The essays, analyses and opinions presented as Community Voices express the perspectives of their authors on topics of interest and importance to the community, and are not intended to reflect perspectives on behalf of the Salish Current.
Commentary: Plastics and demands for convenience at the expense of actual impact are undermining recycling and the creation of a truly circular economy.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Across today’s cultural landscape, the three Rs just don’t seem to resonate the way they used to. The City of Bellingham and Whatcom County are both transitioning from the source-sorted recycling approach (an approach that ensures lower contamination rates and therefore higher-value recycled commodities) to a commingled, single-bin approach. Arguments that a simpler system for residents will result in higher participation and waste diversion are questionable given our region already ranks close to the highest in the state by both measures.
These moves are coinciding with a growing public sentiment that recycling should be more convenient, if it’s even still worth doing at all.
Against the backdrop of global climate disruption caused by the burning of fossil fuels, media outlets and content creators in the environmental space are vocally critiquing recycling as a scam — a lie that Big Oil and the plastics industry peddled as a PR maneuver to shift environmental responsibility from the producer (themselves) to the consumer (the rest of us).
Indeed, studies show that as little as 9% percent of plastic produced worldwide has ever been recycled (the rate is even lower at 5 to 6% in the U.S.), and a recent report revealed the extent to which oil and plastics companies helped promote plastic recycling despite knowing it wasn’t feasible. Unfortunately, as “recycling is a scam” headlines are repeated and amplified online, important context is lost and a whole host of verifiably beneficial individual behaviors are at risk of being thrown out with the plastic-laden bathwater.
Yes, plastic pollution is a global scourge, and single-use plastics need to be phased out of production as soon as humanly possible through policies that better protect our waters, wildlife, and human health.
At the same time, recycling has been incredibly effective for other materials, such as aluminum. Others, like glass and paper, are more recyclable than plastic but processes have plenty of room for improvement in America.
A critical component of efficient, effective and economically viable recycling is producing separate, steady and uncontaminated streams of used material that can be sold as a commodity. Western Washington recently suffered a setback in its glass recycling ecosystem when Ardagh Glass in Seattle, a major recipient of municipal recycled glass, shut down due to lack of demand for its product.
As more municipalities move to single-stream recycling, and as more people fill their home recycling bins with garbage in the hopes it MIGHT be recyclable (food waste, stretchy film plastic and broken glass are common contaminants), the value of recycled materials as commodities keeps going down. Meanwhile, plastics keep proliferating as consumers tell themselves that all the plastic packaging they’re buying is ok because it’s recyclable.
Solutions?
So what CAN we do? Instead of giving up and ridiculing the dutiful recyclers in your life as chumps, recommit to the Three Rs (in their proper order) and advocate for a circular economy:
- Support groups that advocate for policy solutions to plastic waste and pollution, such as banning worst-in-class single-use plastic products and extended producer responsibility policies that make corporations pay for the environmental costs of product packaging that isn’t recyclable.
- Practice reuse behaviors like shopping at thrift stores and consignment shops, which offer people alternatives to ethically-fraught fast fashion and fast furniture while saving money, shopping locally, and diverting waste from landfills. When you have to buy new products, look for companies that eschew plastic packaging and components for more recyclable and sustainable options.
- Reduce your consumption and gain skills in the process by practicing creative reuse, DIY projects, and repairing and mending items you already own. Of course, avoiding purchasing items you don’t really need is still the best way to reduce energy use and waste of natural resources.
- When it comes to building construction and demolition waste, municipalities like Seattle are achieving major waste reductions and other benefits by educating, incentivizing and in some scenarios mandating green deconstruction practices. When remodeling and or retrofitting, support local outfits like The RE Store that reuse construction materials and advocate for better local incentives for building material salvage.
- Instead of wish-cycling, bone up on what can actually be recycled in your curbside bin without contaminating it. Rather than tossing hard-to-recycle, potential hazardous items, check Whatcom County’s WasteWise tool.
Lastly, don’t give in to cynicism and don’t confuse individual behaviors being insufficient with them being insignificant. Individual actions still have influence and power. We all can and should still reduce, reuse and recycle to the best of our abilities, even if it takes a little more time and consideration. Individual actions still make a big impact and roll up into serious environmental and climate progress.
—By Jay Kosa
Also read in Salish Current:
- “To the rescue: saving lives, taking action on plastic trash in the Salish Sea,” Sept. 14, 2023
- “Island waste: can’t burn or bury it, so best to manage it,” Feb. 2, 2023
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