UK produced 11,000,000 tons of plastic waste in 2017, Singapore goes through about 1.76 billion plastic items a year, and barely recycle all of them. Why can’t we recycle all of them?
Aside the issues of logistics in gathering and collection – the answer to this is simple – chemistry. To you and me and simple folks, anything that’s not magnetic and melts easily is plastic, and they should be easily recycled right? Not really as there are many types of plastic manufactured out there, mainly made with mixed material. Simple examples of mixed material goods are your starbucks paper cups, lined with wax to make them water-resistant, or black color food trays for your sushi takeaways contain pigment that makes it harder to recycle. The complexity of materials and hybridazation of purpose is one of the main reasons why recycling is not as easy as it seems.
For now the our solutions are to limit the variations and types of plastic used, similar approach to how manufacturers nowadays use mercury-free, arsenic-free, lead-free parts for your smartphones to be more environmentally, reducing the production and usage of single-use plastic products and apply a design-for-disposal mentality to everything that we make, and of course – a simple change in lifestyle would go a long way in sustainability:
- Carry your own supply of water in a flask and stop buying bottled water, at least the plastic ones. Bonus info: stop buying from brands like Voss or Fiji.
- Always carry a shopping bag with you in case you need it. Yep you will never ever offset the carbon cost of the fabric bag but heck you’re not contributing to the demand of plastic bags
- When you head to a Starbucks, use your own container or mug and they’ll give you a USD 0.10 discount, after one year you’d saved up enough for an Airpod!
- Carpool or cycle when commuting.
- Invest in better quality items that last longer, sometimes quality trumps variety.
- Be an Asian and stop buying purpose-made waste plastic bags, use those you got from your regular shopping.
- Recycle your old hardware, trade them in for cash vouchers, or repurpose them – vintage iPads make awesome photos frames and last gen smartphones are perfect dashcams.
And oh ye – use a thermos or a cute mug for your daily java or matcha. If you need some help choosing the best thermos – WireCutter is your best friend.