Last week I was at home binge-watching my favorite Netflix series when I came across the word ubiquitous. I remembered it got me thinking how I can’t remember the last time I heard someone use the term ‘ubiquitous’.
Nowadays, the term ubiquitous is commonly used to describe the state of our plastic. I have to say that the state of our plastic today does fit perfectly when you use the term ubiquitous. Anyway, enough about the ubiquitous talk, what I really want to address is that, Today Plastic is ubiquitous.
Plastic has become such a major part in our lives that it can be considered as a necessity these days. Plastic is literally everywhere. If you think about it, plastic might be the first thing you see or use every time you wake up and go to bed. Plastic has become such an important part in our day-to-day lives that almost everyone knows about the dangers associated with plastic dumping and how plastics must be reused or recycled.
However, some of us might not know what exactly happens to plastic once we throw them away in recycling bins and that is exactly what I’m going to discuss at today’s post.
Most of us don’t really think much about recycling. Most of us expect that every time we throw our soda bottles or dump our ice cream tubs in the recycling bins that it is going to be recycled. Sad to say that it is not always the case.
The Journey Begins. . .
Every time each of us throws our plastic stuff in recycling bins, our respective councils collects these recycling bins and takes it to a local recycling facility.
Once they have arrived at the facility, the sorting process begins. The waste are sorted and categorized according to their types. Plastics are complex and not all of them are made up of the same materials. There are 7 types of plastics (PET, PP, etc.), the plastic waste will be sorted into their respective types.
After the plastic waste are sorted, they are compressed into bales and transferred to a hot wash facility. This is where the actual recycling process begins. Upon arrival, the plastics will be washed and shredded into small plastic flakes in which these flakes will be further melted and converted into tiny pellets. Now, the pellets are ready to be reused to create new products. The tiny pellets can be sold to manufacturers too. Once the pellets are reused into end products, their journey ends.
The Sad Truth. . .
I was hoping the post would just end right after I talked about the recycling journey, but you are still here reading this, so you guessed it right, Yes, there is more to it.
In truth, not much of the plastics we throw are recycled. In Australia due to the lack of recycling facilities to reprocess these plastics into pellets, most of our plastic waste ends up at our oceans, dumped in landfills or piled in warehouses.
During the recycling journey when the plastic wastes are transported from the council to the facility, a lot of the plastics are blown away due to being so lightweight that it ends up in our oceans or rivers. These plastics can travel up to miles away and may clutter and clog together eventually blocking rivers, poison our marine creatures and contaminate the waters.
Due to the lack of onshore recycling equipment, we are forced to engage in the purchase of plastic packaging from overseas to manufacture new plastic products. To make things worse, due to Australia’s appetite in sending our waste to developing countries for reprocessing we are now facing a huge problem in managing our waste due to the ban of waste exports from those developing countries.
This means that we are forced to face millions of tons of plastic waste with nowhere to go. At the time you’re reading this, our landfills and oceans are piling up with plastic wastes at an excessive rate.
The Takeaway. . .
Plastic is ubiquitous and there’s just no way that we can stop ourselves from using plastics. However, it is essential that we consider the price that comes with using plastic and take responsibility for it. Our landfill is choking because of our plastic wastes and our seas are contaminated because of that too.
It is our duty to take care of our country and prevent our future generations from suffering because of our negligence.
Some might even say that we are the last generation with a real opportunity to make a difference.
“The Ultimate test of a man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard” – Gaylord Nelson
Certainly gives you food for thought, doesn’t it?
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