As we all strive to lead more environmentally and socially conscious lives, recycling has become an increasingly contentious topic. This blog post will address some of the key questions and associated opportunities!

What is recycling?

The term recycling is often used inaccurately to refer to other forms of reusing or re-purposing items. It’s important that anyone participating in municipal recycling understands that this specifically refers to breaking down and reprocessing waste materials to convert them into new materials for manufacturing.

What is recyclable?

For recycling to work, your local waste management service needs to accomplish 3 key steps: (1) accumulate a large supply of homogeneous materials, (2) establish a method for collecting and processing those materials, and (3) identify a market demand for the recycled material.

Specifics for recycling procedures vary between states and even most local municipalities. This means that even traveling a short distance to visit a friend may change what items are considered acceptable for recycling (which plastics, glass, paper, etc.), how to separate these materials (single stream or categorized bins), and where you leave your recycling (curbside bins, drop-off centers, etc.).

For more information about what is recyclable where you live, visit your municipality’s website or contact your waste hauler directly.

Your waste hauler could tell you exactly what they are accepting and recycling based on current market trends. For example, in Miami-Dade County, most recycling is collected by Waste Management, and anyone can reach out to them for current information on the fate of their community’s recyclables.

For more information about what is recyclable Miami-Dade County, how those items are determined and managed locally— check out our previous post, 50 Shades of Green: Recycling in Miami.

It seems as though nearly all consumer products have some sort of labeling that resembles the iconic recycling emblem nowadays. Use of these symbols often indicates the subcategory, as for plastics shown below, but labeling of recyclables is not consistent or regulated overall. Unfortunately, this means that labeling is often misleading and should not be used as a guide. Your most accurate guide will be the recycling rules established by your municipality and waste hauler.

Your city or county may offer additional waste management solutions such as specific collections for e-waste or textile waste, or even composting for food scraps and yard waste!

How is recycling problematic?

All used plastic can theoretically be reprocessed into new things, but picking it up, sorting it out, and melting it down is expensive and complicated by contamination. Plastic also degrades each time it is recycled, so it can only be reprocessed a limited number of times. Meanwhile, making new plastic from fossil fuels is very cheap and already streamlined by existing industry technology.

NPR and PBS Frontline conducted a thorough investigation of documentation and messaging coming from the fossil fuel industry, and the results shed light on the problematic history of recycling. They surveyed internal industry documents and interviewed former top officials to reveal that the industry invested massive sums of money to promote recycling as a solution that would qualm the general public’s concerns about plastic waste. Meanwhile, they knew the majority of plastic would not be effectively recycled, and they continued accumulating billions of dollars in profit by selling the world new plastic.

This investigation found that “the industry’s awareness that recycling wouldn’t keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program’s earliest days.”

“There is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis,” one industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech.

All the seemingly pro-environmental ads promoting circularity and consumer consciousness were funded by companies like Exxon, Chevron, Dow, DuPont and their lobbying and trade organizations attempting to conceal the reality that most plastic is burned or littered into the ocean.

Realistically, the entire concept of plastic waste recycling has only become less feasible: there are more types of plastic, it’s more cost effective to make new than recycled plastics, and there is exponentially more plastic waste than we had to deal with 30 years ago.

The oil industry profits more than $400 billion each year from plastic production, and as demand for oil for transportation declines, the industry projects that future profits will increasingly come from the plastic sales. In fact, analysts project that plastic production and consumption will triple by 2050.

What can we do?

Sorting plastic waste perfectly into the blue bins we’ve been accustomed to for the last several decades will not be the solution to the plastic waste crisis, but individuals like you and I certainly have a role to play in this imperfect system.

Public officials are noting that plastic recycling is more expensive than profitable for many municipalities. Rescinded recycling programs throughout the United States have been met with public outcry and disappointment with local officials for eliminating a service to their local environment. Although the notion of recycling is great in theory, it’s largely broken at this point. We can contribute to making recycling more feasible by learning the rules of what is acceptable recycling in our municipalities and cleaning those items before placing them in a recycling bin.

Nonetheless, it will be drastically more effective for individuals to advocate for other mechanisms to reduce our collective reliance on plastic. We can advocate for extended producer responsibility mandated through public policy or institutional bans on non-essential plastic products at our universities, places of work, or residences.

It’s unlikely that you will be able to completely break-up with plastic products. Their versatility and durability has made them a component of nearly every consumer product sold in the United States, but there are some notable exceptions. You can opt for products made by companies striving to build a more sustainable supply chain by using recycled inputs or avoiding plastic altogether by using alternative materials. Some of our favorites are Love Beauty and Planet’s cruelty free hair and skin products packaged in 100% recycled bottles and For Days’ 100% cotton face masks produced in a closed-loop, zero waste system. This post is not sponsored by either company, we sincerely find their products to be accessible and effective solutions.

The best thing to do with any plastic product you already own, is to give it a long life of re-use! Brainstorm ways to re-purpose packaging materials and consider sharing plastic products that you no longer need with a family member or friend before discarding them. For more ideas on how to make the most of things you already own— check out our previous post, 3 Key Strategies for Low Waste Living on a Budget.

Microplastics, as indicated by their name, are tiny bits of plastic that measure less than five millimeters in diameter. That’s about the size of a small green pea! According to The Ocean Cleanup, approximately 1.2 million tons of microplastic waste are generated each year, and 1/5th of that global statistic comes from North America alone.

Primary microplastics are often manufactured for consumer products such as cosmetics, specialty soaps, clothing, and other textiles. Because plastics are prone to physically breakdown, microplastics may also form as larger debris breakdown. The road markings indicating lane separations, glossy coating all over the hull of a boat, and abandoned rubber tires are all possible sources of these secondary microplastics. 

Just last month, one study documented the highest concentrations of microplastics ever recorded within deep-sea ocean sediments: 1.9 million microplastic pieces per square meter!

The scientists were examining sediment samples from the depths of the Tyrrhenian Sea to investigate the role of deep ocean currents in microplastic transport and deposition, and all 16 of their sediment core samples were found to contain microplastic particles.

According to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, littering and landfill discharge are the main pathways whereby plastics enter our rivers and oceans. The density of plastic marine debris accumulated determines if plastic waste remains on the surface, becomes beached in coastal areas and estuaries, or sinks to deep-sea sediments.

As we strive to reduce plastic consumption and adopt more responsible waste management practices, it is important to address the potential impacts of microplastic movement in our oceans. Ocean circulation patterns are formed by global trade winds and forces created by the Earth’s rotation. Wind and wave patterns are essential for the temperature regulation and maintenance of healthy nutrient flow for marine organisms.

Weather conditions and ocean circulation play a significant role in the geographic distribution of microplastics. Circular ocean currents can relocate plastic marine debris from remote sources to more stationary and centralized accumulation sites called “gyres.”

Disproportionately large amounts of marine debris have been found in these areas, including the North Atlantic and Great Pacific garbage patches.

Studies have also consistently indicated that microplastics are unintentionally consumed by marine organisms. Scholars highlight the ingestion of microplastics by species marked for human consumption and the infiltration of micro- and (even smaller) nanoplastics in filtered drinking water. This is a widespread problem because most standard water treatment facilities do not effectively remove all microplastics.

Additional risks are posed by the chemical composition of microplastics. While plastics are produced, hundreds of chemical additives are used to enhance their unique characteristics. These chemicals may leach out from waste products into our waterways, disrupting the chemical composition of natural sea water while posing risks to plants and animals reliant on marine ecosystems. Studies on the biological and biochemical impacts of plastic pollution have only scratched the surface of potential effects that these materials could have over the long-term. This knowledge gap is particularly problematic for coastal and/or environmental justice communities that are more likely to be exposed to polluted waterways, contaminated drinking water, or affected marine life.

Even though microplastics have been a problematic by-product of solid waste for decades, they represent a relatively new area of multidisciplinary study. Scientists have investigated the fate of plastic marine debris in the context of the life cycle of plastics, finding that plastic cannot be chemically broken down on its own overtime. Plastic waste, instead, only physically decomposes from macro- to micro- to nano-plastics over hundreds of years.

Polymer scientists have sought to identify new possibilities for recycling plastics, including macroplastics, collected from the depths of our oceans. This has been a challenge because there are a number of unique plastic polymers used to produce the highly durable products that we use and discard. Two large areas of focus have been optimizing methodology to increase the amount of times that plastic materials can be recycled and finding new ways to transition existing materials for very different applications than their original form. One example of an area for growth is demand for composite materials made from fiberglass and carbon fibers. Engineers use these materials for building automobile and wind turbine frames. It would be ideal to satisfy their needs using reprocessed plastics, but that would require complex logistics and technology that is not yet efficiently coordinated.

“Plastics recycling with a difference” [Science Magazine]

For now, it’s best for us to stay committed to recycling efforts, strive for circularity by reusing and re-purposing materials we already own, advocate for responsible waste management within our communities, and direct advocacy efforts to hold businesses accountable for their actions. We can also seek out products that do not contain primary plastics, such as natural soaps and scrubs without microbeads, and brands that prioritize circularity by including recycled materials in their supply chain. If you crave that scrubby sensation from skincare products, try making your own with coconut oil and sugar or salt as the base ingredients. There are loads of ingenious fragrance combinations out there using essential oils that may be extracted from herbs or fruits you already have at home. In the end, it’ll have the same satisfying and nourishing effect, without negative environmental impacts!

The COVID-19 pandemic is an excellent example of how collective action can reduce our environmental impact and mitigate severe social problems. When everyone takes action based on the evidence-based recommendations of public health experts, we collectively slow the spread of the virus and protect our communities. Similarly, as more individuals (including our elected officials and corporate elites) heed the insights of climate and biological scientists regarding the impacts of climate change and plastic pollution, we reduce the risk of exacerbating harsh impacts for frontline, coastal communities.

In spite of all lessons that we could learn from this global devastation, multinational fossil fuel corporations have driven up oil production and created a rather undesirable situation for environmental interests. The supply of oil is at a peak, meanwhile demand has collapsed due to lowed economic activity during the pandemic. This has driven the price of oil below zero for the first time in history! Global oil consumption has been in free-fall as more countries introduce unprecedented measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The fossil fuel industry has failed to profit from this overproduction, and they shifted their efforts from fuel refinement to ethane cracking.

Simply stated, they’re diverting the methane gas and oil that we are not consuming as fuel to produce more plastic products. Ethane cracker plants are the facilities used to process the carbon-rich inputs used to create all kinds of plastic products. Their industrial activities cause immediate health and environmental detriment to nearby communities, known as frontline or fence-line communities, while exacerbating plastic pollution impacts around the globe. 

There’s more: Our team identified direct efforts by fossil fuel industry giants to ramp up demand for non-essential single-use plastics, especially plastic bags, by taking advantage of public fear and uncertainty during this time. What better time to take advantage of the public and run a manipulative campaign than a global pandemic? We are not surprised, as the fossil fuel industry has a long history of using misinformation to advance their profits at our expense. Still, this is upsetting and it’s actively misleading many concerned consumers.

The Plastics Industry Association is currently lobbying to quash plastic bag bans, even going so far as requesting that the United States Department of Health and Human Services publicly declare that banning single-use plastics during a pandemic is a health threat. Click here to read their letter.

The spread of misinformation has led many of us to question whether it’s okay to continue using reusable bags for our occasional, ultra-cautious grocery trips.

In a study cited by the Plastics Industry Association in their letter to the US DHHS, researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University found that reusable bags can contain bacteria, and users don’t wash reusable bags very often. The study was funded by the American Chemistry Council, which represents major plastics and chemicals manufacturers. Most notably: the study recommends that shoppers simply wash their reusable bags, not replace them.

There is no evidence that single-use plastics are safer than reusable items, and it’s important for all of us to recognize that single-use plastics have a number of opportunities to become contaminated during their manufacture, distribution, inventory stocking, and use. They are exposed to open air and surfaces like any other item you may be concerned about cross-contamination from. Single-use plastics could only be proven more sanitary if packaged individually in sterile conditions and handed to the customer in intact sterile packaging—much like you would imagine a syringe is packaged before use to draw blood. Clearly, that isn’t practical or realistic.

Here’s a breakdown of our options based on currently available scientific evidence:

The New England Journal of Medicine, the world’s leading medical journal for over 200 years, published data in mid-March of this year that shows SARS-CoV-2 is more stable and has a longer lifetime on plastic and stainless steel than on copper or cardboard. Viable SARS-CoV-2 was detected up to 72 hours after application on plastic, while none was measured on cardboard after 24 hours.

There is no evidence presented here to back the claim that “single-use plastics are often the safest choice” as has been pushed upon the US DHHS. In fact, the findings suggest that cardboard is a safer single-use material than plastic with respect to COVID-19 viability.  

Another scientific study focused on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 in different environmental conditions showed that the virus is more stable on plastic than on printing or tissue paper, wood, cloth, glass, or banknotes. SARS-CoV-2 remained detectable on plastic for 4 days, while on paper it was not detected after 30 minutes, on wood or cloth after 1 day, and on banknotes after 2 day.

According to the Center for Disease Control, COVID-19 is most often spread directly from person-to-person. However, viral spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects is possible. Guidelines issued by the CDC do not make a distinction between the items this may include, so we can safely assume that their recommendations apply to single-use and reusable items equally.

Single-use items are not sterile and are bound to be exposed to microbes before reaching their end users. This means that handling a single-use plastic bag, utensil, container, or cup likely poses an equal risk of infection as any reusable item.

That said, Maine, Massachusetts, and a growing number of other states are still moving quickly to allow for delays and suspensions of plastic bag bans. In New Hampshire, the governor actually issued an emergency health order requiring stores to use single-use paper or plastic shopping bags. 

We, at Debris Free Oceans, acknowledge that the nature of COVID-19 poses unusual risks. The virus may be contracted and transmitted asymptomatically, and it is understandable that reusable items such as shopping bags may be an object of concern. We urge you to make that decision based on your individual circumstances, but acknowledge that banning reusable items is an unsupported attempt that will not be a long-term solution to cross contamination.

Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, has called the plastics industry’s recent actions “shameless” and exploitative. We agree with her statement that it is understandable to use single-use materials occasionally, when necessary or beyond our control, but “in terms of overturning or delaying laws, [Enck sees] no independent data that supports that move.”

We are all struggling in some way to navigate this new normal. Pro-environmental habits, plastic waste reduction among others, may bring about a sense of normalcy and fulfillment amidst all the current uncertainty. 

First and foremost, we strongly suggest that you wash all materials that may pose risks for cross contamination: reusables (bottles, bags, wash cloths) as well as commonly touched surfaces (steering wheel, door handles, cell phone, credit cards and wallet). If you find yourself under circumstances where you must resort to single-use materials, we suggest that you prioritize non-plastic alternatives in the best interest of your well-being and environmental health.

We stand in solidarity with all those who have made sacrifices to stay home, stay distanced, and protect our communities. We are privileged with the time and resources to consider reusables when so many of our neighbors, family members, friends, coworkers, and local leaders are charged with the challenges directly posed by this dangerous pathogen. Adhering to the guidance of public health professionals is the least we can do to support the courage and generosity of the healthcare workers and first responders at the frontlines of this crisis.