Recycling is Over-Emphasized. Let’s Focus on Reduce and Reuse.
WHAT IS RECYCLING?
“Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products.” - Environmental Protection Agency
Recycling Redux
Only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled. I think we have to ask ourselves - are our recycling programs still effective?
The recycling programs of the world are all different and conflicting. What may be deemed recyclable in Toronto, may not be recyclable in a municipality 60km away. Unfortunately, there is no current universal standard to adhere to when setting up a recycling program in a community. In one city you might be able to recycle hard plastics, cans, paper products, and glass all placed together (single-stream), while in a neighboring city they might only accept separated cans and paper products (dual-stream). It all depends on the waste management system developed by that municipality and what kinds of recycling processes/machines have been invested in.
Trash is a huge problem that we are facing in this modern world and recycling is one of the ways that we have developed to deal with certain excesses. Large-scale recycling programs started in the US in the 1970s and in the 1980s in Canada to deal with these large amounts of waste now being produced. In the 1980s, landfill usage peaked and people had to consider another alternative to burying their waste. During this time many landfills closed to save monetary costs as well as environmental ones (think water pollution and toxic decomposition). This was an even larger issue due to the invention of plastics in the 1920’s and ‘30s that have now been accumulating for a few decades. Did you know that there are around 800 active landfills, and 1,500 inactive landfills in Ontario alone? How many more holes do we need to dig, fill, and cover up before we recognize our current habits aren’t sustainable?
When we aren’t busy buying our waste, we’re exporting it to the US or China. While statistics aren’t clear on which countries were exporting what quantities, between 1995 and 2016 Chinese imports of recyclables grew tenfold, from 4.5m to 45m tonnes; and since 2007 recyclables have been one of China‘s largest import categories. But in 2018, China had had enough of the world’s waste ending up on their land and they shut off most imports. This came about through China’s National Sword Policy, which specifically bans the import of 24 categories of solid waste, including waste plastics, unsorted scrap paper and waste textiles. This has been a huge issue for countries like the US and Canada who rely heavily on exporting its waste (Canada is #1 waste producer per capita, and the US is #3). China is choosing to focus on developing its domestic recycling infrastructure - leaving the rest of us scratching our heads on how to deal with the overflow.
Cross-Country Contamination - a snapshot at how different items (both standard items vs. a sustainable alternative) are handled in the biggest municipalities in Canada.
Legend: data retrieved from: *City App, downloadable from your app store **Online waste database WasteWizard plug-in
~certified compostable, +Drop off only, Accepts black plastic, n/a not listed in respective database.
Notice how many of the sustainable alternatives aren’t recognized.
Because of this global change, it’s time to start thinking of new strategies to deal with the overflow. We need to look to building new infrastructure to recycle our own waste, look for ways to reduce the amount we produce, or get the producers of goods involved to help create a closed-loop system. Introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (ERP). The Canadian federal government defines ERP as follows: “extended producer responsibility is a policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility, physical and/or financial, for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle.” As stated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) “Assigning such responsibility could in principle provide incentives to prevent wastes at the source, promote product design for the environment and support the achievement of public recycling and materials management goals.”
Some good news to report on this program: Ontario is transitioning the cost for our blue bin recycling program from tax-payers to producer responsibility starting in 2023. British Columbia already has an ERP program in place, while Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec are currently developing them. I will call that a legislative win.
During this time, it’s important to be a conscious consumer and focus on reducing and reusing what we already have. There are a few other R’s that we should add to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Refuse, Rethink, Repair, Refurbish, Repurpose. There are so many ways that this mentality can manifest itself in our everyday lives - it just might not be the way we’re used to/ the easiest option. Sure, washing your recycling is annoying, but is it really that hard? It could be the difference between it ending up in landfill or being properly recycled. If you think you’re doing your best, but want some more inspiration, following a hashtag like #greenliving or #ecofriendly on Instagram can provide a plethora of new ideas.
Sustainable Business
Of course, it’s not all up to the individual to make sustainable choices, companies need to be responsible as well. So let’s take a minute to acknowledge some of those that have incorporated waste reduction into its business model:
Allbirds is a shoe company that is completely carbon neutral. They have adopted such practices as using recycled and natural materials to avoid the emissions associated with net new material production. For the greenhouse gases (GHG) they can’t avoid/reduce, Allbirds buys carbon offsets for the rest.
*A carbon offset is an investment in the removal of GHGs elsewhere, to offset the GHGs that you were unable to avoid producing. GHGs can be removed by way of investments in new renewable energy projects, as well as capturing GHGs that would have otherwise been emitted. Each time one of these projects generates 1 tonne of clean energy that is the offset for your 1 tonne of GHG produced.
Kjaer Weis is a company that has adopted “zero-waste” practices. It is a makeup brand that sells refillable makeup. They have mascara tubes that you can purchase refills for, as well as face makeup like pressed powder. More and more local shops have been popping up, offering bulk refillable options for household items like shampoo, laundry soap, and dish soap - you can read more about that trend here.
Interface Carpets is a classic case study used by sustainability professions to highlight the act of reducing waste. Interface produces 2’x 2’ carpet tiles which are easily interchangeable if one becomes soiled. This enables the purchaser to replace one tile, not the whole carpet if there is an accident. Last year, Greenvine worked with a company to install Interface tiles made from discarded fish nets from developing countries. The nets are purchased and sent to a company, Aquafil, to be turned into a recycled yarn. This initiative is the perfect example of companies looking to repurpose existing materials on the planet rather than just making more.
In 2019 we saw a welcome trend in the hotel industry: the ditching of single-use toiletries for refillable dispensers. Sure, the novelty of collecting samples from all of your favourite hotels for use on other trips is now a thing of the past, but that also applies to the countless tiny plastic bottles that would end up in the landfill or recycling plants. Almost all of the major hotel chains have opted into this phenomenon including parents brands Accor Hotels, IHG, Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton which have over 25,000 properties worldwide! That is a huge reduction of single-use toiletries worldwide.
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These companies are just a few of the many companies that are making strides to reduce, reuse, and eliminate one of the biggest by-products of our existence: waste. Waste reduction is just one angle on how business is choosing to move forward with the environment in mind. While the introduction of an effort like this may initially show up as debit on the balance sheet, you are mitigating the effects that global warming will eventually have on your business. What if single-use plastics are banned and hotels hadn’t already switched to bulk dispensing? Supply chain disruption. While these things may not be a reality yet, we are laboring under the false pretense propagated by the oil & gas industry that cleaning up your act is expensive. Contrarily, reports show that the world could save $23 trillion by shifting to sustainable development.
If you want to look at some of the many ways that your company can begin to transition to more sustainable business practices, please reach out to hello@greenvinesustainable.com.
