Recycling has long been touted as a low-cost, feel-good way for individuals to help cut down on the volume of trash we send to landfills, and overseas, every year.
But there’s long been a problem with recycling plastics. It’s hard to do, costly and often much of what gets sent to the recycler is unusable and gets tossed in a landfill anyway.
The problem is so bad even Greenpeace USA is saying effectively recycling plastics is a “myth” in need of busting:
“Recycling is never going to solve the plastic waste crisis. There’s simply too much plastic, and it’s just not practical to recycle most of it” … “We need to focus on reducing the amount of plastic that is produced and move away from single-use plastics and towards systems of refill and reuse.”
How does the group propose reducing plastic use? More rules:
As a first step, Greenpeace says, corporations should have to remove the recycling symbol from plastic products, since most of them are never recycled. This could help alleviate some confusion about the materials.
Ramsden also said policies banning the sale of some plastic materials can help promote plastic reuse, which could lead to reduced plastic production.
But even if the U.S. completely abandons single-use plastic, it won’t solve the trash problem, which is global and growing worse.
Away from problematic plastics, recycling does make huge economic and environmental sense for items like aluminum and paper. The reason is simple; it pays to recycle those products.
The solution for plastics, then, is likely less on the more government rules and bans side than it is on the side of incentives – a way to make recycling pay. One way to start? Get government out of the mandatory recycling business, and let voluntary action (also known as free markets) establish effective supply and demand metrics.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Norman Leahy has written about national and Virginia politics for more than 30 years with outlets ranging from The Washington Post to BearingDrift.com. A consulting writer, editor, recovering think tank executive and campaign operative, Norman lives in Virginia.
Mechanical recycling makes some sense where magnets separate ferrous from non-ferrous metals, blowers separate paper, plastic bags, and other light materials for further sorting. Recycling glass is basically a waste of time and money as mixed glass has no commercial value beyond use as specialty gravel. It helps to shred everything to make mechanical separation easier. Seems to me that recycled plastic would have use as building materials as a substitute for lumber in many cases, or as drain pipe.
Microbes/enzyme’s Eat plastics
Mexico and a number of other countries do not happen to have the same objections to plastic recycling as have been voiced here. One of the best ways is by simply cleaning the plastics, sorting some of them but combine the rest irrespective of type or quality. Then pack the large presses and apply heat and pressure to create large 15 by 20 by 15 ft “walls” of the fused plastics. The “prefab walls” are then scored, coated with primer and then bathed in cement and dried so that the wall now has a center of compressed plastic and a coating of about1/4 to 1/2 inch of dried cement. The walls are used construct new homes. The walls are very durable and require little upkeep beyond occasional inspection and and re-cementation of scratches and holes.
That creaks me up… what the hell do the stupid exsperts think we were doing, before we started relying on exsperts?
Cant recycle solar cells, can wind turbines
Cant reuse plastics?
More can be done for Reuse somehow
Simple answer? Incineration. Try to find uses for various plastics but the rest just burn it for heat. And use the heat for electricity generation and anything else you can imagine. Recycle those old coal power plants into refuse burners.