Rethinking Recycling- How Did We Get Here?

The history of plastic is painfully ironic.

When the first entirely synthetic polymer was invented in 1869, it was part of the effort to find alternatives to natural ivory.

It was advertised as saving the environment by protecting the elephants and tortoises while reducing the strain on natural resources like wood and metals. Its abundance initially meant great things for society and the environment, so no one was thinking about the long-term consequences yet.

It wasn’t until the environmental movement’s rise in the 1960s that people started noticing the downsides of these synthetic substances, from pesticide pollution in rivers to plastic debris in the ocean.

Recycling became the answer to assuaging people’s fear of plastic, but its infrastructure, policies, and overall efficiency are so far from where they need to be.

Germany is leading the world in recycling, projected to reach 90% for metal, glass, and paper packaging by 2022. When it comes to plastic packaging specifically, the recycling rate is expected to rise from the current 36% to 63% by the same target year.

Our plastics recycling rate, on the other hand, was last recorded at 9.1% in 2015 by the EPA, and is projected to have dropped to an embarrassing 4.4% in 2018.

Germany just passed a new packaging law to encourage reusable packaging and enforce retailers to label their beverage shelves as reusable or disposable.

In contrast, the U.S. is having to deal with more and more of its plastic waste and China won’t take it anymore, but we still continue to increase our plastic production.

That’s why the best solution to waste isn’t recycling. It is simply easier and better to refuse single-use plastics in the first place, so you won’t have to figure out the best way to dispose of them later.

Check out some of my other blogs for ways to reduce your plastic use.

Happy plastic-free living!

S.