Recycling: A story in three parts.

These friendly, everyday objects are just begging to be asked: What does it actually mean to be recyclable or compostable? Why do we think of these guys as fundamentally good? They want to be seen as complex objects as much as any of us.

So, we sat down with each of them to ask three questions.

Part I: GLASS.

#1: What method of recycling (mechanical, energy-recovery, or pyrolysis) is possible for this material? — — Glass is typically sorted, crushed & melted through pyrolysis. Although quality does not degrade through the recycling process, glass is especially difficult to recycle in single-stream facilities (ex. everything goes in one blue bin), because… it breaks. Once that blue bin is dumped on a recycling facility’s sorting room floor, broken glass is too difficult & dangerous to sort from the rest of the pile.

Ex: In 2016, WA State had a 10–45% LOSS rate for recycled glass (ex. 10–45% of glass collected for recycling was landfilled) & a 55–90% utilization rate (ex. recycled into a new material). The wide range of loss & utilization rates for glass depend largely on whether glass is single-stream or not; our loss rates now are higher after Seattle implemented single-stream recycling in 2009.

#2: How far does my trash have to travel to get to a facility that processes this material? — — We have three recycling facilities in Seattle, which means that waste collection trucks don’t have to go far to deliver our waste. This can be a different story for rural municipalities, because freight becomes an additional cost.

#3: What is the current commodity pricing for this material? — — Remember, value is only what someone will pay. As of September 2018, mixed scrap glass is a negative value at -$0.17 / lb, meaning that recycling facilities have to pay a tipping fee to a landfill to get rid of glass they receive from blue bins.

Because most landfills are owned by private companies that also own the collection service & recycling facility, there’s not much incentive for them to increase that glass bottle’s value.

Part II: STRAWS. Specifically, compostable straws!

#1: What method of reuse is possible for this material? — — If you’ve ever looked closely at a compostable product, there’s usually fine print: ‘Only compostable in industrial facilities.’ This is because many single-use compostable products are made from sucrose-based biopolymers, usually corn, which require industrial methods to fully compost. This straw is made from a patented biopolymer material called Ingeo, which is made by using corn crops to capture CO2 and then fermenting the CO2 molecules to form polylactic acid: long chains of sugar molecules.

#2: How far does my trash have to travel to get to a facility that processes this material? — — Located in Maple Valley, Cedar Grove is Seattle and King County’s private industrial compost and residential curbside compost pickup facility.

There are hundreds of different biopolymer manufacturers in an unregulated industry. Biopolymer products require specialized technology to compost, so your neighborhood industrial facility must actually have the technology particular to a biopolymer’s specifications. Cedar Grove lists all acceptable compostable product brands on their website, but Seattle restaurants are not required to purchase Cedar Grove-approved brands, nor are there any penalties for using a compostable brand that cannot be composted at Cedar Grove.

Remember: a compostable product is only compostable if the industrial facility nearest you accepts it.

#3: What is the current commodity pricing for this material? — — The economic equation of compostable products is complicated.

On one hand, Cedar Grove charges approx. $42.50 / yard for their compost, which takes an efficient 3–6 months to process from time of disposal to product.

On the other hand, organic material rarely has a positive ROI and is one of the highest causes of human-caused methane production, for two reasons:

1. Improper disposal. Last year, we sent 932K tons of trash to King County’s landfill. 35% was residential food waste, which emits methane as it breaks down outside of an industrial facility. Landfills are the 3rd largest source of human-caused methane in the world. Seattle residents pay $6–8 / mo for compost pickup, compared to approx. $23–31 / mo for trash pickup. This means if you place compostable products in the trash, you are directly impacted by paying more for your trash and directly impacting the landfill’s methane production.
2. Production. While Ingeo’s manufacturer is currently testing processes to create their biopolymer directly from methane and CO2 gases, right now Ingeo is created from the starch in #2 yellow dent field corn, which is purposely grown to supply both feed and industrial end-uses simultaneously. Industrial agriculture is the 2nd largest source of human-caused methane; as a greenhouse gas, methane’s comparative impact is 25x greater than CO2 because of its efficiency in trapping radiation.

At the end of the day, the value of compostable waste quickly re-enters the economic supply chain when properly disposed of. However, the production of single-use compostable products generates human-caused methane.

Part III: PLASTIC. Polypropylene to be exact, or #5.

#1: What method of recycling is possible for this material? — — Even though all plastic originates from petroleum, all plastics are not equal. The first step in plastic production is to turn raw petroleum into controlled polymers using a catalyst, although the chemistry of the polymer doesn’t change (which is why plastic is harmful as it breaks down, because at the end of the day, it’s just petroleum). Plastic manufacturers purchase this base and add chemical additives to change the color, malleability, strength, durability, etc. These additives create the numbered plastic range (#1-#7) you see on the backs of the plastic products all around you.

Plastics #1 and #2 (HDPE and PET) have less additives. Plastics #3-#7 are considered ‘mixed plastics’ and have more additives.

In its most basic form, recycling = trying to reuse as much as possible of the product at the end of its life. There are two golden rules in recycling: 1) The purer the product to its original source, the easier it is to reuse and thus, higher the value. As #5, polypropylene is part of the mixed plastic family. Polypropylene is also highly versatile, used primarily for food packaging because it is tough & resistant to chemicals, heat, dilute acids / alkalis, alcohols, and oils… but that versatility comes at a cost of more additives added and less ability to be reused again. Perfect for your Thai take-out or your tailgate beer, not-so-perfect for everything else.

#2: How far does my trash have to travel to get to a facility that processes this material? — — Seattle and King County accept #1-#7 plastic at all of its recycling facilities, but that’s just because the public cares about it so the recycling companies that bid for the city’s recycling contract have to accept all plastic in order to get the bid.

Accepting mixed plastics doesn’t mean this #5 cup can actually be recycled at a positive ROI. Even though #5 is still plastic, many municipalities do not accept mixed plastics because they have no value. The most fundamental problem of all: The plastic manufacturers who stamp #5 on the back of your beer cup have no idea and no responsibility to ensure that statement is actually true.

#3: What is the current commodity pricing for this material? — — The second golden rule in recycling: 2) The more well-sorted and clean, the higher the price. Mixed plastics are typically priced together because most curbside recycling is commingled. As of October 2018, pricing for commingled mixed plastics = -$.01 / lb. However, pricing for sorted polypropylene = a whopping $.08 / lb.

Comparatively, HDPE and PET plastics (#1 and #2) are trading at $0.38 / lb.

The moral of this story is that recycling is complicated. It’s okay to ask questions, because no one really knows the right answer. In fact, asking questions is part of the answer!

One question we can ask: what does sustainability mean today? How can we ask questions of ourselves & our world to ensure we are actually creating the type of impact we want to create?