What is “Wishcycling,” and How Can We Stop Doing It. | July 6th.
Imagine you strive hard to lessen your environmental impact, but in doing so, you unknowingly cause more harm to the planet. This happens when we "wishcycle," and almost all of us have been guilty of it at one time or another.
Wishcycling is one of the greatest threats to the recycling industry across the world.
What Is Wishcycling?
Wishcycling – or "wish recycling" – is what happens when we want to believe we can recycle something, but in reality it's not recyclable. Regardless, we place the trash in the recycling bin in hopes that someone else will sort it out for us.
When our waste can't be recycled, there are three main reasons:
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The item material can't be recycled by local recycling facilities.
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The item is made of more than one material, so it can't be separated and recycled.
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The item isn't clean enough to be processed through recycling equipment.
Why Is Wishcycling a Problem?
Wishcycling usually comes from good intentions. We imagine that the more we put in the recycling bin, the less goes to the landfill. Unfortunately, this isn't accurate.
Wishcycling causes more waste to get thrown out
When you put an item into recycling that shouldn't be there, it contaminates a whole batch of recyclable waste. Often, the whole batch is then rejected and sent to the landfill.
If the recycling facility has to hire more staff to pre-sort items thoroughly, the local authority will have to fund this extra expense.
Wishcycling damages recycling equipment
If your non-recyclable object makes it through to the sorting stage, it could damage expensive equipment used by the recycling facility. At best, it gets caught in a machine, causing the production line to stop while workers remove your item.
At worst, when equipment has to be repaired or replaced, it places another financial burden on the recycling program and generates extra waste.
Wishcycling can shut down recycling facilities
The cost of our lack of knowledge and uncertainty is high for recycling facilities. This eventually pushes them to a scenario where recycling no longer makes economic sense.
Many recycling programs over the years have been forced to close down their operations, especially in the last few years after China started to refuse to accept recycling waste from the US and Europe. When recycling isn't available, items that could have been recycled are automatically sent to the landfill.
How Can You Avoid Wishcycling?
Recycling properly is one of the most effective ways to reduce waste. With a little perseverance, you can correct your wishcycling habits so you're only sending recyclable waste to your local facility.
Learn your local rules
Some types of waste can't be recycled just about anywhere, and we mustn't let it contaminate other recycling.
Other items may or may not be safe to recycle, depending on the capabilities and priorities of your local recycling facilities. Visit the waste management section on your city's or town's website to learn your local rules.
Wise up on general guidelines
In addition to researching the specific guidelines for your local area, learn and remember some common rules that can help you make faster recycling decisions. Here are some tips to assess whether your most common packaging items are recyclable.
Aluminum
Aluminum cans are often lined with plastic to keep the food or drink inside them fresh for years. This renders them more difficult to recycle, but facilities can often still recycle them. You can also usually leave the paper labels on, as these will get removed during the recycling process.
Plastic
There's a myriad of plastic packaging types, both recyclable and non-recyclable. Look for the number on the bottom of each piece of packaging, and you'll become used to identifying each type. Sturdier plastic boxes are more often recyclable, but plastic film rarely is. Always avoid black plastic, as recycling machines cannot detect it and sort it.
Cardboard and paper
Non-soft paper is completely recyclable, and your local facility is almost guaranteed to accept it. However, as soon as food or drink stains your cardboard, it can't be recycled – so that's a big no-no for greasy pizza boxes. Watch out for envelopes too. If they have a plastic window, they're a mixed material and the window should be torn out first.
Glass
Glass can be recycled infinite times without losing quality, making it a truly zero-waste recycling material. Your local recycling may or may not offer a separate collection for glass, but either way, they're very likely to recycle it. Just make sure it remains unbroken.
Make yourself a list
Once you're familiar with recycling requirements, make a detailed, easy-to-read list of what can and can't be recycled in each bin at home. Fasten the list to each bin, so you can refer to it exactly when needed. Add useful upcycling ideas to the list so you'll always have alternatives to recycling the item.
Prep items for recycling
Unwashed food containers contaminate batches of recycling, as waste management services often don't have the time or resources to clean your waste before they sort it. A leaking bottle in your recycling can soak and stick other items together.
Clean items as much as possible before throwing them out, but dry them afterward too. Your kitchen recycling bin shouldn't smell at all when you take it out to the waste bin at the end of the week.
Look for small-scale recycling programs
Often, centralized recycling facilities won't accept packaging waste such as plastic bags or chip packets. But these items can still physically be recycled.
Rather than putting them in the recycling bin and hoping for the best, research online for decentralized recycling initiatives in your local area where you can send specific kinds of waste.
Is Recycling All We Can Do?
Despite our best efforts, the mainstream recycling industry is currently a flawed system. It consumes energy, transportation fuel, and other resources. It can also end up costing companies less to make new things from brand new materials instead of recycled ones.
The supply of your recycled materials may not match the demand to create something new. This is why the principles of reducing and reusing should always be considered before recycling even enters the picture.
Another alternative solution to conventional recycling is the Miniwiz Trashpresso, our all-in-one decentralized recycling model. Rather than simply handling the sorting process and shipping the organized waste to be recycled, the Trashpresso model takes efficiency a step further. The machines use solar power to upcycle both plastic bottles and their caps into robust and utilitarian architectural tiles.
The result is a low-energy, zero-waste recycling system that delivers a valuable building product, upcycling at a rate of up to 50Kg of waste per hour.