Have you ever thrown a plastic bottle out in the recycling and thought it would be recycled? Think again. Believe it or not, but in the US, only about 5-9% of plastics are actually recycled. Actually is even more disappointing and most plastic is: downcycled” and the process is very expensive. Organizations like OCEANA speak to the complexities of recycling plastic waste and it is eye-opening to see that less that 5% gets effectively recycled.
Coming back to that plastic bottle. Did you know that it has a Resin Identification Code, which looks like a reduce, reuse, recycle symbol, with a number ranging from 1-7? Numbers 1 and 2 are safe to recycle, 3 cannot be recycled, and 4-7 vary based on different variables. One item with the 3 on it, can ruin an entire load of recycling due to contamination, which will do more harm than good.
A practical measure we can all take is to ensure that our recyclables are generally clean. A dirty bottle can result in a trashed batch and ironically contribute to the cause we are fighting against, climate change.
Recycling while still not the most efficient today is extremely important as it is helping reduce our carbon footprint. Optimistically, the future has many things to hold in the realm of recycling, clothing, and footwear are becoming plastic based. One of the big companies utilizing this is Adidas and their ever-popular ultra boost. Another great use of recycling is through art. I remember when I was in elementary school, an extremely innovative artist came and presented a project to us; we were tasked to build a giant static robot out of 100% recycled bottles. Once completed it was shown for the entire school to see for the weeks to come.
In our quest to become a healthy planet again, many startups have started to work on this problem and lots of innovation is happening which is encouraging. While we want to run, we must walk and do our part. we must recycle, be more conscious of what we are recycling and keep encouraging everyone to take that little extra step to become a healthy planet.
In my next blog, I will explain the details of “downcycling” and also what we mean when we say “MURF”(MRF)…stay tuned
https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/the-future-of-recycling
Discover more from The Absorbing Artist | Arjun Kapur
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.