximise how much gets recycled? Let’s attempt to answer.
To look at the issue in context, we must first look at its origin. Curbside recycling (i.e. collected from your home and sent to centres) only really kicked off in the early 2000s in the UK, and included mainly cans and plastic bottles from popular drinks like beer and soda. Seems rather recent, doesn’t it? Well, that would be because up until then, there was very few ‘single-use’ anything to be recycled, as opposed to simply reused. In fact, ever since Coca-Cola’s establishment in 1886, it had used glass bottles for its drinks all the way until the 1960s, when plastic began growing in popularity after the Second World War. There was a “deposit” of one or two cents in the price of the soda, which was paid back if the bottle was returned to the bottling centres to be washed and used again approximately twenty more times; this was so effective, that in the 1940s around 96% of bottles were brought back.
Then, in an effort to reduce bottling costs, the companies started moving towards aluminium cans, and then to plastic, as it began to be mass produced and favoured due to being cheap, versatile, and sanitary. But of course, these versions could not be reused, and so, the streets saw a hefty increase in littering, which, as I’m sure we’ve heard, is very much there to stay (around 450 years for plastic and aluminium to decompose). The councils weren’t happy, and the people weren’t happy, and it was the protesting of the latter that lead to the beverage industry scratching their heads until they had a solution that kept their customers buying their drinks. So, they pushed to set up recycling centres and programs, thus putting the responsibility of the waste they created on us, whilst simultaneously making us believe we (and they) are environmental heroes. In practice, it eased the protesters’ conscience, and they continued sipping soda, much to Big Drink’s delight (think Big Pharma, but with liquid sugar).
Where do we stand today? The UK recycles roughly 45% of its waste; comparatively, the global leader, Germany, has a 60% recycling rate. Why so little? I would argue a combination of a lack of understanding of the process and the sheer overabundance of single-use stuff. And it is just “stuff” – it’s coffee cups, children’s toys, packaging, clothes, bottles, straws, period pads, even cotton bud sticks. We produce, import, and consume so much because it’s easy for us; we don’t consider what will happen to it, whatever it is, once we’re done with it. We are not the ones handling waste, or transporting it, or working in recycling centres and sorting facilities. We throw it in the handy little bin we are given, and we expect points to be added to our environmental karma, when the reality is that a lot of our “recycling” contributions will either be sent to landfill because of contamination, incinerated or dumped on other, poorer countries with more lenient (or non-existent) environmental policies, such as Malaysia. And yet, companies keep producing at rates higher than ever before, and we keep using. A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. Meaning that, in the time it took you to read this far, approximately three million plastic bottles have been used globally.
Usually, in articles like these, there is a chirpy paragraph at the end citing everything you, as an individual, can do to help “tackle plastic pollution in our oceans!” I would instead like to urge you to investigate the issue critically for yourself, to assess what you are consuming, and how you are disposing of it. You will not have to recycle anything if you do not buy it in the first place. If you must, and it contained food, make sure it’s washed out, otherwise it can contaminate the entire batch and send a box full of recycling to landfill. Remember, however, that the manufacturers have a responsibility of at least equal weight as we do; hold them accountable. Confront businesses with questionable waste policies – what does ‘zero to landfill’ really mean in practice? Email companies with solutions to environmental problems you’ve noticed about their product – for instance, unnecessary packaging. If you cannot offer a solution, communicate the issue openly, with a willingness to work with and not against them to collectively reduce our global consumption.
