Plastic producers have known for more than 30 years that recycling is not an economically or technically feasible plastic waste management solution. That has not stopped them from promoting it, according to a new report.
“The companies lied,” said Richard Wiles, president of fossil-fuel accountability advocacy group the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), which published the report. “It’s time to hold them accountable for the damage they’ve caused.”
This isn’t an excuse to not recycle. The problem is not the very idea of recycling, but that things aren’t made with it in mind. Everything should be designed for reuse, repair and recycling.
Always start with reduce.
If reduce makes harder to reuse, repair or recycle, then reduce could be a false economy.
Reduction in this case is bolstering reuse, repair, and recycling. By having a lower consumption rate overall, you will, automatically, have fewer resources that need to be reused, repaired, or recycled.
I’m good with that. Done properly, the less usage should translate to lower prices. Though part of the price right here is not currently on the spreadsheet. The environmental cost of end of life is not part of the upfront cost, right now anyway…
Sounds like we should just tow life outside of the environment. Worked for that boat.
True, but it doesn’t count as reduce then.