Recycling plastic is, to some extent, greenwashing for the plastics and beverage industries. Society consumes way more plastic than there's a market for in terms of recycling. Some of it gets burned or sent to developing countries, where it often ends up in a landfill or burned.
Sometimes, the things that are made from recycled plastic are also polluting, like plastic wraps and films that get used once and then get thrown in the garbage. Filling up a ship with recycling and transporting it around the world generates a lot of carbon emissions.
Recycling plastics can be better than doing nothing, but at the end of the day, recycling plastic has a negative environmental impact. A lot of people are oblivious to it because it seems like a positive thing to do. It's far better for the environment to minimize or eliminate the use of single-use plastics.
I agree, essentially, with what you've said above; but I would add, no option, except for consuming less per person, period is particularly stellar.
I'm a proponent of re-use. But let's take bottles for beverages as an example, and point out if you return empties, they will have to be taken by vehicle to somewhere that can clean/sterilize them, be that the bottling plant or another location. So you have a transportation component of pollution in shifting the product around. Using hot water/steam as the sterilizing agent is generally very energy intensive. The bottles will then need to be stored for a period of time, before being refilled.
Of course due to breakage, and thinning of material w/age, or inability to sterilize some product there will still be new production as well.
Beyond which, we have the matter than glass is typically heavier than plastic, which make moving it more energy intensive as well.
Now, that's not to suggest it doesn't end up ranking better than single-use plastic, its just not as simple as one might imagine.
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The alternatives to plastic wrap or 'ziplock' bags are equally challenging. If you use them to freeze things, for instance, what is the alternative? There are glass containers than can withstand freezing, but they are more expensive
posing an issue for low-income earners; they take up more room inside and outside the fridge/freezer, which then means you need a larger fridge/freezer which is a source of pollution itself; then, for good measure, we need to note
the energy/pollution involved each time you wash those containers in hot water and soap and put that down the drain into the City sewer.
Again, I truly am not arguing against the glass container here, nor in favour of plastic wrap.
I'm just pointing out its a very complex issue in that virtually every choice will have environmental and social externalities.
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I think when it comes to reducing waste, one of the better options is to have people buy less stuff in the first place, particularly things they use infrequently. As an example, lots of people buy camping equipment that may only see use for 1-2 weekends per year. That means its sitting in a storage room/locker being of no particular use to anyone for 350+ days per year.
A good alternative there, as it is for many things, is having good, convenient rental options available.
The more things people can have available to them, within a reasonable time, at a reasonable cost, on a pay-per-use/rental basis instead of having to own them for the rare experience of use, the better off we would be.
We can also do a great deal more to reduce loss of perishable food product; but that's about a host of things, not really recycling.
My antique lamps in my house and vintage Marantz amplifier and turntable, i pulled out of a dumpster at a customers house i was working on. They work perfectly and are worth thousands on the used market!
