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Skimmed it for information on recycling: "There are essentially three different fates for plastic waste. First, it can be recycled or reprocessed into a second
by jzl 9y ago
Skimmed it for information on recycling:
"There are essentially three different fates for plastic waste. First, it can be recycled or reprocessed into a secondary material (22, 26). Recycling delays, rather than avoids, final disposal. It reduces future plastic waste generation only if it displaces primary plastic production (30); however, because of its counterfactual nature, this displacement is extremely difficult to establish (31). Furthermore, contamination and the mixing of polymer types generate secondary plastics of limited or low technical and economic value."
Interesting point about how hard it is to determine how much recycled plastic displaces production of new plastic.
More statistics:
"Before 1980, plastic recycling and incineration were negligible. Since then, only nonfiber plastics have been subject to significant recycling efforts. The following results apply to nonfiber plastic only: Global recycling and incineration rates have slowly increased to account for 18 and 24%, respectively, of nonfiber plastic waste generated in 2014 (figs. S5 and S6). On the basis of limited available data, the highest recycling rates in 2014 were in Europe (30%) and China (25%), whereas in the United States, plastic recycling has remained steady at 9% since 2012 (12, 13, 34–36). In Europe and China, incineration rates have increased over time to reach 40 and 30%, respectively, in 2014 (13, 35). However, in the United States, nonfiber plastics incineration peaked at 21% in 1995 before decreasing to 16% in 2014 as recycling rates increased, with discard rates remaining constant at 75% during that time period (34). Waste management information for 52 other countries suggests that in 2014, the rest of the world had recycling and incineration rates similar to those of the United States (37). To date, end-of-life textiles (fiber products) do not experience significant recycling rates and are thus incinerated or discarded together with other solid waste."
Sad to think how little is accomplished by recycling a plastic bottle. Although that won't stop me from doing it.
- nickbauman 9y agoThe problem with plastics recycling is the kinds of plastics we choose to produce in the first place. Design of plastic things should be done with the intent of the plastic to remain in the production stream from the outset. It's called Cradle to Cradle Manufacturing. High quality plastics are designed to be recycled almost infinitely: we should consider them technical nutrients to manufacturing systems. They should never become waste hence never be downcycled.
- jzl 9y agoReplying to myself here. I followed up on footnote 31. Paper here: "TOWARD ESTIMATING DISPLACED PRIMARY PRODUCTION FROM RECYCLING: A CASE STUDY OF U.S. ALUMINUM" http://econ.ucsb.edu/~startz/Aluminum.pdf http://econ.ucsb.edu/~startz/Aluminum.pdf Absolutely fascinating, and not surprisingly leads down the path to the law of unintended consequences: "At this point, it would be natural to wonder, “If secondary production doesn’t fully displace primary production, where does the ‘extra’ material go?” ... The common assumption that recycled material displaces primary material of the same type is depicted in the left-most circles in Figure 4. However, two other outcomes are possible that result in partial displacement. ... First, as discussed in the introduction, secondary aluminum may displace production of materials other than primary aluminum. Recycled aluminum may, for instance, displace primary or secondary steel, copper, magnesium, or plastic." "Second, increased aluminum recycling can also affect overall aluminum demand. For instance, it is possible that increased recycling can lower prices of both primary and secondary material, and thus increase demand for aluminum (similar to the energy efficiency ‘rebound effect’). Note that this market increase is independent of any exogenous growth that may occur simply as a result of global economic forces. Production and consumption data show that both aluminum recycling rates and the size of the aluminum market have been growing rapidly for the last 100 years; it is possible that some of this increase is a result of decreased material prices from increased recycling." They conclude: "While the environmental benefits of reuse and recycling come entirely from their potential to displace more impactful primary production processes, alarmingly little is known about actual rates of displacement. ... While this case study is just a first step towards a better understanding of displacement, it does suggest that we are currently systematically overestimating the environmental benefits of reuse and recycling. ... That the current environmental benefits are lower than we think they are does not mean we should stop recycling. Instead, it tells us that recycling currently does not fulfil its environmental potential, and recycling efforts should therefore focus on maximizing displacement rather than simply maximizing collection, reprocessing, and market development for secondary resources."