It is pointless and harmful to the environment to continue to recycle plastic. To say it loud and clear in part forAtlantic they are Judith Enk, former EPA regional administrator and president of Beyond Plastics, and Ian Dell, founding chemical engineer of Last Beach Cleanup. “While some materials can be efficiently and safely recycled to produce new recycled items,” they explain, “plastics cannot. Plastic recycling doesn’t work and never will”. But then why do we stubbornly differentiate and recycle it?
According to scientists, it is the material itself that cannot be recycled. Too many different plastics, each with its own composition and characteristics. They all contain various chemical additives and dyes that often cannot be recycled together. This makes it almost impossible to sort trillions of pieces of plastic into separate types of processing. “For example,” the authors explain, “polyethylene terephthalate (PET #1) bottles cannot be recycled with PET #1 containers because the material is different, and green PET #1 bottles cannot be recycled with clear PET #1 bottles.” “A single fast food dish,” they recall, “can include many different types of single-use plastics, including No. 1 PET, No. 2 HDPE, No. 4 LDPE, No. 5 and PS No. 6 cups, lids, containers, trays. , bags and cutlery that cannot be recycled together.”
Another problem is that the very attempt to recycle plastic, in addition to the high cost, is also dangerous and can cause fires and produce toxic waste, which also affects the reuse of new materials. Even if there are virtuous realities, this is generally true, whether it be more classical “mechanical processing” or “more modern chemical”. “Despite this major setback, the plastics industry has embarked on a decade-long campaign to perpetuate the myth that the material is recyclable,” the authors warn. “This campaign is reminiscent of the tobacco industry’s attempt to convince smokers that cigarettes are healthier than unfiltered cigarettes.”
But what then is the solution? According to Enck and Dell, we need to change our mentality and limit the use of single-use plastic as much as possible. We need legal bans on plastic bags and non-recyclable single-use plastic food service products. At the same time, services such as broad access to waterworks, installing dishwashing equipment in schools so students can eat from real plates, and developing food delivery programs with crockery and reusable cutlery. It must be an approach that goes beyond what they want us to believe.
Source: Elle