Materials Engineering

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

TO: Fran Pavley FROM: Griffin Beemiller SUBJECT: The struggling recycling industry Problem

DATE: 12/9/11

In 2010, 250 million tons of municipal solid waste was generated in the U.S. About 136 million tons of this waste was discarded in landfills. The amount of plastic waste recovered in 2010 represented only 7.6% of all plastic generated.1 The primary concern of todays grocery packaging is that it consists of plastics that are not getting recycled and ending up in a landfill or in the ocean. Most consumers are unaware that the plastics they send to the landfill are actually recyclable, yet they still are not recycled by our system. This is primarily due to the difficulty of sorting many plastic resins, as well as consumer indifference. Current Situation In an attempt to correct this problem, efforts have been implemented to replace petroleum based plastics in industry with new biodegradable plastics. Biodegradable polymers have inferior performance and are currently incapable of replacing the vast market of petroleum based plastics. Also, biodegradable plastics pose similar problems if not sent to their own dedicated composting sites. Without these sites, they emit more greenhouse gases in conventional landfills.2 Currently there are only two plastic materials that get accepted for recycling; PET and HDPE. Though these two plastics represent a majority of resins used in manufacturing, they are only one third of the plastic resins marked using the SPI voluntary plastic container coding system.3 The lack of plastic resins being recycled leads to many recyclable plastic containers ending up in landfills. As the production of plastic products and packages increases, the recycling system must keep up with the growth. Current Legislation Page 1 12/17/2011

At this time, post-consumer plastics have no value to industry or consumers, and are therefore tossed into trash without care to be taken to a landfill. The social and economic impact of the current legislation is that manufacturers have little to no incentive to use recycled resin because the cost of recycling is much greater than the return to the manufacturer. Legislation must put pressure on consumers to be aware of the waste that they produce. Recommendations The system in which we use to recover plastics must be changed. We need to increase the recovery rate of current plastics. I recommend that all thermoplastic materials (SPI codes 1 through 6) start being recycled. This should be done in a way that forces consumers to discard their trash in an organized manner. We must give consumers incentive to recycle and issue penalties when they do not. Paying an extra plastic tax on goods would boost the production of environmentally friendly products and packages. A refund value should be added to other plastics besides PET to increase the value of recycled material. In order to fight vast amounts of solid waste, we must start thinking of ways to design sustainable products where packaging can have a complete lifecycle and where its disposal is considered as part of the brand life.2 Source reduction plays a major role in waste reduction and should be well advocated. I also firmly believe that incineration of non recyclable trash should be legal for the production of energy in California, with mandates on filters and air scrubbers to reduce pollution. Sources: 1. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Municipal Solid waste Generation, Recycling and
Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010. 2010, EPA: Washington DC. p.1. 2. Ford, Jonathan. "Turning the Tide." Beverage World 15 Oct. 2007: 53. Hospitality & Tourism Complete. Web. 9 Dec. 2011.

3. "SPI - About Plastics - Recycling." SPI - Society of the Plastics Industry. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.plasticsindustry.org/AboutPlastics/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1271>.

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