Turning recycling around: ReCircle’s response to Dennis Shanahan
Wired Magazine published an article in March 2019 stating that just 9% of discarded plastic is recycled, 12% is burned, and “the rest was buried in landfills or simply dumped and left to wash into rivers and oceans.”
On top of this entirely depressing performance, a 2019 survey in the UK found that only 38% of people said they knew what could and couldn’t be recycled.
The unfortunate truth is that existing recycling systems the world over are complicated and ineffective.
Political editor of The Australian Dennis Shanahan published an article last week titled “Recycling plan a load of rubbish” in response to Infrastructure Victoria’s October 2019 report concerning the state’s recycling and resource recovery infrastructure.
The response from ReCircle Recycling co-founder Aldous Hicks is below.
Dear Dennis,
You are right, the plans for six bins per household to deal with recycling is indeed a nightmare – but not just for the reasons you suggest.
It’s not just that the proposed system will demand householders spend excessive time sorting recycling and putting bins out for collection at the appropriate times, along with having to find space at home for the extra bins.
But, even if implemented and people found the time and energy to carry out the complex instructions, the six bin system will not solve the recycling problem we face. It may mean more items can be down-cycled (eg. mixed glass made into road base or plastic bottles into garden furniture), but until we close-loop recycle our materials (where a bottle is remade into a bottle, etc.) we will continue to use more and more virgin materials and the landfill will swamp us.
We have an Australian invention that will turn the current concept of recycling on its head. Far from being waste, our recycling is actually a really valuable resource – the potential of which can be realised in the home. By keeping materials separate at source (eg. green glass separate from clear glass, HDPE separate from PET) they retain their purity and value because they can then be closed-loop recycled. Householders will effectively be “mining” glass, plastic, aluminium and so on in the home.
A ReCircle appliance in the kitchen will mean:
- Putting out your recycling every few months, instead of every week (or as suggested in your article, several times a week)
- Crushing, grinding and flaking materials means householders can store many more items hygienically, and recycling will take up less space
- Householders will know that their efforts result in materials being closed-loop recycled and not down-cycled or – as is currently the case – destined for landfill
- Instead of paying councils for recycling systems that simply do not work, householders will receive a free pick-up service and some payment for the products (that we call ReProducts®) they produce. By guaranteeing material separation at source and then processed for minimum space and maximum purity, ReProducts® can be closed loop recycled and the re-manufacturers will pay a great deal more for the valuable, pure products
You would think Australia, with all the fanfare about Scott Morrison’s personal campaign to encourage recycling, would have jumped at a system that releases value from “waste materials” rather than placing a burden on householders and councils, but no. Sadly, ReCircle had to go to the UK to raise the investment we needed to fund ReCircle’s prototype development.
It seems Australians will have to make do with ever increasingly onerous recycling systems that simply do not work while we take ReCircle to the UK and the US where there is genuine interest in creating a closed-loop system benefiting both the environment and the householder.
We welcome you to take a look at our website recirclerecycling.com to see what Australia could be doing. Any input you might have or any suggestions as to how we might bring a good Aussie invention home would be warmly received.
Keep up the good work.
Yours sincerely,
Aldous Hicks
