Plastics Recycling Revisited: Myths, Truths, and Potential Solutions
Welcome back to my newsletter on Social Innovation, this issue focused on misperceptions around plastic recycling.
I have taken a slight hiatus for the launch of my recent book Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Capitalism, and I am now back to sending you key insights on social innovation a number of times a month.
The theory behind this newsletter is that because 1) social entrepreneurs/businesses face more constraints setting up their business because laws/norms/culture are mainly focused on being either a “business” or “non-profit” they have to be more creative in achieving their vision. And 2) these companies’ focus is often on changing societal systems, i.e. not just selling products of services which also leads to more out of the box thinking. I believe that because of existing systems constraints and also broader vision to achieve their goals, social entrepreneurs come up with more innovative and unique business innovations in the world today.
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Plastics Recycling Revisited: Myths, Truths, and Potential Solutions
The pervasiveness of plastic waste has become a global concern. Recycling, while often perceived as an effective solution to the plastic problem, in fact has very limited effect. Research shows is that in the U.S. only a very small proportion of plastic is recycled and reused.
The problem with the recycling system has not gone unnoticed. Beyond Plastics, a nationwide US-based project at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, has been working to end plastic pollution. Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, explained to me how the current system where consumers think everything they put in their bins will be recycled fails to live up to our expectation and companies need to be held accountable for the environmental impacts. Below are some key points from my recent Forbes articles on Beyond Plastics:
As Enck and others point out, combating the plastic problem requires a mindset shift from believing recycling will solve the problem to finding legitimate ways to reduce and/or avoid the production of plastic. This is like the Einstein quote “A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.” We need to stop thinking from the perspective that we need to address plastics after they are created, but actually find ways to stop using plastic in the first place.
The idea that plastics is easily recyclable is an idea created by groups founded by large businesses that want to avoid taking responsibility for the trash they create. These greenwashing groups have further shifted the responsibility for change to the consumers through TV ads and campaigns.
Enck suggests Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies with clear and measurable requirements can be an effective way to hold businesses accountable. These should not be focused on funding recycling as they have been traditionally, but focused on packaging standards that avoid the production and use of plastic in the first place.
However, currently this is not working well as large companies can pursue their own EPR bills that are beneficial to their businesses by funding legislation organizations. For instance, these group have shown support EPR bills that focus on recycling rather than reducing production, which only undermines efforts to address the plastic pollution problem.
She also points out that while the “European Union has had an EPR for packaging directive in place for years. But when we talked with people in Europe, we realized that while it was good to get the funding for recycling, it didn’t do anything to actually help with plastic reduction, so to speak. Plastic reduction is where our focus needs to be; not just on recycling.”
In addition, shipping waste plastics to developing countries is also not practical as some countries, China for example have refused to take on more unsorted plastic. Further, plastics is mostly transformed into fossil fuels rather than being recycled in these countries.
To close, as Enck and others point out, combating the plastic problem requires a mindset shift from believing recycling will solve the problem to finding legitimate ways to reduce the production of plastic. And that means companies need to be held accountable for the environmental impacts of their products.