It’s not about recycling! It’s about reducing

All around the world the governments started a war against plastic.

The EU norms are getting more and more strict and every day hundreds of anti-waste campaigns cross the internet. These campaigns want us to recycle more and be less reliant on plastic, to save our dear planet and stop the mass extinction of marine life.

But does this really work? Do programs introduced by the governments have any impact on our environment?

On average, every day, each of us produces 2 kilograms of waste. It may seem a little but when multiplied by the world’s population itends up in 14 billion kilograms of trash produced every 24 hours. Now that’s quite a number.

There are three possible routes that our waste can take after landing in the bin (supposed we put it in the recycling bin). It can either go to a recycling center, which is preferred, be incinerated (burnt), or go to landfill.

I honestly regret to inform you that only 9% of plastic that we send to recycling actually gets a new life.

Why is this number so low?

It’s no secret that very little trash remains in the country in which it was produced. Most governments decide to give or sell waste to other countries, which, in their opinion, “solves” the problem. However, waste recycling is only as valuable as the market is. And the demand is really low. Until 2018 China was one of the countries, which had been buying most of our trash and actually reusing it to manufacture new products. But even they have had enough of our plastic and banned most of the waste import.

The “travelling rubbish” changed the direction to Malaysia or Turkey, but these countries are fed up too. 
So, what happens to it? It can’t just roam the oceans forever?!

Well, it does, and that’s no surprise either. A recent study found that the amount of plastic waste entering the ocean from land exceeds each year 4.8 million tonnes (Mt), and can reach 12.7 Mt. The quantities of plastic entering the ocean are growing rapidly with the potential for cumulative inputs of plastic waste into the ocean as high as 250 Mt by 2025. And over 50% of that waste circles around the countries that we had hoped to be successfully recycling our waste. I’m talking Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and Sri Lanka.

We’ve been mass producing plastic since the 1950s. And it is scientifically proven that it can take up to 450 years for plastic to decompose. This means that 60% of plastic produced since the 50s is still active. We can’t fully avoid using plastic to produce goods. It’s light, durable and water resistant. It’s also safe and easy to produce and mold. Even the floors of landfills are covered with special plastic to prevent dangerous substances from being absorbed by the soil.

---

Julia Słupik

---