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Environment
OpinionComment
Von Hernandez
Marcy Trent Long
Von HernandezandMarcy Trent Long

Opinion | False promise of disposable plastic recycling obscures firms’ role in global waste crisis

  • The evidence shows most of the plastic waste exported by rich nations to Asian countries is not recyclable and ends up polluting the environment
  • Recycling alone will not solve the plastic pollution crisis as the real solution lies further upstream in reducing the amount of plastics being produced

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An employee sorts through collected plastic at a recycling factory in Lung Kwu Tan, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, on June 18, 2020. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Von HernandezandMarcy Trent Long

March 18 is Global Recycling Day. Can we really celebrate it here in Asia, or is it time to reckon with the myth that disposable plastic can be recycled?

Before the advent of plastic packaging, neighbourhood variety stores throughout Asia provided goods in small portions for customers who brought in their own reusable containers. Now, those traditional stores are filled with products in plastic packaging, including multilayer packaging, small sachets and single-use pouches that are not recyclable.

In urban centres, these traditional stores have been replaced by convenience stores that promote quick and easy takeaway goodies with a handy rubbish bin at the front door for the waste. 

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Most urban centres in Asia can ill-afford waste management and recycling systems that tackle single-use packaging. The situation is worse for the region’s island nations and rural communities that lack even proper waste collection.
For them, this plastic waste deluge in the past few decades has put their countries in the global spotlight of blame for the 8 million tonnes of plastic going into the ocean every year. Yet, is this ocean plastic crisis really their fault? 

02:30

Bali's famous beaches buried in plastic garbage pushed ashore by annual monsoon

Bali's famous beaches buried in plastic garbage pushed ashore by annual monsoon
With global plastic recycling rates hovering at less than 20 per cent and many places, including Hong Kong, challenged with the logistics of recycling, the dependence on the false claim that plastic recycling works needs to be made more transparent. Even the younger generation in Hong Kong does not believe it can work.
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