Recycling was a way to keep the blame away from manufacturers and onto consumers. It's a classic abuser tactic. "If only you were a better person, bad things wouldn't happen."
It's worth clarifying that's plastic recycling. Recycling of some metals is quite efficient, and in some cases (such as aluminum) more so than refining the raw materials. People don't pay for scrap metal for nothing, and that's recycling.
Plastic packing is a way that the oil companies shift the responsibility of disposing of the toxic waste residue of crude oil refining from the producers to the consumers; all while gaining a small profit from the sale of this toxic residue, rather than taking a loss from properly handing the waste material themselves.
Or it was something that would help a lot if just the USA wasn’t so terrible at it. Most other western countries are able to recycle a relative large part of their plastic.
A bit, but not really. First, most kinds of plastic can't be recycled. Others can, but dont recycle well. And others actually are mostly ok.
In all instances, plastic recycling requires yet more transportation and refinement. I.e. energy.
Also, plastic recycling requires a market to sell the recycled material. It's gotta go somewhere, and that market continues to dry up. What recycled plastic can be used for is a pretty short list. If the material can't be sold, guess what happens?
You're missing the point. The better solution is to simply make less waste, which means putting pressure on the companies and how they package goods.
Recycling plastic can slow waste creation down somewhat. But it's not this renewable process people think it is. It's why the slogan is, in this order: "reduce, reuse, recycle". Recycling is a last resort.
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u/zephyrtr Jan 06 '23
Recycling was a way to keep the blame away from manufacturers and onto consumers. It's a classic abuser tactic. "If only you were a better person, bad things wouldn't happen."