top of page
Search

Plastic Recycling Is Not A Circular Solution

  • Writer: John
    John
  • Jun 20, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Jan 29




We’ve been told plastic recycling is a circular solution, but this is a myth. Continuing to promote plastic recycling and ‘recyclability’ merely prolongs our dependency on plastic and permits many millions more tonnes of plastic waste


The Myth of Plastic Recycling

Recycling is a good solution for glass and metals, but not for plastic. ‘Circularity’ and ‘plastic recycling’ should not appear in the same sentence.


When plastic gets recycled, it usually needs to be blended with a larger amount of virgin plastic before it can be reused (especially for food-grade uses), over 99% of which comes from fossil fuels[1]; using recycled plastic ensures ongoing demand for virgin plastic and fossil fuel.


The number of times plastic can be recycled varies according to the type of plastic, its condition and the processing technique. National Geographic says


“The same piece of plastic can only be recycled about 2-3 times before its quality decreases to the point where it can no longer be used”[2].


Looking at the US situation, Greenpeace[3] detailed how even in a wealthy country like America, plastic recycling will not work. A Greenpeace spokesperson said[4]:


“Corporations like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Unilever have worked with industry front groups to promote plastic recycling as the solution to plastic waste for decades. But the data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable. The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill.” 


According to the report, which is an update to a 2020 report, mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste fails because plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort for recycling, environmentally harmful to reprocess, often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and not economical to recycle”. (Lisa Ramsden, Greenpeace USA Senior Plastics Campaigner)


Effectively, plastic recycling just delays the time when it needs to be burnt, sent to landfill or is dumped into the ocean, and all the while it guarantees fossil fuel-sourced virgin plastic will be used.


Despite this, recycling and even the highly misleading ‘recyclable’ are embedded in plastic use abatement objectives and signed onto by countries and corporations worldwide.

Encouraging/permitting corporations to focus on recycling and ’recyclability’ has allowed these large companies to continue to use plastic largely unchecked, even though alternative reuse solutions are available.


This matters since plastic packaging is the single largest use of plastic and source of leakage. The plastic packaging sector creates around 40% of total plastic waste today and total usage is projected to almost triple by 2060[5]. It also matters because plastic production and decomposition is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions: in the U.S., for example, the plastics industry’s contribution to climate change is on track to exceed that of coal-fired power in the country by 2030[6].


Organisations focus on recycling and ’recyclability’ even through only a small proportion of plastic ever gets recycled. OECD says just 9% of global plastic waste was successfully recycled in 2019 and projects this to rise to only 17% in 2060[7].


Commitments and policies based on recycling and ‘recyclability’ are minimally effective and misleading for consumers. These policies have allowed signatories to them to increase their use of plastic and put into the environment over 11 million tonnes of plastic in each of the last five years. It will continue until the policy makers that devise and promote these commitments and the corporations that sign up to them shift to focus instead on truly circular solutions.


REUSE Foundation is dedicated to identifying and promoting reuse solutions that genuinely work and lower both plastic demand and waste.


Comments

bottom of page