Go fourth and recycle?
This week I thought I’d look at a slightly different area that’s come up in my minimal waste journey — the non-recyclable-recyclables. Not a ‘word’ that rolls of the tongue!
We all know that recycling is not the answer, but what about for those things where we have no other option right now? At the very least, mitigation of harm has to be better than giving up and sending things to landfill. My personal guilty pleasure is a family-size bag of crisps. Don’t judge me, I’m not a health food vegan 😄 For a while now I’ve been diligently collecting these tricky mixed material crisp packets and taking them to the Terracycle drop-off point at Small Changes. It’s not a solution but it seems to be the only option there is for now. I loved getting freshly made crisps in a paper cone from the market when I was living in Spain but there is no such thing here in Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions for more sustainable crisps options let me know!
I decided to have a look at Terracycle and see what other schemes they have that might address some other non-recyclables that are going in the bin. Silly me though, I managed to end up on the UK website (Irish problems am I right?) and I got a bit carried away when I saw a huge range of options including medicine blister pack recycling. This was my white whale. The one plastic thing that I had to let go. Turns out that Ireland does not have access to this scheme. It’s really disappointing when you start realising that recyclability is not so much based in technological or infrastructure limitations but in financial ones. Every scheme that Terracycle offers is funded by a different food/product manufacturer. So crisp packets are funded by Walkers, tablet blister packs are funded by Buscopan and Dulcolax, there’s confectionary packet recycling by Nestle. The inefficiency of it all is mind-boggling.
Looking at the Irish section of the website, it seems like another level of corporate bureaucracy whether companies have decided to fund an Irish channel. If you start looking further into where to drop off the recyclables, it turns out some are collected by pharmacies, shops or other small businesses, some drop off points are at schools, and many are at private addresses. How can that amount to corporate responsibility? Companies like Colgate, Maybelline and Garnier are offering recycling funding simply to complete a tick box exercise. There doesn’t seem to be any joined up thinking happening all round. Individual consumers are left to pick up the pieces. People put their own private home and email addresses on the internet and give you instructions how to drop off your toothpaste tube or Febreeze can. No sign of a big name like Tesco or Supervalu stepping in and facilitating collection points for these producers’ waste. Some will say their Terracycle programme is a stop on the way to fully sustainable packaging, but how can we as consumers trust that they will fulfill their promises if they’re not even taking full responsibility for the meagre recycling efforts they offer now?
All in all, what Terracycle is doing is great, they are engaging with these companies and offering solutions that can only give good PR. But it’s all left me with an uneasy feeling. It’s opened up rabbit holes in my head, now that I know that washing up gloves, electric toothbrush heads and tablet blister packs are recyclable, how can I continue to put them in the black bin? I’m frustrated that the options are out there but that they’re not here. Even having those programmes available is not good enough, but it is a start. How do I mitigate my own guilt around these issues? I suppose I have two options — become a crazy hoarder lady until Covid is over and I can visit family up north, bringing with me a hoard of random recyclables, or I get Terracycle to bring these schemes to Ireland. The second option seems marginally less mad. Either way I might inadvertently become a crazy hoarder lady until I find the solution. I hope I’m not alone in the maybe irrational levels of personal guilt and anxiety around these issues. All I have to do now is figure out how to channel that energy into the companies who are creating all this rubbish in the first place. Who wants to join me on a crusade against all this bonkers packaging?
That’s enough rambling for now,
Minimal Fin.
