Plastic waste is everywhere, and today’s recycling systems fall far short of fixing the global mess. Here’s why, and what needs to change.
A few years ago, my kid and I resolved to reduce our contribution to the landfill. As a test, we set a goal to empty our kitchen trash only once every two weeks.
For this to work, we had to up our recycling game: We had to figure out what we could actually recycle, what steps we needed to take to recycle it, and what we still had to toss into the trash bin.
The more we learned, the more confounded we became. We realized there was a lot we couldn’t recycle. We realized there was a lot of plastic in our lives, and that all that plastic, each with its ubiquitous triangular “recycling” logo, raised more questions than it answered. What was the number in the triangle? Did our city accept that in its recycling system?
We were trapped in a system that seemed to set us up to fail. Worse, it hoodwinked us into thinking we were being useful.
That’s what makes this piece by my colleagues Winston Choi-Schagrin and Hiroko Tabuchi such vital reading.
The way recycling works across the United States “puts the burden on individuals to decode a secret language,” they write. Even if you decode all of it correctly, you may not succeed in ensuring that it actually gets recycled. Every town has a different set of rules. there’s not always a nearby facility to take it.
Start by testing what you know about recycling with this game, designed by Sean Catangui. Can that diaper be recycled? A plastic spoon? A peanut butter jar?
Then, go deep. Hiroko and Winston peel the onion to explain how plastics makers pushed government officials to shift the burden to ordinary consumers to figure out the recycling code, letting the industry expand. Since 1960, their article tells us, plastics production has surged almost 100-fold. Most plastic products are designed to be used once — and tossed. (Silent scream.)
They offer practical tips. Glass, metal and paper are fairly easy to recycle. Rigid plastics are usually a safe bet: Look for the numbers 1 and 2 inside the triangle.
And they show you what regulatory ideas are being debated around the country: for instance, passing on the cost of recycling to manufacturers, or restricting the use of that triangular, “chasing arrows” recycling symbol — which, it turns out, doesn’t mean that something is, in fact, recyclable.
I love the illustrations that accompany the story, by Rinee Shah. I’m partial to those canary-yellow high-tops. If you spot a pair at your local thrift store, drop me a line.
Keep in mind that other countries do recycling differently. I’m on a reporting trip in South Korea this week, where a half-dozen bins are on offer. Glass bottles in one, plastic bottles in another (you need to peel off labels first), cans in another, paper, single-use plastic bags in yet another. The last is for whatever is destined for the landfill. My colleague in Seoul, John Yoon, tells me primary school children learn how to sort it all.
Two years ago, in Zurich, I noticed there were separate bins, usually near shopping centers, to separate glass bottles by color: clear, brown, green. There were individual bins for tins of oil, plastic bottles, and electronic waste.
And then there’s the armies of men, women and children in Delhi, Nairobi and beyond, who are some of the world’s most able recyclers. They’re some of the poorest people on Earth, and they make a living picking through waste and plucking what can be sold to a recycling center.
Waste pickers are a fixture in some of the richest cities in America, too, these days. My kid and I have discussed whether we should save our recyclables for them. They’re often the experts at what can actually get recycled.
I wonder whether that may be a better way for us to actually keep things out of the landfill and help some of our neighbors make a living. I don’t know the answer yet, but the question itself reflects how broken the recycling system is.
Essential news from The Times
Some 9,000 trees a year: Meet the woman in charge of planting cherry, lilac and maple trees all over New York City.
South Africa’s housing crisis: Floods that killed at least 448 people reveal that adapting to climate change is as much about tackling social issues as environmental ones.
‘Fire season is 12 months’: Springtime wildfires, driven by wind, are tearing through Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.
A pre-election push: Youth activists say they will rally at the White House and in dozens of American cities tomorrow to demand climate action before attention shifts to the midterm elections.
Experts, in their own words: Want to hear from climate scientists themselves? We have a list of people to follow.
From outside The Times
Ecuador has bold plans to reduce emissions. But it’s struggling to attract the funding it needs, Foreign Policy reported.
In the latest installment of an examination of greenhouse gas emissions, the Washington Post found that Canada isn’t counting the carbon unleashed by wildfires in its forests.
The Biden administration has announced a $6 billion plan to rescue troubled nuclear plants, according to the AP.
What if you were the boss? Play this game developed by the Financial Times to see if you could guide the planet to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Cement is among the biggest sources of planet-warming gases. So Norway is building timber skyscrapers, The New Yorker reported.
The war in Ukraine made India hopeful that it could help answer the world’s unsatisfied demand for wheat. But The Hindu reports a powerful heat wave is upending the plan.
Before you go: Traffic blocks Portland’s climate goals
Portland has built hundreds of miles of bike lanes and a light rail system, and has enacted rules that favor walkable neighborhoods. Still, its roads keep getting jammed with a growing number of cars. State officials want to respond by expanding highways, but critics fear this will hinder the city’s climate goals. Times reporters traveled there to try to answer a question that has become central to cities across the world: Does it make sense to keep laying asphalt as the planet heats up?
Thanks for reading. We’ll be back on Tuesday.
Manuela Andreoni, Claire O’Neill and Jesse Pesta contributed to Climate Forward.
Reach us at climateforward@nytimes.com. We read every message, and reply to many!
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