In our series EcoHomeLife Explains we help you understand terms and concepts around eco-friendliness. In this edition we ask: can recycling save the planet?
Living a more sustainable life can be a daunting prospect. There are so many things we do that have an impact on our environment.
One thing that is often seen as paramount to sustainability is recycling. So can recycling save the planet?
Well, the answer is rather complicated because while it has to play a part in tackling climate change, recycling alone won’t save our planet. Find out why.
Why Recycling Is Important
Recycling, the act of processing a material to make something new out of it, is surely vital if we want to save our planet. And yes it is.
It reduces our need for new resources, many of which are precious, such as water and timber. Others create huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions when being extracted, such as fossil fuels.
Most manufacturing processes are also responsible for pollution and the creation of carbon emissions. By recycling, we can also save energy, because recycling processes are less energy-intensive than most manufacturing and extraction processes.
Everything that isn’t recycled will end up in landfill or in our environment as litter. We already have a waste problem, with many rich countries shipping their landfill waste to poorer countries, who almost drown in our waste.
And waste pollution is an enormous problem for our environment, as it releases toxic chemicals into waterways and soil, and they even get into animals.
So it’s much better for our planet if we recycle as much as possible. Recycling is also cheaper than dealing with general waste.
As you can see, recycling is important, and we need to do it if we want to stop climate change. Especially, because some materials such as glass and metal can be recycled indefinitely.
But that’s not true for all materials. And that’s when the answer to our question “can recycling save our planet?” gets complicated.
Why Recycling Plastic Isn’t The Answer
When asked what the biggest waste problem is for our planet, I would probably say plastic. Plastic pollution is such a big issue today that it risks smothering the earth and everything on it.
So why is recycling plastic not the solution? Well, first of all, plastic can only be recycled 2–3 times. With each time the quality gets worse, and eventually it has to be disposed of, which means landfill.
Because of this, most items that are made from recycled plastics aren’t recycled again. So in terms of keeping waste out of landfill and incinerators and reducing the amount of resources we use, recycling plastic has only a minimal impact.
The amount of plastic we produce is also far too big to be recycled using the existent infrastructure. Simply put: there is far too much plastic in the world for it all to be recycled.
In the UK alone, each household produces around 1 billion pieces of plastic waste every year.
And not all plastics are recyclable. Less than half of all the plastics we use can be recycled in the UK. And even of the plastic that can be recycled, only 9% of plastic is recycled worldwide.
Taking all this into account, can recycling save the planet? No, unfortunately not. While recycling has a place and is important, it’s not THE solution to prevent climate change and save our planet.
Reduce And Reuse More Impactful
Recycling is often used with two other words starting with “R”: reduce and reuse. All three together – reduce, reuse and recycle – are said to be the key to creating a circular economy.
But there is a hierarchy and unsurprisingly recycling is at the bottom. The concept of the three “Rs” basically requires us to first reduce consumption.
So the first thing we all need to do is to buy less stuff, plastic or otherwise. Reducing will have the biggest impact, hence why it’s the most important part.
For example, why do we need so many different cleaning products? I have switched to one probiotic all-purpose cleaner that I use to clean my whole house.
It does a great job and I reduce the amount of different cleaners I have in the house. And this works with many other things too.
Then comes reuse. Rather than buy something, use it and then throw it away/recycle it, reuse it. For example, I don’t throw glass jars in the recycling bin. I reuse them for my homemade sauces and pickled veggies.
Recycling is the last step. By reducing and reusing first, the amounts that need to be recycled can be reduced drastically.
Unfortunately, we seem to focus on recycling rather than the other two more impactful solutions. This is partly because it allows people to just continue with their lives.
Cutting back and reducing our consumption means making an effort. But we also live in a consumerist society where owning as many things as possible is the aim.
It’s not in the interest of big business for us to reduce or reuse. That’s why the focus is on recycling, because it allows people to continue to consume without feeling bad.
But in order to save the planet we have to reduce the amount we consume first and foremost.
Conclusion – Can Recycling Save The Planet?
No, it can’t at least not alone. While it has a role to play, it’s not the ultimate solution.
The amount of waste that we produce is just too big to be recycled. We don’t have the right infrastructure to cope with it.
And while some materials, such as glass and metal, can be recycled indefinitely, others can’t. The most used material, plastic, can only be recycled a couple of times.
Besides, not all plastic can be recycled. This means we produce a lot of waste that goes into landfill.
Rather than focussing on recycling we should start to reduce the amounts we consume to reduce the amount of waste in the first place.
Reusing items is another action that is more impactful than recycling. Only if we do these two things first will recycling be able to help save the planet.
