Is recycling worth it? Not so, according to Elon Musk, the world’s richest man.
Musk: “Recycling is pointless” I wrote In mid-December, the number of followers on his social media platforms reached 207.8 million.
While the intentions behind recycling are good, the scale of the problem is enormous. The world produces a huge amount of plastic, approximately 507 million tonnes per year, half of which is designed to be disposable each year.
But is the action as aimless as SpaceX’s owners claim? Well, many plastics are not recyclable. Even items that would normally end up in a landfill shouldn’t be recycled just yet.
“By 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. warned. Pollution is now “everywhere around and inside us, from our oceans to our blood to our brains.”
Since recycling programs and laws were first enacted, Widely introduced in the 1970sa large amount of plastic waste was generated.
less than 10 percent According to , much of the world’s production is recycled. the study In the United States, only 8 percent of all plastic was recycled in 2017, and only 14 percent was collected for recycling. nonprofit sierra club. environmental protection agency In 2018, only 32 percent of trash in the United States was recycled.
only 21 percent According to a January report from The Recycling Partnership, , of residential recyclables are currently being recycled. The report found that materials of all types are not recycled adequately and that the majority of glass, cans and plastic drink bottles end up in the garbage because not enough households have access to recycling services. It turns out.
Recycling rates vary depending on location, type of plastic, and use, and most of the world’s waste ends up in landfills or is lost to nature. In some cases, it may be shipped to a location. Burn Or abandoned.
Most plastics — even if Three recognizable chasing arrows — Not recyclable, Greenpeace report Discovered in 2022. How much waste can be recycled? fellFor consumers who are so eager to do so, it becomes difficult to even do so.
“Companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever have been working with industry front groups for decades to promote plastic recycling as a solution to plastic waste. But the data is clear Practically speaking, most plastics are not recyclable. The real solution is to switch to a reuse and refill system. lisa ramsdensaid Greenpeace USA’s senior plastics activist.
The arrow symbol indicates the type of plastic resin used in the product and will help you decide on the appropriate route. However, this mark does not guarantee that the product will be recycled.
In particular, the quality of what is recycled is often reduced by factors such as: pollution They come with labels and food debris, and recycled products have virgin plastic added to improve quality.
Plastics can leach harmful chemicals So are the carcinogenic microplastics that pervade nearly everything on Earth.
According to a Greenpeace report citing the United Nations Environment Program, plastics contain more than 13,000 chemicals. 3,200 of them Known to be harmful to human health.
“The plastics industry, including fossil fuel, petrochemical, and consumer goods companies, continues to promote plastic recycling as a solution to the plastic pollution crisis. However, this report shows that the toxicity of plastics is in fact It shows. increase along with recycling,” said Graham Forbes, Global Plastics Campaign Leader at Greenpeace USA. “There is no place for plastic in a circular economy. It is clear that the only real solution to eliminating plastic pollution is to significantly reduce plastic production.”
As the climate crisis continues, one Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researcher argues that people would be better served by dumping plastic waste in landfills. Research shows that recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions by only 2-3% Published in Journal of Industrial Ecology.
“The carbon benefit, the greenhouse gas benefit, of recycling is actually so small that it’s not really worth it,” said Andrew McAfee. business insider in 2019. “What’s really environmentally unsound is what we were doing until China banned plastic, and we’re packaging all our plastic and sending it across the ocean to countries that are doing very dirty things to the environment. That’s what I was going to try and send to ‘to recycle it. ”
The impact of this system has become incredibly clear. Bottles and other plastics flow through our bodies. Across rivers, lakes, and oceans. The United States is World’s largest producer of plastic waste.
“It is simply impossible to collect the large quantities of these tiny pieces of plastic that are sold to U.S. consumers each year,” Lumsden said. “More plastic is being produced, but even less is being recycled. The crisis is only going to get worse, as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050. , it will continue to get worse unless there are dramatic changes.”
But amidst all these barriers, he said, there are “modest environmental benefits.” last week tonight Host John Oliver. Recycling saves energy and reduce water usage. Plastic recycling is better than burningsays the Plastic Pollution Coalition.
“Despite its many drawbacks, recycling remains an important part of efforts to reduce waste and conserve resources.Nevertheless, it is not a perfect solution and there are limits to what recycling can achieve. It is important to recognize that.” Boise State University’s College of Business and Economics stated:.
“To make recycling more effective, it is important to focus on reducing pollution, improving infrastructure, and considering other waste reduction strategies. Please consider other options.”
