Reduce and Re-use Plastic to see the Biggest Impact
It’s highly likely that if you look around, your immediate surroundings are filled with plastic. Electronics, laundry baskets, lamps, kitchen accessories, and parts of your home theater system. Plastic is everywhere! Now, think about how much plastic is thrown away every day – candy wrappers, water bottles, and fast food containers, among so many other items.
When it comes to plastic in our landfills, this is something that nearly everyone admits needs to change. When it comes to plastic recycling, the most effective way to go about this is to reduce the amount of plastic being consumed and re-use the plastic that is. Specifically, this applies to the top recycled plastic type in Canada and the United States, known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This type of plastic is used to make bottles for ketchup, mouthwash, salad dressings, sports drinks, juice, pop, sodas, and water. Almost every consumer comes into contact with some form of PET plastic on a routine basis. Needless to say, there’s more that can be done to reduce and re-use as it applies to this plastic.
According to a recent study published by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recycling a 1-gallon milk bottle saves the amount of energy required to power a clothes washer for 1 hour. A similar study also suggests that recycling a 20-ounce bottle can save the energy required to power an average size laptop for twenty-five minutes. Apply these energy savings over the course of hundreds, thousands, and potentially millions of bottles, and now one can recognize the amount that can be saved. Plastic recycling and studies such as these are going to play a role in the future of how plastic is manufactured, handled, and managed by populations to come.
For decades, plastic has had a negative effective on the environment. Decades ago, recycling was not as supported as it is today and in turn, so much plastic was emptied into our landfills. Today, that no longer has to be the case. There are so many materials to recover in plastic products, including the plastic itself, able to be reused and repurposed for other means. At the end of the day, pursuing stronger policies in the reduction and reuse of plastic results in more conservation of our natural resources, cleaner water, less landfill space having to be used for plastic, greener energy, and the creation of green-friendly, environmental jobs. In fact, some economists have predicted plastic recycling to be untapped economic resource for countries such as the United States where consumptions is so high.
The world is fastly coming to the realization to the power of plastic recycling. There is development happening in plastic recycling here in Ontario and all the way to countries as far away as India where plastic recycling units are being opened.
Non-biodegradable waste has the potential to be reduced and/or re-used to such a point that, in the near future, the world could achieve what some have called ‘zero waste’. As it pertains to plastic recycling, it’s a necessary step towards a greener future. The cleaning and segregation of plastic, and then repurposing it for supply elsewhere supplies numerous benefits to all stakeholders.
In support of plastic recycling, Core Mini Bins would like to encourage our partners to come together with us and make a commitment towards reducing the waste we put into our landfills. The future of Canada is dependent on all of us as citizens and in the business community to band together and address these growing waste concerns.
