Recycling might be doing more harm than good
- recycling makes people think they can consume more & produce more waste, because “it’s being recycled anyway so it’s OK”. it’s a placebo to make you feel like you’re doing something when you actually aren’t.
- most plastic doesn’t actually get recycled
- if plastic is dirty or greasy, it’s either impossible to recycle, or has to b cleaned, which is an intensive process that uses more energy & other resources.
- it pushes the blame to the individual consumer, when the majority of waste comes from large-scale companies, countries, and multinational corporations.
- the mantra is “reduce, reuse, recycle”. it’s in that order for a reason. reduce your production of plastic waste as much as possible. reuse whatever you can. only then, as a last resort, recycle it.