These Tech-Driven Recycling Innovations Could Solve A Lot of Our Waste Problems

China’s said no to our recyclables, more nations overseas are doing to same, and countries like Australia are putting forth bans on the export of waste materials of any kind. What are we to do with our recycling here in Canada?

The recycling industry is having a bit of a ‘crisis moment’ right now. In some parts of the United States for example, plastic, paper, and other recyclables are being buried in landfills or burned because there’s no place to put them. This is very sad to see as waste management experts ourselves, we know how valuable recycling is and we hope to one day report an end to this practice.

While all of these negatives continue to move around, tech’s advancing at a fastening pace. New processes, equipment, substances, and materials are doing some absolute remarkable things out there in the world. Here’s just a few of these tech-driven recycling innovations.

Creating roads from plastic and glass

North of Melbourne, Australia, a new process has allowed a road to be paved with more than 200,000 plastic bags, 63,000 glass bottles, and toner cartridges from more than 4,500 printers. Reconophalt is the type of material that was used to pave this road, made from asphalt and recyclables. This is providing the world with a new opportunity to put plastic waste to work.

Microfactories

It’s at recycling facilities that plastic, glass, and paper are sorted and processed. These warehouses tend to be large and expensive to create. They also can only generally recycle one or two products. Scientists have recently come up with a new design for a ‘microfactory’ which would be small, modular, and that can be built by people seeking something portable and private. This is an effort to decentralize the recycling industry and to help process the waste available.

Disposable coffee cups

Tim Horton’s coffee cups create massive waste from coast to coast in Canada. Disposable cups like these are usually lined with a film of plastic that makes them expensive to reprocess and recycle. They can however be mixed with recycled plastic to make a variety of other items and have been, making things like outdoor plastic benches, garden planters, coat hangers, and more. It’s an ongoing effort to created closed loop waste and recycling structures wherein the same waste is being repurposed again and again, all the while avoiding the landfill!

Household waste turned into electricity

Imagine converting your home’s waste into electricity you can use. One day, this might be a reality. In Sweden, waste-to-energy plants that incinerate unrecyclable scraps and converting energy into electricity has been so prominent that they’re even starting to import other countries’ waste. Although this approach does create pollution which can impact air and water, this has provided a way to reduce fossil fuels and cut down on potential greenhouse gas emissions from decomposing waste. Somewhat controversial, as one can imagine, this is one method of conversion that’s making the most from the waste which we cannot do anything with but bury.

There’s no questioning how we do waste and recycling in Canada is in need of a change. We don’t know what tech is coming around the corner but based off what’s available today, we’d think it’s safe to say there’s much more that can be accomplished.