Recycling is a habit. Unlike climate change (or should it be Climate Change) the need for people to recycle, reduce or reuse what they consume is undeniable. There’s no fuzzy science, no grey areas. Just a mass of filthy holes in the ground all too quickly filled with stinking rubbish. And there are only so many landfills.
So. Successful recycling is about connecting with people, and helping them see that it’s a lot easier than it seems. It’s about forming habits, not forcing behaviour. You need simple processes, support from local authorities, and it needs to be a straightforward habit to learn for people who aren’t kept awake by Radley Lake nightmares. Yet.
Idiotic then, as Ecologist senior reporter Mark Anslow points out in last month’s issue, that recycling plastics is so ruddy confusing. Often you’ll see the logo on plastics, but without the important polymer identifier, and you’re very lucky if the council collection will take it away. It’s all down to sorting – bottles only come in three polymer types and are easy to sort on sight. Most other plastics aren’t that easily recognisable, and so are often not collected.
Then, you’ve got the spectacularly counterproductive “This packaging is recyclable” logos. Which show a tick, clearly suggesting that the plastic is recyclable. Only that’s not quite the case…
