What Your Company Can Do to Recycle and Reduce Your Plastic Use
Every six months or so I spot the same headlines about the dismal plastic recycling rates in the US: we recycle about 8 percent of plastic waste. Although it’s not news to me, it’s disheartening each time I see it.
I applaud those who dutifully wash out their plastic bottles and avoid “wish-cycling” by following the guidelines about what is allowed in their recycling streams. But if the goal is to lower your household or company’s environmental footprint, I recommend you back up and spend more of your time eliminating plastic from your shopping list right from the beginning.
The simple fact is that plastic will never be as easy or profitable to recycle as aluminum or glass.
❎ Recycled plastic material can be lower performing - more apt to stretch and tear - because it is affected by contamination like adhesives and labels that are hard to entirely filter out.
❎ Recycled plastic is often “down-cycled” into benches, deck materials, playground equipment, and trash bags - and those items are then, in turn, not recycled. There’s a limit to the number of times plastic can be recycled - unlike glass and aluminum, which can be recycled an infinite number of times.
❎ An emerging and controversial plastic recycling process (cleverly marketed as "advanced recycling") is essentially burning plastic waste to produce a relatively small amount of fuel but a decent amount of highly toxic fumes that waft into low-income communities.
So what is the solution?
Companies. Start on your strategy to phase out plastic across your supply chain.
✅ Evaluate the items you are buying and where the most plastic waste comes from
✅ Hire a professional to conduct a waste audit
✅ Work with your suppliers and designers to find high-performing substitutes
Check out the plastic reduction pledges by Ikea and Amazon, and tip your hat to Starbucks for eliminating plastic straws in all stores in under two years.
Consumers.
✅ Avoid products in plastic packages
✅ Skip the plastic produce bags at the supermarket and bring your own reusable bags. I recommend cloth over the thicker plastic reusable bags.
✅ Invest in a good reusable coffee mug. (I recommend YETI) and a reusable water bottle (like Nalgene).
✅ Seek out shops that sell items in bulk
✅ Buy trash bags made from post-consumer recycled content.
Behavior change is not simple for companies or consumers. Plastic has been convenient, cheap, and high performing. But for our climate, environment, and health, we can and should adjust and innovate.
The Uplift Agency
Uplift builds strategies, programs, and communication campaigns that advance ESG in workplaces, supply chains and communities.
We know how to navigate the road ahead because we’ve already been down it – 90 percent of our team has led environmental or social programs in corporations or nonprofits. Because ESG is all we do, our services are more comprehensive and integrated than most firms.
