Let The Recycling Revolution Begin
Transcriber: Alexis Young
Reviewer: Helen Chang
It’s time to start a revolution,
a recycling revolution.
And here’s why.
But before that,
we should probably explore
what the problem is with recycling,
if we actually need it,
and see why it hasn’t been solved before.
First, what does recycling really mean?
It has so many meanings.
It’s difficult to know.
Basically, it’s broken down into three:
closed-loop recycling,
upcycling and down cycling.
The difference?
Closed-loop is when a product
is turned back into itself;
for example, a used plastic bottle
into a brand new one.
Upcycling is when a product becomes
something of a higher-perceived value,
and down cycling, the reverse -
super subjective.
But, for example,
upcycling could be making a plastic bottle
into a hundred dollar bill,
which would be awesome,
and down cycling could be making
the plastic bottle into sand or a brick.
I know - confusing.
But it will help
if we look at the problem.
So what actually is the problem?
Well, for a product to become sustainable,
we need to achieve a circular economy,
an idea based on designing out
waste and pollution,
keeping products and materials in use,
using no finite resources,
which makes sense, right?
You see, recycling
is a way to achieve that.
But the problem is
your recycling isn’t recycled -
well, most of it.
as we saw from the Environmental
Protection Agency’s report in 2017,
only 27% of what you put
in the recycling bin is recycled,
and of that, only 6%
is closed-loop recycled.
What happens to the other 73%
that’s not recycled?
It’s typically landfilled,
dumped or burned.
That’s right.
The service we have
little choice to pay for,
hidden in our taxes, doesn’t work.
Could you tell me how much you pay
for your recycling?
I couldn’t.
And that’s not the only problem.
Some recycling collection services stopped
and many struggle during the pandemic.
According to the recycling partnership,
this left 40% of US households
without access to curbside recycling
with no convenient alternative.
OK, so far, so good?
Basically, the problem is pretty simple:
recycling isn’t recycled.
So why don’t we just stop recycling?
Well, recycling was
potentially created for two reasons:
to make sure your materials
can be repurposed
and to deal with large amounts of them,
ultimately, to benefit our planet.
We’ve all heard the saying
“Reduce, reuse, recycle,” right?
or focus on diverting used materials
from being wasted.
And before cycling existed,
especially in the last 30 years,
it’s widely known that most
of our used materials were wasted.
We’d simply mine the materials,
make them into new products,
and once we were done with them,
send them somewhere we didn’t know about
or have to think about anymore,
which obviously leads to the need
for more raw materials,
which has devastating
effects on our planet,
which leads to more manufacturing
and subsequently,
more wasted use materials,
which means we get caught
in a vicious cycle
called the ‘single-use economy’,
clearly creating huge
and irreversible damage to our planet,
which makes sense that we recycle
to avoid wasting use materials.
But could there be
an alternative to recycling?
Yes, there’re so many,
specifically with loads of cool ideas
around a reuse approach,
detailing that we can simply avoid
buying any products
with certain unrecyclable materials
and try to use them over and over again
to minimize the amount
that we need to dispose of,
which, again, makes sense.
But we will need to create a system
where nothing requires disposal
and can be used continuously,
which seems fairly possible.
Although to achieve this for our planet,
as with most behavioural change,
it will take time.
As we’ve established, the problem is
with both the type of material that’s made
and how we recycle it.
So no matter what we do,
we will need to dispose of materials,
at least until humanity can achieve
material that doesn’t wear.
So, maybe we need to fix
the recycling system first
and behaviour later,
or at least both at the same time.
So recycling, if done properly,
seems to make a load of sense.
As we can see, it happens for a reason
and needs to be successful
for our species to become sustainable
and achieve a circular economy.
But why hasn’t it been solved already?
Well,
firstly, because the problem is difficult.
Your recycling isn’t recycled,
mostly because it has to be very pure
to sell for a profit.
You see, when you mix
all of your materials in the bin,
the current sole aim
is to separate them again
to make the materials
valuable enough to sell.
You see, in recycling,
purity equals maximized cash
and environmental value,
which, again, makes sense
because the more closer
it’s to virgin material the better.
And as you can imagine,
currently, recycling isn’t recycled
when it’s cheaper to dump
than actually recycle and sell,
which sucks.
And it really sucks.
But to achieve this purity
is super difficult,
especially with the current
centralized approach
where you’re recycling
is sent to a sorting facility,
and then sent to multiple other factories
to increase the quality and purity.
But where is the large amount of material
that is lost at all stages
of the supply chain?
It goes and we don’t see it again.
See, with every process,
the cost increases,
which means a lower profit
and higher chance of disposal
and actual pollution from transport.
In this example,
there’s so many unneeded steps
that it becomes so hard to fix.
So as you can see,
the solution is not easy.
But why can’t recycling change?
Two reasons:
competition and lack of accountability.
Competition:
Simply because for you to receive
recycling service,
local municipalities
will typically provide a contract
on behalf of the resident
to a recycling company,
which could be dictated by the company
that will build the biggest facilities
or provide the largest
financial investment to the region.
These contracts are typically long
and make competition
in the area difficult,
arguably limiting innovation.
Secondly, lack of accountability:
Whose fault is the recycling
problem anyway?
Manufacturers? Government?
Recycling companies?
There’s so much confusion
with projects all over the world
working towards fundamentally
different solutions.
And this is the problem,
because nobody can agree
how or even if they are possible
in the current process.
And sometimes the blame
can even fall on consumers.
Overall making it so difficult
to change anything ever.
So what can we do?
Simple.
Let’s change the narrative,
the industry, the competition.
Let’s start a recycling revolution.
Let’s make it competitive
for companies to earn your recycling,
and based upon what actually matters,
how much of it they can actually recycle,
the incentives to you, the consumer,
and how awesome the process is
for everyone involved,
not letting it be decided by money,
vested interest or rules.
You see, some global companies
are beginning to be reviewed
for anti-competitive actions.
And these companies
are most likely successful
at their core function.
So why is recycling so different?
The answer is competition
controlled by consumers.
So let’s take back control.
It’s time to decide
where our used materials go,
whom they go to, and what happens to them.
Your used materials are valuable,
and they aren’t being treated like that.
Could we possibly replace
the words ‘waste’ and ‘trash’
with ‘valuable products’?
If companies will have to compete …
If companies will have to compete
and market to consumers,
trying to prove they can handle
their recycling,
you see, this means
that recycling is going to change.
But how?
By challenging an industry
with direct action,
by building a process
that goes direct to the consumer.
You see, we need to find a way
to bring convenience and transparency
with a system that’s built
around the user.
Can you imagine a world
where 100% closed-loop recycling
is guaranteed
while providing you an income
from your recycled products?
You see, this is the answer–
no lobbying and no yearlong mandates,
consistent and bold action–
meaning all of us
can drive sustainability,
holding everyone accountable.
Napster did it with music.
Uber did it with transport.
Airbnb did it with hotels.
Why can’t we do it with recycling?
So let’s not wait for
the circular economy to happen.
Let’s make it happen,
and move humanity’s dependency
off the earth and onto ourselves.
But why recycling revolution?
Well, if we learned anything
from The Matrix,
which is an awesome sci-fi movie,
it’s that once the system’s established,
it’s difficult to solve,
not being given up easily.
You see, our planet is at stake.
So the real question is who will change?
And if some don’t,
will they try to drag us down with them,
like the agents did with Neo?
So change is coming, big change,
but we will need to affect it.
The power is in our hands
to ensure that our planet
can become truly sustainable.
It’s about time we took the control back.
Remember accepting is condoning,
just like buying is voting.
So, you will know when the time comes,
and when it does,
how will you join the fight?
Will you stay in the village,
safe and protected and accept defeat,
or will you stand up
and join the movement?
The revolution is coming.
I will see you then.
Thank you.