One of the most amazing accomplishments of human ingenuity is good, old plastic.
Unbreakable, waterproof, malleable, lightweight – plastic solves most shortcomings of every other material developed by humans in the 10,000 years before Bakelite burst on the scene in 1907. And because those clever chemists make it from lots of different-sized carbon chains pulled out of petroleum, we can alter its properties almost at will. Amazing!
Too bad about the whole destroying-the-planet aspect, as we bury ourselves in discarded water bottles, lawn chairs, plastic bags, straws and automobile dashboards. If only we could recycle the stuff.
We can, of course, and do – to an extent. But not much of an extent.
Only about one-quarter of the plastic in the U.S. is recycled in some form, according to the most recent data, and that number might be falling because the cost is rising due largely to a crackdown by China, which used to buy most of our used plastic but is getting picky.
This is bad because we’re making a lot more plastic. In the past century, humans have created, by one scientific group’s estimate, about 9 billion tons of various plastics – which by weight exceeds any other material except steel and concrete, and by volume exceeds everything. They also estimate that global output will quadruple within my children’s lifetime. Quadruple!
Why don’t we recycle more? If we can tweak the molecules in oil to make plastic, why can’t we tweak the molecules in old plastic to make new plastic?
That, my friends, might be a question you’ll want to ask at Science Cafe NH in Concord Tuesday, May 15, when we talk about reinventing recycling.
It’s a timely topic, as you probably know. I and many other reporters have written in the past year about the collapse of markets for many recycled materials, including most types of plastic, that is threatening the recycling ecosystem built up since Earth Day launched.
This has forced a lot of us to take a second look at recycling, which has come to seem almost magical. Toss stuff into two trash cans instead of just one and, presto, we’re helping to save the planet!
Except it’s not magical. There is a good chance that some of the plastic we’re carefully washing and recycling is being tossed into landfills right now, especially if it’s not No. 1 (called PET, used in drink bottles) or No. 2 (HDPE, used in milk cartons) or maybe No. 5 (PP, food containers). Depending on where you live, landfilling may also be happening for paper, including newsprint, and for glass since there is virtually no market for recycled glass in New England right now.
Can technology improve this? Are there things we as individuals or consumers can do to improve it? Are there things we as society can do to improve it? Is it hopeless and we’re doomed to drown in our own material waste?
Bring those questions to The Draft Sports Bar for Science Cafe and we’ll see where the conversation goes.
As always, it’s free and open to all, starting at 6 p.m.
And don’t worry: Food and drink come on washable, not disposable, dishes.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
