Submitted by Jacqui Wakefield, on behalf of the MNBP Waste Management and Diversion Group
Like so many other places in Canada, here in our municipality the total amounts of both waste and recycling are steadily increasing – up to 947.6 tonnes of waste and 522 tonnes of recycling in 2020. This is about a 7% increase for both. That same pattern is seen in the first quarter of this year, as we produced 252 tonnes of garbage and 135 tonnes of recycling. At this rate, we continue to produce about twice as much garbage as recycling!
Will this upward trend persist? Likely only time will tell, but this reduces precious space in our landfills and signals a warning about how much we are “consuming”.
Although increasing our recycling can help, it is not a cure-all. As can be seen from our own figures, recycling alone will likely never be enough to make up for the garbage we produce. While recycling IS an essential aspect of a healthy planet and clean environment, it should be our last resort. Reducing and Reusing should always come first!
So why bother to recycle at all?
First there are items that are readily and easily recyclable – saving resources and energy. Aluminum cans are a prime example of this category. Cans are easily sorted by recycling facilities – and yield a fairly good price for every bale of things like pop cans. This is because aluminum can be re-melted and used to make new cans an almost limitless amount of times. Clear glass bottles and jars used for foods and beverages also are 100% recyclable, and they can be recycled over and over without losing quality.
Next there are items that can be readily recycled to make quality products, but only a certain number of times. Paper and corrugated cardboard are prime examples of this category. Paper is easily accepted and sorted at recycling facilities. However, the fibers of paper are shortened with each recycling process. The good news is that most paper can go through up to 7 cycles before its fibers are too short to use.
Then there are items that are accepted for recycling, but are often “downcycled” rather than truly recycled. Many types of plastic fall into this category. In fact, some experts say that recycling plastic is one of those things that “works better in theory than in practice”. If you look at the bottom of most plastic containers, you will see a number inside a triangular recycling symbol. This tells you what kind of plastic the container is made from.
One “good” plastic in this regard is polyethylene terephthalate, PET for short and #1 in the recycling symbol. As a light but strong form of clear plastic, it is used to make plastic bottles and other containers.
In theory, PET is fully recyclable, and several water and pop companies have pledged to meet the goal of 100 percent recycled plastic by 2025. However, to achieve this goal, users actually must put these bottles into the recycling bin and manufacturers must produce a high quality recycled PET resin. At present, the “old-bottle-to-new-bottle” goal falls far short. Today’s bottles often contain only about 30% recycled material, and much of the recycled form of PET goes to industries to create synthetic fibres for the textile industry. These “downcycled” products eventually will have a final “end of life”… and create other environmental headaches like plastic fibers leaching into our groundwater when clothing is washed.
The other “good” plastic is high-density polyethylene, HDPE for short and #2 in the recycling symbol. It is opaque and does not absorb most liquids.
It is a common choice for heavy duty containers like shampoo and bleach bottles, food containers, milk jugs, motor oil containers, and pipes and fittings. New products are manufactured using recycled HDPE, including rope, many toys, trash cans, and even recycling bins! HDPE is one of the easiest plastic polymers to recycle, but a batch of recycling can be ruined if it is contaminated in any way – a reminder of the importance of thoroughly washing out containers!
Of note, it is better and more cost-efficient to produce a new product from recycled HDPE than it is to manufacture ‘virgin’ (newly made) plastic, as 1kg of new HDPE takes 1.75kg of oil (fossil fuel) to manufacture. Recent studies have shown that HDPE can be recycled up to 10 times, and many of the original containers (like milk jugs) have a “service” or useable life of around 10 to 20 years. Unfortunately, many containers are not recycled and most are not reused.
For other types of plastic, a piece can only be recycled two to three times until it reaches a point where it is no longer of any use. For some types, if the recycled plastic products are to be of any use, virgin plastic must be blended with the recycled material. This means that you rarely can find a piece of plastic that is 100% recycled. The International Energy Agency estimated that only 5% of plastic is truly recycled, while 40% ends up in our environment!
So where does all of this leave us?
• Reduce and reuse should be priorities!
• Buy products packaged in containers that can be easily and effectively recycled.
• Recognize that cheap, disposable plastics need to be replaced with more durable and reusable options.
Here are a couple of extra things you can do:
• Talk to your legislator. Advocate for policies that reduce single-use plastic waste, not just yogurt containers, but plastic bags, foam containers, straws, and other products. Support “extended producer responsibility” policies, too. Currently, producers don’t bear any of the cost of disposing their products. If they did, they’d be more inclined to design their products for reuse. Ontario’s initiative in this direction seems “stalled”.
• Talk to producers directly. For example, call or write your favorite yogurt brand to ask them to embrace reusable packaging.
Ultimately, we have to think outside of the recycling box to solve our garbage woes. We need producers to design products intended for reuse, BUT we also need to consume less stuff, and particularly less disposable stuff. Not only will this help de-contaminate our recycling and restore its value, but it also will bring much-needed relief to our plastic-laden planet.
Takeaways: First REDUCE, then REUSE, finally RECYCLE – and do it wisely.
