Please do not bring plastic waste!
The reason for our appeal to participants in our recycling activities is due to the recycling center’s refusal to accept this type of waste.
We only accept PET bottles and white cheese containers.
Why?
Well, that’s just how it is.
Your first reaction will probably be to exclaim, “Absurd!” And you will be convinced that you are right. But in the end, I threw the plastic collected in the bag into the trash container. If I have to do this every time, it makes sense to ask you to stop bringing this type of waste. We will save you time and energy if you simply throw it away in the neighborhood container. Especially if you have a colored container for separate collection nearby.
The situation we find ourselves in is not unprecedented. This is because recycling processes are based on commercial rules and principles, not on caring for nature or charitable causes. In order to recycle a given type of waste, several conditions must be met: the product must have a use after recycling, there must be a working technology for recycling it, and there must be a financial benefit. The financial benefit, in turn, includes the revenue from the sale of the recycled product covering the costs of collection, compaction, transportation, and transformation.
All these conditions make recycling a rather extreme step in the treatment of a product in the circular economy chain. Let’s recall the steps: design – reduced consumption – reuse – repair – recycling. When we talk specifically about the “consumer-packaging” relationship, we will shorten the steps to: reduced consumption – reuse – recycling.
The problem is that His Majesty the Customer immediately jumps to the last step – recycling! Why? Simply because it requires a little more effort than throwing away the trash. Separating (sorting) it by type and taking it to a specialized container or collection point. The rest is not my job. “Let the state take care of it!” In this line of thinking, it turns out that recycling is the first step towards our eco-consciousness, as opposed to throwing trash in the container and then saying, “Let the state take care of it!”
But there comes a time when we realize that recycling has many shortcomings. We cannot rely on it alone—we must do more! We must move on to the next level. We must realize that, under the influence of business, science is inventing new and new types of packaging without providing a solution for their treatment (recycling). We must understand that business is more inclined to pin a “green medal” on itself than to start thinking green.
Please do not bring plastic waste! This situation gives us a chance to start changing our priorities. Should we prioritize less repackaging or reuse? Moments like this give us a chance to build on our achievements!
