Best article I’ve read this week. Thank you Michael.
This is such an important issue we need to face up to.
It’s almost cruel that something we believe is doing good is actually making things worse.
And your point about ignoring reduce and reuse ♻️ is very valid. We often just fall back on recycling to save us but that’s missing such a big part of the equation to make this work.
Wonderful article. In some sense, recycling can also perversely increase the usage of materials. If I can recycle aluminum, for example, the price of the metal falls as the supply rises. Cheap aluminum begets, ironically, more usage of the metal. This doesn't mean we shouldn't recycle at all, as you point out, but that the benefits are *very* complicated.
Personally, I live by the mantra of reduce and reuse primarily, with emphasis on the former.
Illuminating and depressing to read and learn from this article. As a parent of 3 young kids I’m conscious that we’ve been especially wasteful the last few years as we’ve been in a state of “survival” (not literally) but where getting by is sufficiently challenging that being diligent about RRR seems out of reach. I’ve been punting this concern for some magical point in the future when things get easier. Sounds like the barrier is higher than I thought.
I knew some of this already, but not at this level of detail. Thank you for writing it. I think building awareness early and looking at the end-to-end life cycle of recycled items, from making to recycling, is essential. Is there a real incentive by recycling collectors to recycle, or is it just done because people are demanding, as you mentioned? And how do we encourage reuse of bags and other containers?
I also recently read the following:
A typical one-liter (33-ounce) bottle of water contains some 240,000 plastic fragments on average, according to a new study. Many of those fragments have historically gone undetected, the researchers determined, suggesting that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be dramatically underestimated. While plastic pollution exists everywhere on Earth, bottled water is of particular interest to scientists because of its potential to introduce plastic particles to the human body. A study published in 2022 found that the concentration of microplastics in bottled water was higher than in tap water. A report from 2021 warned that simply opening and closing the cap on a plastic bottle of water can release tiny plastic bits into the liquid.
And
bag hoarders are creating fresh environmental problems, with reusable bags having a much higher carbon footprint than thin plastic bags. According to one eye-popping estimate, a cotton bag should be used at least 7,100 times to make it a truly environmentally friendly alternative to a conventional plastic bag.
In the United Kingdom, the average person now buys around three single-use carrier bags a year, down from 140 in 2014 – the year before a charge was levied on single-use bags. However, Greenpeace said UK supermarkets in 2019 sold 1.58 billion durable plastic bags — known here as “bags for life” – equivalent to 57 per household and more than a bag per week. And this was a 4.5% increase compared to 2018.
This suggests the model, whereby a heavier bag is offered to encourage reuse, is simply not working.
Well done! I certainly enjoyed hearing the "Reduce, Reuse" emphasized.
Our culture here in the US pretty much takes for granted that our supply is endless, so everyone has fallen into the recycling trap. We're also a consumer culture, and our economy relies on us to purchase new goods or services that other people here make, or at least for those same folks to sell their services to the rest of the world.
Recycling is the only one of the three that supports the short-term activity of the economy, so it tends to get the most attention. Reducing or reusing doesn't benefit the producers of the goods - in fact, it hurts them! But recycling? That doesn't hurt the producers one iota (just talking short-term economics here).
From a "let's not kill any more species than we're already killing" perspective, though, simply wasting less stuff and reusing any containers you can use a few more times (or even repurpose) will have many times more effect. Virtually everyone who recycles should turn their focus more toward the admittedly less glamourous (but vastly more effective) cousins, Reduce and Reuse.
Of course, as you rightly point out, the social signaling from recycling is just too strong of a draw! "Look at me, I am recycling."
I've been aware of the darker side of recycling, but some of what you said was new knowledge to me. Like the plastic bags just ending up in landfills. I'm not going to give up on recycling, but I definitely want to shift to reuse or reduce more than I used to.
Here in Copenhagen, we have a massive recycling room in our building where you can deliver essentially every type of recyclable stuff. Our family does this diligently.
But your post has sent me on a research spree and I can see that Denmark also didn't have the best track record on plastic recycling until recently. Things do appear to be getting better, with a massive plastic recycling plant in Esbjerg that should single-handedly handle most of Denmark's plastic sorting and recycling.
Looks forward to the next chapter of this recycling saga!
Great, well-researched article Michael. We have unfortunately framed recycling (and reducing + reusing) as moral behaviors, which leads us to this chasm between what we do as individuals (we put many things in our recycling bins) and the actual results (most of it ends up in a landfill).
A better approach IMO is to focus on the economics of recycling. For instance, if recycling glass (as in your example) is uneconomical only because of contamination from plastics, and most plastics end up in landfills anyway, we might benefit from recycling policies of the kind “put only clean paper, cardboard, aluminum, and glass in your bin.”
Great piece. I actually campaigned successfully in the 90s for my college campus to institute a recycling program and have been disappointed with where we are now with recycling as a practice. Like others commenting here, I knew already the failures of the recycling system here in the US but not to this level of depressing detail. Still, it’s remarkably easy to discontinue some of the plastic use we take for granted. I recently ditched plastic wrap for beeswax wraps, which are superior in every way: ease of use, better seal, and locking in flavor. They’re more satisfying in a tactile sense as well.
I really appreciate this article, and these comments. My phone lock screen right now is a cartoon drawing of the earth saying "please stop buying things you're hurting me" -- https://amyletter.substack.com/p/2023-all-you-need-to-know -- this has actually been VERY effective in changing my behavior. For those of us who have trouble with the "reduce" part, putting a reminder like this where you will see it -- at the moment of decision before you "buy" -- really can make a difference.
One more link: I inherited a reusable tote that IS a re-used shirt, and it is an excellent tote. This is a way of getting a tote without anything new being made in the world: you use a t-shirt you already have, which you have worn past its usefulness as a garment, but not past its usefulness as a bag: https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/make_a_diy_t-shirt_tote_bag.pdf
The link is for a no-sew version, but of course if you know how to sew, you just sew instead of tie.
Okay, one more, because I raise chickens for eggs: please never throw away your egg cartons! There definitely is someone near you who is raising chickens for eggs who will gladly re-use the heck out of those cartons. You just need to find them. And usually people will trade you a free carton of fresh eggs in exchange for a bag of used egg cartons, not a bad deal!
It is a dirty story. We’ve been lied to and manipulated as you point out. Reuse or don’t buy plastic bottles in the first place seems to be a way to bypass the untrue recycling narrative. Just Don’t Buy Single Use Plastic.
Love how you're peeling back the layers on recycling myths, Michael! Considering the challenges with plastic recycling, how do you view biodegradable alternatives fitting into the solution?
I think this enough - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zZlRhCDzh2A However an action step that produces more sweden or changes the Us approaches to packaging and single use plastic would be amazing. something needs to be done.
Best article I’ve read this week. Thank you Michael.
This is such an important issue we need to face up to.
It’s almost cruel that something we believe is doing good is actually making things worse.
And your point about ignoring reduce and reuse ♻️ is very valid. We often just fall back on recycling to save us but that’s missing such a big part of the equation to make this work.
Wonderful article. In some sense, recycling can also perversely increase the usage of materials. If I can recycle aluminum, for example, the price of the metal falls as the supply rises. Cheap aluminum begets, ironically, more usage of the metal. This doesn't mean we shouldn't recycle at all, as you point out, but that the benefits are *very* complicated.
Personally, I live by the mantra of reduce and reuse primarily, with emphasis on the former.
Illuminating and depressing to read and learn from this article. As a parent of 3 young kids I’m conscious that we’ve been especially wasteful the last few years as we’ve been in a state of “survival” (not literally) but where getting by is sufficiently challenging that being diligent about RRR seems out of reach. I’ve been punting this concern for some magical point in the future when things get easier. Sounds like the barrier is higher than I thought.
I knew some of this already, but not at this level of detail. Thank you for writing it. I think building awareness early and looking at the end-to-end life cycle of recycled items, from making to recycling, is essential. Is there a real incentive by recycling collectors to recycle, or is it just done because people are demanding, as you mentioned? And how do we encourage reuse of bags and other containers?
I also recently read the following:
A typical one-liter (33-ounce) bottle of water contains some 240,000 plastic fragments on average, according to a new study. Many of those fragments have historically gone undetected, the researchers determined, suggesting that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be dramatically underestimated. While plastic pollution exists everywhere on Earth, bottled water is of particular interest to scientists because of its potential to introduce plastic particles to the human body. A study published in 2022 found that the concentration of microplastics in bottled water was higher than in tap water. A report from 2021 warned that simply opening and closing the cap on a plastic bottle of water can release tiny plastic bits into the liquid.
And
bag hoarders are creating fresh environmental problems, with reusable bags having a much higher carbon footprint than thin plastic bags. According to one eye-popping estimate, a cotton bag should be used at least 7,100 times to make it a truly environmentally friendly alternative to a conventional plastic bag.
In the United Kingdom, the average person now buys around three single-use carrier bags a year, down from 140 in 2014 – the year before a charge was levied on single-use bags. However, Greenpeace said UK supermarkets in 2019 sold 1.58 billion durable plastic bags — known here as “bags for life” – equivalent to 57 per household and more than a bag per week. And this was a 4.5% increase compared to 2018.
This suggests the model, whereby a heavier bag is offered to encourage reuse, is simply not working.
Is there a netflix movie to accompany this article?
Well done! I certainly enjoyed hearing the "Reduce, Reuse" emphasized.
Our culture here in the US pretty much takes for granted that our supply is endless, so everyone has fallen into the recycling trap. We're also a consumer culture, and our economy relies on us to purchase new goods or services that other people here make, or at least for those same folks to sell their services to the rest of the world.
Recycling is the only one of the three that supports the short-term activity of the economy, so it tends to get the most attention. Reducing or reusing doesn't benefit the producers of the goods - in fact, it hurts them! But recycling? That doesn't hurt the producers one iota (just talking short-term economics here).
From a "let's not kill any more species than we're already killing" perspective, though, simply wasting less stuff and reusing any containers you can use a few more times (or even repurpose) will have many times more effect. Virtually everyone who recycles should turn their focus more toward the admittedly less glamourous (but vastly more effective) cousins, Reduce and Reuse.
Of course, as you rightly point out, the social signaling from recycling is just too strong of a draw! "Look at me, I am recycling."
I've been aware of the darker side of recycling, but some of what you said was new knowledge to me. Like the plastic bags just ending up in landfills. I'm not going to give up on recycling, but I definitely want to shift to reuse or reduce more than I used to.
Here in Copenhagen, we have a massive recycling room in our building where you can deliver essentially every type of recyclable stuff. Our family does this diligently.
But your post has sent me on a research spree and I can see that Denmark also didn't have the best track record on plastic recycling until recently. Things do appear to be getting better, with a massive plastic recycling plant in Esbjerg that should single-handedly handle most of Denmark's plastic sorting and recycling.
Looks forward to the next chapter of this recycling saga!
Great, well-researched article Michael. We have unfortunately framed recycling (and reducing + reusing) as moral behaviors, which leads us to this chasm between what we do as individuals (we put many things in our recycling bins) and the actual results (most of it ends up in a landfill).
A better approach IMO is to focus on the economics of recycling. For instance, if recycling glass (as in your example) is uneconomical only because of contamination from plastics, and most plastics end up in landfills anyway, we might benefit from recycling policies of the kind “put only clean paper, cardboard, aluminum, and glass in your bin.”
I hope we can make it a better place before we turn into dust.
Great piece. I actually campaigned successfully in the 90s for my college campus to institute a recycling program and have been disappointed with where we are now with recycling as a practice. Like others commenting here, I knew already the failures of the recycling system here in the US but not to this level of depressing detail. Still, it’s remarkably easy to discontinue some of the plastic use we take for granted. I recently ditched plastic wrap for beeswax wraps, which are superior in every way: ease of use, better seal, and locking in flavor. They’re more satisfying in a tactile sense as well.
Tell me why we get fooled again?
???
I really appreciate this article, and these comments. My phone lock screen right now is a cartoon drawing of the earth saying "please stop buying things you're hurting me" -- https://amyletter.substack.com/p/2023-all-you-need-to-know -- this has actually been VERY effective in changing my behavior. For those of us who have trouble with the "reduce" part, putting a reminder like this where you will see it -- at the moment of decision before you "buy" -- really can make a difference.
One more link: I inherited a reusable tote that IS a re-used shirt, and it is an excellent tote. This is a way of getting a tote without anything new being made in the world: you use a t-shirt you already have, which you have worn past its usefulness as a garment, but not past its usefulness as a bag: https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/make_a_diy_t-shirt_tote_bag.pdf
The link is for a no-sew version, but of course if you know how to sew, you just sew instead of tie.
Okay, one more, because I raise chickens for eggs: please never throw away your egg cartons! There definitely is someone near you who is raising chickens for eggs who will gladly re-use the heck out of those cartons. You just need to find them. And usually people will trade you a free carton of fresh eggs in exchange for a bag of used egg cartons, not a bad deal!
It is a dirty story. We’ve been lied to and manipulated as you point out. Reuse or don’t buy plastic bottles in the first place seems to be a way to bypass the untrue recycling narrative. Just Don’t Buy Single Use Plastic.
Love how you're peeling back the layers on recycling myths, Michael! Considering the challenges with plastic recycling, how do you view biodegradable alternatives fitting into the solution?
I think this enough - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zZlRhCDzh2A However an action step that produces more sweden or changes the Us approaches to packaging and single use plastic would be amazing. something needs to be done.