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The clue in the recycling bin
The four Alden children, aged six to fourteen, volunteer at the new recycling center in town, and help uncover who is breaking in and making a mess each night.
Book
Problems of the US Recycling Programs: What Experienced Recycling Program Managers Tell
Recycling is a cornerstone of waste management. Despite its significance and growing interest, the US recycling rate has stagnated at around 35% for more than the past decade. In this study, we investigate an effective waste collection method as well as factors that may negatively affect recycling program management as a proxy measure of the recycling rate. To this end, recycling program managers and coordinators were surveyed since they play a pivotal role in the flow of recyclable materials. We found a combination of curbside and drop-off recycling to be the most cost-effective, but when managers’ experience level is factored in, the perceived significance of the combination approach decreases. Concerning barriers to recycling, we found that market variability for recycled materials, insufficient public participation in waste collection, and knowledge of best practices are critical inhibiting factors. In addition, China’s complete ban on waste import by 2030, an organizational framing effect of recycling, and a strong need for public education and outreach activities about recycling have emerged as new problems for recycling. Our findings point out recycling systems that reduce those setbacks to improve recycling performance and increase the recycling rate.
Journal Article
Garbage dump disaster
With a garbage thief on the loose in New Mouse City who is stealing organic waste, Hercule and Geronimo enlist the head of the Recycling Center to help, then discover that the thief has good intentions.
BOOK
Critical advances and future opportunities in upcycling commodity polymers
The vast majority of commodity plastics do not degrade and therefore they permanently pollute the environment. At present, less than 20% of post-consumer plastic waste in developed countries is recycled, predominately for energy recovery or repurposing as lower-value materials by mechanical recycling. Chemical recycling offers an opportunity to revert plastics back to monomers for repolymerization to virgin materials without altering the properties of the material or the economic value of the polymer. For plastic waste that is either cost prohibitive or infeasible to mechanically or chemically recycle, the nascent field of chemical upcycling promises to use chemical or engineering approaches to place plastic waste at the beginning of a new value chain. Here state-of-the-art methods are highlighted for upcycling plastic waste into value-added performance materials, fine chemicals and specialty polymers. By identifying common conceptual approaches, we critically discuss how the advantages and challenges of each approach contribute to the goal of realizing a sustainable plastics economy.
Methods for the transformation of plastics into materials with value, known as plastic waste upcycling, are outlined, and their advantages and challenges in terms of a sustainable plastics economy are discussed.
Journal Article
Knowing What It Makes
Recycling campaigns abound, but do consumers think about what becomes of those recyclables? This research proposes that product transformation salience (thinking about recyclables turning into new products) increases recycling. The authors theorize that consumers are inspired by the transformation of recyclables into new products and that this inspiration motivates them to recycle. The authors demonstrate the effect of product transformation messages on recycling behavior using a recycling campaign (Study 1) and advertisements for products made from recycled plastic (Study 2). Study 3 demonstrates the mediating role of inspiration. Then, three field studies provide robust support for the transformation salience effect through click-through rates for recycling advertisements (Study 4), recycling rates during pre–football game tailgating (Study 5), and a reduction in the amount of recyclable materials incorrectly placed in the landfill bin by students in a university residence hall (Study 6). The authors discuss implications for the design of recycling campaigns and positioning of recycled products in the marketplace as well as theoretical contributions regarding the roles of transformation salience and inspiration in encouraging recycling and other sustainable behaviors.
Journal Article
Advancing Plastic Recycling: Challenges and Opportunities in the Integration of 3D Printing and Distributed Recycling for a Circular Economy
The concept of the circular economy has emerged as a promising solution to address the mounting concerns surrounding plastic waste and the urgent need for sustainable resource management. While conventional centralized recycling remains a common practice for plastic waste, centralized facilities may prove inadequate in handling the ever-increasing volumes of plastic waste generated globally. Consequently, exploring alternative recycling methods, such as distributed recycling by additive manufacturing, becomes paramount. This innovative approach encompasses actively involving communities in recycling practices and promotes a circular economy. This comprehensive review paper aims to explore the critical aspects necessary to realize the potential of distributed recycling by additive manufacturing. In this paper, our focus lies on proposing schemes that leverage existing literature to harness the potential of distributed recycling by additive manufacturing as an effective approach to plastic waste management. We explore the intricacies of the recycling process, optimize 3D printing parameters, address potential challenges, and evaluate the mechanical properties of recycled materials. Our investigation draws heavily from the literature of the last five years, as we conduct a thorough critical assessment of DRAM implementation and its influence on the properties of 3D printing structures. Through comprehensive analysis, we reveal the potential of recycled materials in delivering functional components, with insights into their performance, strengths, and weaknesses. This review serves as a comprehensive guide for those interested in embracing distributed recycling by additive manufacturing as a transformative approach to plastic recycling. By fostering community engagement, optimizing 3D printing processes, and incorporating suitable additives, it is possible to collectively contribute to a more sustainable future while combatting the plastic waste crisis. As progress is made, it becomes essential to further delve into the complexities of material behavior, recycling techniques, and the long-term durability of recycled 3D printed components. By addressing these challenges head-on, it is feasible to refine and advance distributed recycling by additive manufacturing as a viable pathway to minimize plastic waste, fostering a circular economy and cultivating a cleaner planet for generations to come.
Journal Article
Towards regional cooperation on sustainable plastic recycling: comparative analysis of plastic waste recycling policies and legislations in Japan and Malaysia
Asia currently faces a serious crisis involving plastic wastes. Efforts to curb plastic waste in the region are mostly hampered by inadequate recycling infrastructure, unsustainable disposal practice, low level of recycling awareness and persistent shipping of large amounts of waste from developed countries to the region. The ban on plastic waste import by China in 2017 worsened the situation by causing unsustainable shipping of waste from high plastic waste-generating countries such as Japan to alternate destinations in Southeast and East Asia. The Japanese government is frantically looking for options to manage plastic waste piling up on the domestic front. Malaysia became one of the leading alternative destinations for plastic waste after the ban by China. This work is aimed at conducting a comparative analysis of plastic recycling policies and legislations between Malaysia and Japan to yield synergistic solutions between the two countries to combat the current predicament. The comparison will signify two typical development patterns in developed countries and developing countries and will be able elucidate future directions for other countries with similar policy and legislative transitions in the region. A set of nine criteria was employed to critically evaluate the policies and legislations of both countries. Barriers faced by both countries in plastic recycling are outlined and recommendations are proposed to overcome those barriers on the domestic front. Two strategies proposed to be jointly developed by both countries are enhancement of extended producer responsibility (EPR) through a regional policy platform and collaboration in establishing joint Ecotowns.
Journal Article
China’s plastic import ban increases prospects of environmental impact mitigation of plastic waste trade flow worldwide
Since the late 1990s, the trend of plastic waste shipment from developed to developing countries has been increasing. In 2017, China announced an unprecedented ban on its import of most plastic waste, resulting in a sharp decline in global plastic waste trade flow and changes in the treatment structure of countries, whose impacts on global environmental sustainability are enormous but yet unexamined. Here, through the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, we quantified the environmental impacts of changes in the flow patterns and treatment methods of 6 types of plastic waste in 18 countries subsequent to the ban. In the short term, the ban significantly improved four midpoint indicators of environmental impact, albeit contributed to global warming. An annual saving of about 2.35 billion euros of eco-cost was realized, which is equivalent to 56% of plastic waste global trade value in 2017. To achieve global environmental sustainability in the long run, countries should gradually realize the transition from export to domestic management, and from landfill to recycling, which would realize eco-costs savings of about 1.54–3.20 billion euros.
China announced a ban on its import of most plastic waste in 2017, resulting in an impact on global environmental sustainability. Here the authors quantify the environmental impacts of changes in the flow patterns and treatment methods of 6 types of plastic waste in 18 countries subsequent to the ban.
Journal Article
Plastic Recycling Practices in Vietnam and Related Hazards for Health and the Environment
Waste plastic today is a global threat. The rapid increase in global production and use has led to increasing quantities of plastics in industrial and municipal waste streams. While in industrialized countries plastic waste is taken up by a waste management system and at least partly recycled, in low-income countries adequate infrastructure to collect and treat waste adequately is often not in place. This paper analyzes how plastic waste is handled in Vietnam, a country with a fast-growing industry and growing consumption. The recycling of plastic waste typically takes place in an informal context. To demonstrate this in more detail, two rural settlements—so-called craft villages—are taken as case studies. Technologies and processes for plastic recycling are described and related risks for human health and the environment are shown, as well as the potential for the improvement of this situation.
Journal Article
“If it is not made easy for me, I will just not bother”. A qualitative exploration of the barriers and facilitators to recycling plastics
Despite significant investment to increase recycling facilities and kerbside collection of waste materials, plastic packaging is frequently discarded as litter, resulting in significant environmental harm. This research uses qualitative methods to explore the contextual and psychological factors that influence plastic waste disposal behaviour from the perspectives of consumers. This research also reports key results from a brief online survey exploring consumer perspectives toward plastics and plastic recycling. A total of N = 18 adults living in Northern Ireland (NI) participated in a semi-structured interview and N = 756 adults living in NI took part in an online survey. Interview data was analysed via a semi-directed content analysis approach, using the COM-B behaviour change model as a guiding framework. Survey data underwent descriptive and frequency analysis. Collectively, the findings suggest that environmental concern exists among consumers generally, but there is a degree of ambivalence toward recycling that reflects a gap between intentions to recycle and actual recycling behaviour. Plastic recycling behaviour is hindered by three common barriers: 1. confusion and uncertainty about which plastic materials can be recycled (exacerbated by the abundance of plastic products available) 2. perceiving plastic recycling to be less of a personal priority in daily life 3. perceiving that local government and manufacturers have a responsibility to make plastic recycling easier. As recycling is simply not a priority for many individuals, efforts should instead be placed on providing greater scaffolding to make the process of recycling less tedious, confusing, and more habitual. Visual cues on product packing and recycling resources can address ambiguity about which plastic materials can/cannot be recycled and increasing opportunities to recycle (via consistent availability of recycling bins) can reduce the physical burden of accessing recycling resources. Such interventions, based on environmental restructuring and enablement, may increase motivations to recycle by reducing the cognitive and physical burden of recycling, supporting healthier recycling habits.
Journal Article