Is Recycling Sustainable?

In February 2022, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) raised the alarm about the unfolding failures of waste management and recycling among the OECD countries.

Out of the 2.01 billion tonnes of waste generated each year globally, the United States produces eight hundred million tonnes, 40% of the world's total waste. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa has 62 million tonnes yearly, which is 3.1%.

Waste management is classified under recyclable, incinerated, landfill, unaccounted, and open dump and the majority of this waste is unaccounted.

Much research is pointing toward the great recycling myth. Countries regarded as the champions of recycling, such as Sweden, South Korea, and Germany, are often misleading as the total tonnes of waste tagged as recyclable is disproportionate to the waste recycled.

According to Friends of the Earth Germany, less than 16% of waste earmarked recyclable in Germany can be recycled in the real sense. Many of these wastes always end up incinerated or unaccounted for.

The problem is caused by the mixture of recyclable and non-recyclable waste, which usually exacerbates the challenges of sorting and recycling.

In addition, the OECD also indicates the disproportional rate of plastic in the countries. According to the report, out of the 100% of plastic produced globally as waste, only 9% were recycled in 2019, 22% were mismanaged, 19% incinerated, and 49% ended up in landfills.

The increasing rate of waste mismanagement in the world can be blamed on the fast growth of waste. However, there have been various arguments on the effectiveness of recycling, looking at the cost and quality, since 1996.?

?In 1996, columnist John Tierney opined in New York Times Magazine that “recycling is garbage.” He explained that recycling offered short-term benefits to a few groups against the publicised benefits. As a result of this, many environmental groups stood against Tierney. However, fast-forward to 2002, New York City discovered that its laudable recycling program was losing money; hence, it stopped recycling glass and plastic for a period.

According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the cost of recycling outweighs the benefits. But the country did not relent. It increased the prices of recycling, and its value continues to fluctuate.

In 2016, collecting and processing recyclables cost New York City $18 per tonne more than disposing of regular waste. Improper recycling increases the cost. Because oils cannot be separated from paper fibre, just one pizza box in a cardboard recycling pile can damage the entire batch.

Plastics and electronics recycling can be hazardous, exposing employees to considerable health risks. And there are natural boundaries. Paper can only be recycled five to seven times before the cellulose fibres become too short to reuse; most transparent plastic bottles cannot be reused.?

Several countries are experiencing challenges. In 2018 and 2019, the only Nigerian waste management company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange was The Initiates Plc., which did not generate any revenue under Equipment Supply and E-Waste in 2017. Hence, Nigeria is regarded as one of the world's leading destinations for electronic garbage.

In addition to local dump sites in most towns, Nigeria is home to six of Africa's major landfills.

A US Environmental Protection Agency’s report pushing for a shift from a linear economy to a circular economy posits that while recycling will create 36 jobs, reuse and repair will create 296 jobs for every 10,000 tonnes of used goods.

This gap in recycling and reuse and repair employment benefits indicates the importance of eliminating waste; this, however, is foundational for every organisation in materials production.

Why is Recycling Expensive?

For years now, recycling has been relatively cheap. For example, North America and European countries have been sending millions of tons of recyclables to China, where they are bought at prices that could offset the cost of local recycling schemes in exporter countries.

However, in 2018, China stopped importing contaminated and low-quality materials.

Another reason for the increase in the cost of recycling is the limited system. An example is a single stream against multi-stream recycling, requiring more effort from consumers to sort.

However, the single-stream is convenient for consumers, but this leads to contamination, and materials must be besorted by machines and hands.

These factors have increased the cost of recycling and reduced the rate at which people recycle, as many have resorted to incineration and landfills for less valuable scrap materials.

Recycling is Not Cost-Effective for Now

It’s no longer a new thing that recycling is not cost-effective now, especially for plastic recycling. The low value of scrap and high costs of recycling, coupled with low oil prices, means plastic recycling now costs more than manufacturing virgin plastic.

Plastics are even inherently problematic because of their ability to degrade easily over time.??

However, there is a growing market for recycled plastics against virgin plastic because companies are considering the sustainability of using manufactured pure products.

This new development could affect the cost-effectiveness of recycling in the future. Still, the bottom line is that even recycled plastic products will probably end up in incinerators or landfills.

Paper also falls into the same category as plastic, and some may even say it is worse, as it is only possible to recycle it about six times before it can’t be used anymore.

The short fibres are used to make toilet paper and egg cartons; at this stage, they are already at the end of the loop and end up in waste. While manufacturing virgin paper products can be easier and cheaper in terms of energy, recycling paper is cost-effective.

Metal and Glass Recycling

If there is any cost-effective material for recycling, that would be aluminium because it doesn’t lose its quality in the recycling process. It takes around 95% less energy to produce recycled aluminium than it does to produce new material.

Another product is steel. Steel is 100% recyclable, and the interesting thing is that even low-quality steel can be processed to produce high-quality steel.

The sorting and recycling are simple and up to 74% more energy-efficient than producing virgin steel.

Additionally, is glass. Glass is infinitely recyclable with no loss of quality and is easier to make than new glass.

“While glass is highly recycled in Europe, the US recycling system overall is not set up to efficiently recycle the material, and the national glass recycling average remains 33% despite interest in manufacturers for using recycled glass.”

However, despite the challenges of marketing recycled material, the global demand is growing.

This means that as new technology and infrastructure is developed, the price of recycling will decrease, and it will become more cost-effective to recycle paper, plastic, and other materials in the future.

Is Recycling Really Worth It?

If we were to answer the question: “Is recycling worth it?” The answer will always be yes, considering various factors outside the financial aspect and from different standpoints. Why?

Because financial profit is just one of the many advantages of recycling, considering the environmental effect and the advantage it brings to people would motivate us to reconsider recycling despite the financial shortcomings.

Recycling provides more jobs than incinerating and dumping materials in landfills.

A 2021 study by the international environmental alliance GAIA found that recycling offers 70 jobs more than landfills and incineration.

Recycling also protects our environment from the greenhouse gases and pollutants that would have resulted from incineration.

It reduces the demand for natural resources, our reliance on fossil fuels, and the associated impacts. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United Kingdom, which was focused on reducing its waste, will need to produce more waste in recent times to offset the shortages of fuel for energy during the upcoming winter.

Though recycling may not offer many benefits related to financial profit, it still has laudable benefits. It is also important to note that from a sustainable perspective, redesigning, reusing, and reducing is significantly more critical and effective in reducing environmental impact.