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THE UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES OF RECYCLING PROGRAMS: CROSS-CUTTING EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND GOVERNANCE FOR REDUCING PLASTIC WASTE
Hall B
Abstract
Abstract Body
Plastic waste is a systemic problem impacting everything on the planet. This is acknowledged the world over. The problem won’t be solved by better recycling programs alone. Globally less than 10% of plastic produced has been recycled, and production has increased nearly 200-fold since the 1950s. The issue is not as much about improving recycling as it is about reducing the use of virgin plastic.
Little attention has been paid to the continuing rise in new plastic production. Society has grown comfortable with plastic. We believe, most often mistakenly, that our waste plastic will be redirected away from landfills and recycled into new products. Plastic bags are not recycled into new plastic bags, plastic bottles don’t become new bottles, nor plastic containers new containers. Plastics are recycled into secondary products which at end-of-life go to waste. Plastic products are often processed for recycling only to be incinerated or shipped overseas to end up as waste. Effective recycling programs require circular systems.
The very recycling programs intended to deal with the plastic waste problem may in fact be exacerbating it. We investigate consumers’ attitudes to using plastic given the presence of recycling programs. We discuss whether access to such programs contributes to a sense of ease and acceptance of plastics. We analyse the attitudes and conditions that support the increasing production of plastic, and the potential for alternative materials to be used.
Looking at recycling programs in Vancouver, Canada, with the objective of reducing new plastic production, we assess coordinated cross-cutting solutions in terms of changes to regulatory frameworks, funding research for alternative materials, and disrupting the sense of consumer ease around the use of plastic.