The US wants to increase its recycling rate to around 50 percent

The coronavirus pandemic will keep us busy for some time, but the state of emergency of the past 1.5 years has already revealed one thing: The amount of (medical) waste, including FFP2 and surgical masks, rapid tests and disinfectant wipes, continues to increase. In addition, we are ordering more and more products directly to our doorstep, and as a result, packaging materials are now piling up in the garbage containers in many places.

This further increase in waste is becoming a growing problem in countries without a uniform recycling system. So it’s no wonder that the American environmental protection agency (EPA) has launched a new national recycling strategy. It’s the first of its kind and could be of great benefit to the environment.

The aim is therefore to recycle at least half of the municipal waste; measures for this are to be continuously defined and implemented over the next few years. Instead of huge mountains of rubbish, packaging and old devices could be breathed a second life.

It has long been overdue for the US to define measures in this area. In 2018, China announced that it would stop importing recycling waste from the United States, and the garbage dumps have been getting full since then. In order for this to change continuously in the following years and to increase the current recycling rate of just nine percent, further campaigns are to be run in addition to the actual recycling.

In this way, consumers should be better trained in how to use recyclable materials. One example is cardboard, which is often only correctly returned by retailers; for end users, the material is usually too dirty. The reason is, for example, leftover food, recyclable materials then end up on landfills and in incinerators.

In addition to these two pillars, there is still the financial and legal side. New regulations could make recycling mandatory to a certain extent, and financial incentives should encourage companies to use more recycled materials in their production. Ultimately, the most pragmatic solution remains: to make recycling superfluous by avoiding waste.

Via The Verge