Moody Monday: the problem with plastics
2022-Dec-19, Monday 11:05 amBy now, everyone knows that plastic recycling for the past few decades was basically a myth. We can thank Trump for exposing this global lie. Trump touted plastic manufacturing in the USA for brownie points here. He also spent too much of his time in office annoying China, where most of the world was shipping its waste. Trump's trade war with China began in 2018 January, which is when they (coincidentally or not) "banned almost all imports" of plastic.
"The dispute over scrap comes amid increased concerns of a full-blown trade war between the United States and China."
reuters.com
The world had to find a new recipient to recycle its plastic, since countries weren't doing it within their own borders where they produced the waste. (Yes, snark.) That effort didn't turn out well, but we couldn't wait on that easy "solution" anyway. USA recycling started to cut back, and now we recycle only about 6% of plastic waste in the USA and about 9% globally. There is some good news to be found, though.
- Portions of the USA started holding manufacturers responsible for the lifecycle of their products. This idea probably helped spur innovation, so that...
- Chemical recycling moved forward, using heat or solvents to break down the material.
- Enzyme recycling moved forward, using that bacterium found in Japan a few years ago that eats plastic.
- Plastic alternatives moved forward (it's even edible!), simply abandoning the problematic material altogether. Some compostable material is good too.
We just need to stop with the plastics. I've resigned myself to paying more for glass containers (peanut butter, for example) or metal instead of the cheaper plastic products. When I buy potato powder, I no longer buy the single-serving plastic packages, instead I get the larger paper-boxed supplies. What we can do as individuals is limited, except where we can influence policy makers to change our global systems. Government has its place, since industry changes only when it is forced to do so. The magical promise of capitalist greed never created the change we need, because it was too profitable to continue with the polluting systems we had. Externalized costs are a wonderful thing to a capitalist focused on short-term gains. Intellect is more effective than greed, so lets work smart now as we establish the long-term requirements of a sustainable society.