- Scoops
- Posts
- Scoop Market Mysteries 12-5
Scoop Market Mysteries 12-5
🔎 Market Mysteries: Why isn't recycling saving our planet?
Market Mysteries of the week
Why isn't recycling saving our planet?
Answer:
It's not just because you've been putting cans in the cardboard bin. Recycling helps, but
the only way to stop destroying the planet with waste is to create less of it
.
How wasteful are we?
We generate a lot of waste
. In 2018, the
, aka trash, which averages approximately 4.9 pounds of trash per person every day. That's
. Paper, cardboard, food, and plastics are the most significant contributors to our trash waste in the US.
And that's only our "trash."
Our waste is much higher when you account for everything that may be sent to a landfill
like construction and demolition debris, municipal wastewater sludge, medical waste, agricultural waste, and other non-hazardous industrial wastes. The
, 25.9 tons per capita. In just one year, that
would fill in about 80% of the Great Lakes, basically everything but Lake Michigan.
Why do we care about waste?
All of this waste either ends up getting recycled (if we're lucky), incinerated, or dumped into a landfill or the ocean. Not everything we throw away can be recycled.
Incineration and landfills emit carbon dioxide, methane, and other harmful pollutants.
Polluting our oceans has
detrimental effects on marine wildlife.
On top of all that, waste generation rates are increasing. It is estimated that by 2050
based on 2016 levels due to rapid population growth and urbanization.
What about recycling?
It's not always possible. The EPA has measured and analyzed the disposal of waste for 35 years. Of the
, 50% went to a landfill,
only 32.1% was recycled or composted,
11.8% was incinerated, and the remainder was managed by other methods (biochemical processing, anaerobic digestion, animal feed, etc.).
Contamination and a lack of facilities to process certain materials
are why most of our waste isn't recycled and ends up in landfills. Food and plastics account for almost half (42.6%) of what goes into landfills.
When we put trash in landfills, it doesn't necessarily break down or decompose
. Dumps aren't designed to help decomposition. Modern landfills are lined with clay and plastic to avoid leaching. The trash is compacted so tight that air, sunlight, and organic matter can't come in, meaning
.
Then what can we do?
Throwing things away is a waste of materials, energy, and money. Since we can't solely rely on recycling to deal with our waste problem,
the best way to fix it is to reduce it.
That's why zero-waste initiatives have become super important. Individuals, cities, and companies have started
, which encourages a more circular approach to our resources and ensures no waste goes to landfills, incinerators, or our oceans.
Reduce, reuse, recycle - in that order.
Please share this with anyone who might find it helpful!
💙 The Share Scoops Team
Share the Scoop with friends!
1. Share your unique link with friends & coworkers (forward or copy)
2. When they sign up you unlock exclusive rewards
3. Keep on sharing to unlock more rewards
Forward your unique link:
You have made referrals
Reply