Plastics
In regards to waste management, what we are currently doing with plastic -single use or recyclable plastics – makes no sense and is in fact not viable, sustainable or tenable.
Plastic is a toxin and will forever be a toxin. Whether in the form of post disposal leachate or the microplastic left in our water systems, plastics are toxic.
For the past few decades Orillians along with most of Ontario have been dutifully recycling our plastics, comforted by the thought of these products being transformed into new products.
First off, the total amount of plastic produced that actually does get recycled is not impressive as most plastic ends up in landfills, incinerators or free ranging in the form of litter. The small amount – estimated at 11% here in Canada – that does get recycled does not represent an answer so much as a feel-good placebo. Unlike glass and metal, plastic has a finite number of times it can be recycled; most plastics can be recycled just once or twice. This means it is just a matter of time before the end product ends up in the environment as a toxin.
So the only answer here is to stop using plastics.
In the short term that is not going to happen. I expect sometime in the future some one will find an alternative that will be forever recyclable or will break down safely in the environment. Until that happens we have a big problem.
As for answers in the short term we need to reduce use; we need to return to more traditional materials such as glass, paper and metal; we need to stop buying baked goods in plastic shells and opt for paper bags and cardboard; we need to start buying free range nails, screws and hardware instead of the twice as expensive packaged ones; in other words we need a major attitudinal shift at the till.
The Provincial Government has recently taken over the Stewardship of Ontario’s recycling program, expanding the list of plastics eligible for inclusion. The industry could not find markets for recycled plastic previously so I’m not sure how that is going to suddenly change.
The Recycle Council of Ontario after assessing these changes believes that the Provinces’ stated intention to reduce red tape by removing/reducing the Blue Box watchdog function will result in a lack of transparency and severely compromise the Stewardship Ontario Programs ability to realize the intended results.
The effectiveness of Stewardship Ontario in final form is still not clear but the idea of allowing this issue to disappear behind a wall of potential provincial mismanagement without knowing what actually happens to this toxin, should be a concern.
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