The masses make the difference - even when it comes to plastic
23.06.2020 - Plastic bags are increasingly disappearing from our everyday lives, and we have recently won the battle against plastic straws. "We're making progress!" say some, "That's still a long way off!" say others. Aren't we exemplary in terms of sustainability with our waste recycling rate of more than 80 per cent? However, this rate must be viewed in a differentiated way, especially when talking about plastic waste. In addition to paper recycling, the topic of plastic recycling has also moved further into the focus of Steinbeis Holding, which invested heavily in this area last year. This article explains why, just as with paper, a rethink is needed when it comes to plastics.
Researching statistics on the topic of plastic quickly reveals figures that can surprise and amaze even the most hardened fatalists. Take the following, for example: If our plastic consumption continues at the current rate, there will be more plastic swimming in the sea than fish before 2050. The largest rubbish patch in the ocean, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, currently covers an area of around 1.6 million square kilometres, making it more than four times the size of Germany. Such gigantic rubbish patches are created, among other things, by the 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic that are washed into the sea by rivers worldwide every year.
Negative aspects of our plastic consumption
What are the consequences? Every year, birds and sea creatures die in the six-figure range from contact with plastic, and pieces of plastic can be found in most of their stomachs. We humans can't seem to protect ourselves from plastic either, especially microplastics: It has been proven to be in our mineral water, our cosmetic products and in our bodies. But wait - we Germans are so environmentally conscious that other countries occasionally ridicule us as ecologists, and sometimes we find ourselves putting so much pressure on ourselves to act sustainably that we even suffer from a guilty conscience - surely we have no part in filling up the oceans with rubbish.
In fact, Germany is considered a pioneer in waste separation and is said to recycle up to 80 per cent of all its waste. This figure can be criticised insofar as it also statistically records "discards" as recycled. Incorrect waste is waste that has not been separated correctly; this is usually incinerated. The figure also neglects all waste that Germany exports abroad. 701.in 2018, this amounted to 539 tonnes of plastic waste, more than any other country after Japan and the USA. After China decided in 2018 to stop acting as a landfill for Germany and the USA, Germany exported the largest proportion of its plastic waste to Malaysia.
Over 80 per cent of the plastic floating in the oceans comes from Southeast Asia, where most of the waste is exported: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Indonesia. Some of the plastic is recycled cheaply in these countries, while the rest is often buried so that it ends up in the sea sooner or later. It is hardly for Germans to criticise this, as they produce a large proportion of this waste and then dispose of it out of sight instead of disposing of it.
Every thing has two sides
So what conclusion do we come to? Plastic is evil and should be banned? Black and white thinking won't get you very far on this topic. Plastic offers a number of advantages that we don't want to do without. For example, a lot of plastic is used in medicine because it is sterile and therefore prevents the spread of diseases. This is also the area in which the use of disposable products makes sense for the same reason, think of syringes, infusion and blood bags or simply clean packaging for medical products. The favourable properties of plastic also include the fact that it is cheap to produce, relatively heat-resistant, heat-insulating, lightweight and flexible. This is why it is used in solar and wind power plants, in the thermal insulation of buildings and in the transport of goods. These are all fields in which it is irreplaceable and even ensures major energy savings. However, these advantages also come with some disadvantages, namely that plastic is not biodegradable and is relatively difficult to recycle, the latter being due to the fact that different forms of plastic are often mixed within a product and cannot be easily separated for reuse. The three most common forms of plastic are thermoplastics, thermosets and elastomers; if waste products cannot be clearly categorised into one of these forms, for example, they are incinerated because they cannot be further processed.
What about bioplastics?
Bioplastics offer a partial solution to this problem. Unlike conventional plastics, which are made from crude oil, it is made from renewable raw materials and is therefore also biodegradable once it has fulfilled its purpose. Of course, it would be much better if we could integrate plastic waste more efficiently into a circular economy, i.e. recycle it better. We could take the recycling of paper as an example: We have this so well under control that we even import paper waste from abroad and process it further. One challenge here is that degradable plastic is still causing confusion in the recycling cycle at this stage, as the sorting technology cannot distinguish between bioplastic and conventional plastic .
How does the recycling of plastic work?
Firstly, a distinction must be made between energy recovery and material recycling. Energy recovery means that the waste is incinerated to generate energy. If the energy obtained is used to generate electricity or heat, it is categorised as renewable energy.
In material recycling, the waste is mechanically or chemically processed and the plastic is retained. In very simple terms, the collected used plastic is shredded, washed and dried in special facilities until only small plastic grains remain. These can be melted and processed into new plastic. Kruschitz GmbH, for example, which has been part of Steinbeis Holding since 2019, produces such granulates. Kruschitz GmbH's recycled granulates are used to produce bottles, (food) packaging, films and furniture, among other things.
Further developing plastic recycling processes - the solution to all problems?
The material recycling of plastic is therefore not so difficult that it cannot be realised sustainably. However, in order to bring the problem of global plastic waste under control, several variables in the equation need to be changed: Firstly, the mindless use of plastic would have to give way to a conscious appreciation. This would require a reassessment of where plastic is necessary and where it is not. Every individual can influence this with their everyday decisions. It is important that plastic waste in the world is simply reduced. The industry should also endeavour to only manufacture plastic products that can be recycled. This is a project that at least the EU has put on its agenda for this decade. The aim is to have only recyclable plastic in circulation by 2030. Last but not least, the issue of recycling plastic should be given more space and more weight in the public consciousness. After all, plastic, which we produce at great technical and energy expense, is a valuable resource that we can use in an incredible variety of ways - and we should treat it accordingly.
Cover picture: Arshad Pooloo/unsplash
Isabella Bigler is an editor and copywriter. Here she writes about sustainable topics, the past and the future - occasionally with the support of her dedicated interns Lumen Nguyen and Liam Jennings.
