Why can't we recycle everything? - Recology (2024)

FAQs

Why can't everything be recycled? ›

1. Why Can't We Recycle Everything? Here's the honest truth – our recycling systems (aka Materials Recovery Facilities) – which are built to last 10 to 20 years and cost millions in engineering and equipment – simply can't adapt quickly enough to handle the ever-changing stream of consumer packaging and products.

Recycling still requires a significant amount of energy and resources, from transportation to sorting, cleaning, and processing materials. Additionally, not all materials are able to be recycled, and some can only be recycled a certain number of times before they must be disposed of.

The recycling process produces various amounts of pollutants. Particularly when plastic is recycled its releases toxic chemicals into the air.

Some materials are permanently changed in manufacturing. Some things are impractical to recycle because of contamination that is difficult or impossible to remove. Some can be repurposed and reused, but much is just wasted.

The world would look a lot different if everyone recycled. Most likely, it would be cleaner and make more use of available resources. Landfills would shrink tremendously. Recycling plants would be an epicenter of activity.

Not everything we put into recycling bins ends up getting recycled (sorry, bottle). There are many dams and bottlenecks on the recycling stream that can impede your recyclable item on its journey. One of the major factors in an item's recyclability is the market — whether anyone wants to buy it.

Recycling helps reduce pollution by reducing the need for waste incineration and reducing the environmental impacts of resource extraction and processing. What happens if we don't recycle is more waste would be incinerated or sent to landfills, increasing air and water pollution all over the world.

Different types of plastic don't mix well when they are melted down and small amounts of the wrong type can degrade the quality of a whole batch, so plastic has to be carefully sorted first. In high-income countries, this sorting usually happens with the help of high-tech machines at large-scale recycling facilities.

Why recycling isn't working in the U.S. Many recyclables become contaminated when items are placed in the wrong bin, or when a dirty food container gets into the recycling bin. Contamination can prevent large batches of material from being recycled. Other materials can't be processed in certain facilities.

Plastic waste can't be used to make the same products again because the quality degrades, so the majority of this was downcycled - turned into an inferior material that lasts only one or two more cycles before becoming redundant. The term should really be monocycling, not recycling, for all it's capable of.

Where did the US send their garbage after China? ›

China, which once accepted the bulk of that waste, in 2018 banned all plastic scrap shipments, declaring that it no longer wanted to be the “world's garbage dump.” Since then, American companies have looked to ship plastic scrap waste to countries like Malaysia and Indonesia instead.

In order for materials to be recycled, markets must exist and there must be a demand for the end products. If stable markets do not exist, materials are often stock-piled and could ultimately end up at the landfill. We want to ensure there is a stable market for a item before we add it to our collection.

Because it is incredibly difficult to recycle post consumer waste. The useful (i.e. Recyclable) stuff in post consumer waste is invariably contaminated with waste food and debris that is anathema to good recycling.

A shortage of time. Lack of space to accommodate recyclables. People simply forgetting to recycle. A lack of trust in recycling programs.

Long items that tangle easily — Garden hoses, Christmas lights, leashes and chains have one thing in common. If they make it to a recycling facility, they can seriously damage equipment and injure workers. Textiles — Many curbside recycling programs don't take textiles, such as clothing, curtains and sleeping bags.

About 75% of global plastics produced are thermoplastics that can be melted and molded over and over to produce new plastics, which – in theory – makes all thermoplastics recyclable. The remaining 25% of plastics are thermoset plastics that do not soften when exposed to heat, making them near-impossible to recycle.

Poor recycling quality due to lack of education

This leads to: Non-recyclable materials entering the recycling stream (such as liquids or plastic bags) that contaminate recyclable materials and compromise recycling machinery. Consumers do not know what can and can't be recycled, so they throw everything away instead.