Recycling Part One: Recycling is Broken. How Do We Fix It?

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 77

Recycling Part One

Recycling is Broken. How Do We Fix It? 

In today’s world you would think that recycling would be one of those no brainers. But then again you would think that climate action would be a no brainer as well especially since we have known about climate change for over 125 years. But yet here we are. 

Since I travel some for work I have the opportunity to live and work in different communities. I consistently work in places where it is almost impossible to find options for recycling. So why is it that recycling is so difficult. Why is it that the United States lags so far behind in the recycling scheme when there are numerous examples around the world of communities that offer us a view into best practices. 

If you want to know the answers to these questions, then listen to this episode on Recycling is Broken. How Do We Fix It? 

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E77 which is the first episode in the series on recycling.  This episode is called Recycling is Broken. How Do We Fix It? 

Before we get started let me take a moment to remind my listeners that if you would like to contact me with comments, concerns, or suggestions about content for the podcast, or if there is something you really want to hear about, feel free to contact me by using my podcast email address which is [email protected]. Repeat. 

Okay, let’s get to it.

I want to cover several things in this episode.

1) First I am going to give you some stellar examples of communities and countries where recycling is very successful. 

2) Then I want to talk about the state of recycling in the United States. 

3) Lessons to be learned: Then I want to follow that with the lessons to be learned from the communities that are very successful with recycling. 

4) What you can do: Then to wrap things up, I want to point out very specific things you can do as an individual and talk a little bit about best practices.   

I have to say that as much as I focus on having a sustainable lifestyle I am consistently discouraged and frustrated when I work in various communities and find it almost impossible to recycle anything. In fact most of the time my only option is to purchase products with little or no packaging. But that is often extremely difficult. But it is still frustrating when I have almost zero options for recycling what little waste I do produce. Furthermore, I find that absolutely incredible considering the world that we live in today. 

Yet it is our complacent attitude about so many things that will result in our un-doing. For example, Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1 Degree F over the last 100 years. Under all of the present scientifically based scenarios, that will increase to 2 degrees F by 2040. And most scientists believe that is the tipping point of no return and unless the entire planet gets to zero emissions by 2050, we will see catastrophic changes in the climate. 

And you would think this knowledge would be a huge stimulus for change. But, it is not. People cannot even agree on basic health protocols during a world wide pandemic. It is unlikely that people will adopt all of the needed changes to their lifestyle in order to reach zero emissions. But people are resistant to do that because this is something that will touch every single aspect of our lives. 

But I use this as just an example because talk about climate change is becoming increasingly serious these days. That being said, we cannot stop climate change tomorrow. We cannot all become zero waste tomorrow. Nor can we all start suddenly living sustainably tomorrow. This is all part of a complicated process. Recycling is just one small part of a much bigger puzzle. But when you take into account that 80% of what we throw away could be recycled, and that we are actually beginning to run out of resources,  you begin to appreciate the enormity of the problem. 

But while most of us sit and argue about the merits of various environmental initiatives, some communities, and indeed some countries, have taken matters into their own hands years ago. And it is these communities and nations that can be looked at as an example for the rest of the world. Not only that, these communities can be looked at for guidelines to what the rest of us should and could be doing. 

Costa Rica

For example, when I visited Costa Rica I had to put a considerable amount of effort in order to find an actual trash can. This is because every street corner had recycling bins. But I visited Costa Rica a number of years ago. Now despite this country’s image as being a green destination, Costa Rica has similar problems to other developing nations. These include deficient infrastructure, cultural barriers, landfill space, and properly designed landfills that do not leach into the water table. 

Since 2017, according to the Ministry of Health, Costa Rica has recycled over 100,000 tons of waste. That is 469% higher than in 2015. This is due to a unique incentive based approach that the country adopted regarding recycling. Participants actually get paid to recycle. 

The name of this program is called ecolones. Now, this is a rather clever play on words considering the currency in Costa Rica is called the colon. Their recycling program is based on the simple principle of a reward. You earn virtual money, called ecolones, for all the recyclable materials you bring to a designated collection center. 

All you have to do is go to their website and set up a free account. At the time of each deliver, credits are added to your account. The ecolones that you earn can be traded for discounts on goods and services with participating merchants. 

During the first year of this program, more than 40,000 people had signed up for free accounts. This program has been a huge success and is mostly what is responsible for the enormous increase in recycling. An ecolones sponsored program even made it into the Guinness Book of World records by accumulating the most amount of recyclable material in an 8 hour period. 

Germany 

Germany is literally the world leader when it comes to recycling. Due to their recycling programs, Germany has been able to reduce their total waste by one million tons each year. The country also recycles 70% of all waste produced. Their success is the result of government policies regarding waste and the fact that companies are held responsible for whether or not their packaging is recyclable. When consumers purchase goods, they are responsible for proper disposal.

Germany also  started the Green Dot policy which means all recycled packaging must be marked and needs to be approved in order to use that mark. If more packaging is used then that company has to pay a fee. 

Austria

Austrians have one of the highest recycling rates in the world. In total Austrians sort more than a million tonnes of recyclables every year. A recent Euro-barometer survey revealed that 96% of Austrians claim they separate general waste from packaging, and 99% take measures to separate paper from other waste. Similar to Germany, Austria also has a producer responsibility model. Austria also banned the use of plastic bags, there is a general ban on certain types of waste going to the landfill. Additionally, all recycling efforts are funded by municipal taxes in each district.

Switzerland 

Switzerland is another fantastic example of recycling success. The city of Zurich has approximately 12,000 recycling collection points. Recycling is managed through these points of collection or door to door. In fact, recycling is mandatory and failure to do so will result in fines. Approximately 50% of waste is recycled and the rest is used to produce energy. None of the waste produced within the city every ends up in landfills. 

The City of San Francisco

The City of San Francisco in the United States is another good example. Their recycling program has 3 difference categories: compost, recycle, and landfill. The compost bin is for food scraps, paper, and yard trimmings. The recycle bin is for paper, card board, glass, aluminum, and plastics. Furthermore, the state of California has plans to decrease their use of landfills to zero by the year 2030. 

Wales

Wales in another good example of how recycling could be handled. Wales recycles around 65% of their total waste. This is accomplished through the use of councils and by the efforts of their citizens. In most of the councils, waste is sorted by the residents. Wales has the impressive goal to recycle 70% of their waste by 2030. In fact, their recycling program has lead the way in the United Kingdom. 

South Korea

The country of South Korea also has an impressive recycling program. In 1995 their food recycling rate was 2%. That has now increased to 95%. The reason this happened was due to the implementation of a food waste fee. Each household pays a small monthly fee for each bag of biodegradable food scraps. Not only that, but all waste must be sorted into specific categories. As a result, there is a financial motivation for each household to reduce their waste production. 

England

Leeds, which is the largest city in the county of West Yorkshire in England has a very successful recycling scheme which is called Zero Waste Leeds. This program creates articles and tips for public education. It recycles a wide range of items and also reuses unwanted items by setting up areas where the public can donate things such as sports kit items and old school uniforms. This not only helps the community but also reduces the amount of textile waste. The program also recycled 12,000 tons of glass waste last year.

Japan

Now let’s take a look at a small mountain town in Japan called Kamikatsu.  Prior to 2003, this small community disposed of their trash with open incineration. But the burning of the trash made the local residents sick and created a significant odor. In 2003, Kamikatsu became the first municipality in Japan to issue a zero waste declaration. This meant that all the waste produced by the community had to either be recycled or reused in some way instead of going to the landfill. Residents separate recyclables into 45 different categories. They also wash containers at home to eliminate any residues or food that could contaminate the recycling process.

The community has a large recycling center which was largely built from recycled material. There is also a free store where residents can leave and take still usable items for free. In 2016 this small community recycled 81% of its waste compared to a national average of only 20%. This community has set a high standard and has also served as a prime example for other communities.  This small little community in Japan has given us all a peek into a zero carbon future. 

Obviously from these examples, a high recycling rate is very achievable. So, why is that not the case in the United States? 

State of Recycling the United States

Whether you know it or not, for decades China handled the recycling for almost 50% of the world’s discarded material. This is because its manufacturing sector was booming and needed all the materials it could get to support production. In 2016, the US sent 16 million tons of recyclable material to China. However, only 60 % of that material was recycled due to contamination. Consequently, the rest of it ended up in Chinese landfills and in the ocean. 

In 2018 China’s National Sword policy banned the import of most plastics due to more stringent purity standards. The US then sent materials to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. When these countries instituted bans, the US then sent material to Cambodia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Laos, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Senegal because these countries had cheap labor and much more relaxed environmental rules. But, it is estimated that somewhere between 50 and 70% of the plastic intended for recycling overseas is ultimately discarded. 

Once the Chinese market essentially disappeared, the US lacked the necessary recycling infrastructure to keep up with the demand and since we had depended on China for so long there was no economical or efficient way to handle the material. Furthermore, there has to be a market for the recyclables in order to make it financially viable. With no market, many communities often had to pay substantial amounts of money to get rid of the material. Or even worse, they found it was much cheaper just to incinerate it. 

Unlike countries such as Germany, the challenge in the United States is that there is no federal recycling program. Consequently, it is up to the discretion of each community to recycle or not, and decide what is actually recycled. However, recycling efforts need funding and these programs often compete with and loose funding to other needed community services.

Companies that make and sell plastic push this idea that recycling is the answer to the plastic pollution problem. However, 6 times more plastic is incinerated compared to what is actually recycled. And at the end of the day, there is just too much plastic being produced when there are few if any viable end markets for the material. Furthermore, as long as natural gas is abundant virgin plastic is cheaper to produce than recycled material.  

Lessons to Be Learned

So, I’d like to take a moment and look at the lessons to be learned here from various countries and communities that have been successful. I think this helps to reveal strategies for recycling that have actually worked. 

Costa Rica implemented an incentive based program for recycling that was enormously successful. Obviously some sort of incentive promotes recycling. 

But one step further on that topic are things such as container deposit laws or “bottle bills” as they are sometimes called. What this means is that a refundable deposit is charged on all single-use beverage bottles, whether they are plastic, metal, or glass. This is another way to boost recycling rates. 

Penalties can be used as an incentive to promote recycling. Companies and residents can be held responsible for their waste by using a pay-as-you throw program. The more you throw away the more you pay. 

Banning of certain material from going to the landfill as is seen in Austria. Austria also banned the use of plastic bags. Municipal taxes paying for the cost of recycling.

Recycling should be mandatory or you pay a fine. This is the case in Switzerland. 

In Wales recycling efforts are heavily supported by local organizations. 

In South Korea each household is held responsible for their waste. 

Community participation and education is key as is seen in the Zero Waste Leeds initiative. Community events, campaigns, and brochures are necessary to educate residents about the importance of recycling and reusing. People also need to know which items can be recycled and which cannot. 

Industry needs to be held responsible for their waste. Things such as extended producer responsibility programs requires companies that make products to be responsible—financially or physically—for their management and disposal at the end of the product life. This is possible through recycling or reusing products, buying them back, or even hiring a third party to deal with their waste management. These types of programs ultimately shifts the financial burden from local governments back to manufacturers, which also motivates companies to design and produce more sustainable products. 

There are cities such as San Francisco, California; Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington, as well as others that have a very high, unprecedented recycling rate. And it is more often than not, a strong local grassroots effort that constantly pushed for more and more recycling that is responsible for this. Companies need to be held responsible for their waste. Strict recycling programs backed by the government.It is truly a combination of government policy, corporate responsibility, community will, and individual effort that will ultimately make the difference. 

To get to zero waste there are several things that need to be in place: 

1. Recycling must be mandatory. People need to know that it is the law and become educated about recycling. 
2. There needs to be municipal composting in order to handle organic waste. 
3. There needs to be a pay-as-you throw program for both residents and companies. This means you pay for your garbage based on what you throw out. The more you throw out the more it costs you. 
4. The last thing is a reuse program. Kamikatsu, Japan is a good example of this where residents can go into the reuse store and drop off articles and take things for free.
5. Incentives and penalties are great motivators to increase recycling rates. 
6. The complete ban of single use plastics such as grocery bags, food containers, and plastic shipping materials. 

What Can You Do?

More often that not, most of us will look at the enormity of a problem such as this and simply not know what to do. Consequently, we do nothing at all. Granted, there is a lot of things that need to be put into place that are simply out of the reach of the average person. But when you consider the fact that the United States is the only developed nation on the planet where our waste production far exceeds our ability to recycle, obvious something needs to change. While the small community of Kamikatsu, Japan sets an example for the world, it is quite obvious that the United Sates is lagging way behind.  But fortunately there is a lot that most of us can do as individuals.  

As the saying goes, the greenest energy is the energy you never use. The same is true for recycling. The best recycling is the waste that you never produce. From this point on, every time you reach to purchase something, first ask yourself if it can be recycled. If the answer is no, then consider a different product. We already know that it will only make economic sense to recycle a small subset of the material we produce. What this means that that we have to look beyond recycling as a means of solving our waste problems. We obviously need to reduce our consumption in the first place and re-use materials whenever we can. 

But while we work to solve these type of problems, we still have to focus on recycling. Common everyday things that you can do:

-As suggested above, think twice before you purchase something. Can you recycle it or not? Better yet, purchase products that are made from recycled material or at least incorporated recycled material in the manufacturing.

-Learn the recycling symbols so that you know which plastics can be recycled and which cannot. I have a link in the transcript of this episode to the most common symbols: plastic recycling symbols. 

-Find what resources are available in your community and what types of things they recycle.

-Rinse out bottles, cans, and food containers before recycling.  

-Store produce in reusable bags

-Purchase products and come in glass jars. 

-Store food products in glass instead of plastic containers. 

-Shop at your local farmer’s market

-Shop on the bulk food aisles and purchase the largest size possible. 

-Stop purchasing single use items

-Keep recycling bins easily available. 

-Encourage your legislative representative to introduce waste reducing bills

Best Practices

So in summary, what I have done here is to first examine some countries, cities, and small communities that really give us a glimpse into best practices as far as recycling is concerned. Furthermore, it is these communities that give us a view of what is truly possible and what a carbon neutral future could look like.  

I discussed Costa Rica, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, San Francisco, Wales, South Korea, the city of Leeds in England, and finally Kamikatsu, Japan. 

Incidentally, the population of Kamikatsu is 1,344 people. Yet this little village has managed to set an example for the rest of the world. 

Now I do realize that there are many things that play into recycling that is difficult for most people to control. However, as stated above, there are many things we can do on a daily basis. And in my opinion, the first best practice is not to produce waste in the first place. 

In closing folks, I want to remind my listeners if you would like to contact me with questions, comments, or suggestions about content, the send me an email at [email protected]. And if you enjoy the content I produce, then please take the time to leave a review and even subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast as well as my companion blog Off Grid Living News. 

In closing, I want to leave you with a thought from the famous Walt Disney. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” 

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainable because this is how we build a better future.   

Patrick