“INDUSTRIAL GROUPS AND LARGE CORPORATIONS HAVE PUSHED TO PRESENT RECYCLING AS A SOLUTION. (…) IN DOING SO, THEY HAVE SHIRKED ALL RESPONSIBILITY.”
Lisa Ramsden, Greenpeace USA
The five reasons why, according to Greenpeace, this so-called circular economy doesn’t and can’t exist:
First of all, plastic waste is generated in large quantities and is extremely difficult to collect, as is clear from the “inefficient volunteer clean-ups” as the NGO calls them, which are funded by non-profit organizations such as “Keep America Beautiful”.
Secondly, even if they were all collected, mixed plastic waste cannot be recycled together, and it would be “functionally impossible to sort the billions of consumer plastic waste produced every year”.
Thirdly, the recycling process itself is harmful to the environment, as it exposes workers to toxic chemicals and itself generates microplastics.
Fourthly, recycled plastic presents toxicity risks through contamination with other types of plastic in collection bins, preventing it from becoming a food-grade material again.
Fifthly, the recycling process is prohibitively expensive.
Solution? No more plastic…
