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Done with Barbie? How to reuse or recycle old dolls

Bright pink clothing has been a hot item at a number of Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) op shops as movie-goers doll up to see Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. <div class="copy"> Kelly McMurray, an area store manager for BSL, says “a lot of 18 – 35 year old women have been coming in to get outfits for premier parties. “It’s been really fun helping people to find their outfits!” The movie has set off a global Barbiecore mania, pinkifying everything and <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/barbie-movies-potential-500-million-haul-could-have-huge-implications-for-mattel-123756476.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">driving demand</a> for more plastic dolls and toy company merchandise. Even before the movie, the global population of Barbies was growing by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/barbie-science/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">around 100 new dolls every minute</a>. Which begs the question: what to do with all those dolls once the gloss of the movie ultimately wears off? For toys still in good condition, reusing them by donating to friends or op shops is an obvious first choice. “Our stores do receive a lot of toys every year,” McMurray says. “The peak of our toy donations would be in the New Year and the second week of every school holidays – when people have either been gifted new toys (after Christmas) and when they have had time to do a clean out – hence the second week of school holidays.” For those seeking a more sustainable supply of Barbie dolls, accessories or merchandise, McMurray suggests visiting one of the bigger BSL stores, as those tend to receive the bulk of toy donations. In Melbourne, the Deer Park op shop has two large sections dedicated to kids toys and clothes, while the Belmont store has been receiving – and selling – a lot of Barbie DVDs. When donating Barbies, or any kind of doll or toy, McMurray says people need to really consider if the toy is in a suitable condition, and isn’t missing any body parts. “A little wear and tear is ok. But if people have any doubts about it – best not to include it in their donations.” For those ‘weird Barbies’ past the point of no return, recycling is the next best option. Research by retailer Flora & Fauna suggests Australians send <a href="https://giftguideonline.com.au/flora-fauna-launches-upcycled-toys-christmas-initiative/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">26.8 million toys</a> to landfill every year. Plastic toys are considered harder to recycle than many regular household items, and can not be put in kerbside recycling bins. <iframe title="Think Pink: The Science of Barbie" src="https://omny.fm/shows/huh-science-explained/think-pink-the-science-of-barbie/embed?in_playlist=podcast&style=Cover" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0"></iframe> Global recycling company TerraCycle offers a toy recycling program for worn out and broken toys in partnership with department store Big W. It’s called ‘Toys for Joy’. Marina Antoniozzi, TerraCycle’s head of operations, says the initiative saw over 18 tonnes of old toys collected in the first year of trial operations in 2021. The program has now collected well over 160 tonnes of toys, she says. “The majority of toys are not kerbside recyclable due to the complex nature of their composition. Toys are frequently made up of several materials including different types of plastics and metals, which means they need to be manually sorted and separated,” Antoniozzi says. The recycling company partners with toy brands and retailers because the cost to collect and process the material is usually more than the value of raw material produced through the recycling process. In Barbie’s case, the doll is made up of a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/culture/plastic-artefact-what-is-barbie-even-made-of/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complex mix of different types of plastics</a>. According to a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/20/4287" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study by Italian researchers</a> early dolls made between 1959 and 1976 comprised a complex mix of different <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/explainer-what-is-a-polymer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polymers</a>: polyvinyl chloride faces and legs; hair from polyvinylidene dichloride; and torsos made from low-density polyethylene. More <a href="http://www.designlife-cycle.com/barbie-dolls" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modern dolls</a> have arms of ethylene-vinyl acetate (also used in thongs, and frozen food packaging), torsos of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (also found in Lego), legs from polypropylene, and heads made of hard vinyl (like the kind used in vinyl records). Once collected, the toys sent to TerraCycle for recycling are checked in at TerraCycle’s Materials Recovery Facility where they are manually sorted, separated into individual material streams and prepared for processing. Antoniozzi says that in Australia, TerraCycle processes Barbie dolls and accessories along with other hard plastic toys. These are sent to recycling facilities to be shredded and cleaned. Residual metals are removed using magnets in a process called eddy current separation. The plastics are then sorted into different types using technologies like near infrared, a spectroscopy technique used for analysing and differentiating between polymers. Afterwards, the separated, shredded plastics go through a melting and extrusion process producing recycled plastic pellets, used by manufacturers to make a variety of products. So, when Barbie goes to the recycling plant, she will ultimately be sorted, shredded, melted and turned into plastic pellets. Antoniozzi says donating toys is a good first option. “But if your Barbie is genuinely beyond repair, then you can take her, Ken, Sandy, as well as all her horses, buses, apartments and accessories along to your local BIG W store and give her a second life through the Toys for Joy recycling program,” she says. “Who knows… she may come back to you as a flower pot.” Image credits: Shutterstock  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=258208&title=Done+with+Barbie%3F+How+to+reuse+or+recycle+old+dolls" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/done-with-barbie-how-to-reuse-or-recycle-old-dolls/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/petra-stock/">Petra Stock</a>. </div>

Home & Garden

3 little-known reasons why plastic recycling could actually make things worse

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pascal-scherrer-230971">Pascal Scherrer</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> This week in Paris, negotiators from around the world are <a href="https://www.unep.org/events/conference/second-session-intergovernmental-negotiating-committee-develop-international">convening</a> for a United Nations meeting. They will tackle a thorny problem: finding a globally binding solution for plastic pollution. Of the staggering <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/viewhtml.aspx?datasetcode=PLASTIC_USE_6&lang=en">460 million tonnes of plastic used globally in 2019 alone</a>, much is used only once and thrown away. About <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm">40% of plastic waste</a> comes from packaging. Almost two-thirds of plastic waste comes from items with lifetimes of less than five years. The plastic waste that escapes into nature persists and breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1700782">eventually becoming microplastics</a>. Plastics now contaminate virtually every environment, from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/20/microplastic-pollution-found-near-summit-of-mount-everest">mountain peaks to oceans</a>. Plastic has entered vital systems such as our food chain and even the human <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/24/microplastics-found-in-human-blood-for-first-time">blood stream</a>. Governments and industry <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/nations-agree-end-plastic-pollution">increasingly acknowledge</a> the urgent need to reduce plastic pollution. They are introducing <a href="https://apco.org.au/the-australian-packaging-covenant">rules and incentives</a> to help businesses stop using single-use plastics while also encouraging collection and recycling. As a sustainability researcher, I explore opportunities to <a href="https://www.scu.edu.au/research/zerowaste/">reduce plastic waste </a>in sectors such as tourism, hospitality and meat production. I know how quickly we could make big changes. But I’ve also seen how quick-fix solutions can create complex future problems. So we must proceed with caution. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The best way to tackle plastic pollution is to prevent it in the first place. Governments, businesses, civil society, and academia can all be part of the solution to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeatPlasticPollution?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeatPlasticPollution</a>. Join in this <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldEnvironmentDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldEnvironmentDay</a>: <a href="https://t.co/ENu9UG82kz">https://t.co/ENu9UG82kz</a> <a href="https://t.co/1p5G0183uh">pic.twitter.com/1p5G0183uh</a> — UN Environment Programme (@UNEP) <a href="https://twitter.com/UNEP/status/1660873190577680384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <h2>Plastic avoidance is top priority</h2> We must urgently eliminate waste and build a so-called “<a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview">circular economy</a>”. For plastics, that means reuse or recycling back into the same type of plastic, not lower grade plastic. The plastic can be used to make similar products that then can be recycled again and again. This means plastics should only be used where they can be captured at their end of life and recycled into a product of the same or higher value, with as little loss as possible. Probably the only example of this to date is the recycling of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) soft-drink bottles in Norway and Switzerland. They boast recovery rates of <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-02-norway-bottles-plastic-fantastic.html">97%</a> and <a href="https://houseofswitzerland.org/swissstories/environment/switzerland-leads-way-pet-recycling">95%</a> respectively. The <a href="https://wastewise.be/2014/11/ad-lansink/">waste management pyramid</a> below shows how to prioritise actions to lessen the waste problem. It is particularly relevant to single-use plastics. Our top priority, demanding the biggest investment, is prevention and reduction through redesign of products. Where elimination is not yet achievable, reuse solutions or recycling to the same or higher-level products can be sought to make plastics circular. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527407/original/file-20230522-21-y07zqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527407/original/file-20230522-21-y07zqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527407/original/file-20230522-21-y07zqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527407/original/file-20230522-21-y07zqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527407/original/file-20230522-21-y07zqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527407/original/file-20230522-21-y07zqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527407/original/file-20230522-21-y07zqy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Inverted pyramid diagram showing waste management priorities" /><figcaption>In the inverted pyramid of waste management priorities, downcycling is almost the last resort. Pascal Scherrer</figcaption></figure> Unfortunately, a lack of high-quality reprocessing facilities means plastic waste keeps growing. In Australia, plastic is largely “downcycled”, which means it is recycled into lower quality plastics. This can seem like an attractive way to deal with waste-plastic stockpiles, particularly after the recent collapse of soft-plastics recycler <a href="https://theconversation.com/redcycles-collapse-is-more-proof-that-plastic-recycling-is-a-broken-system-194528">RedCycle</a>. But downcycling risks doing more harm than good. Here are three reasons why: <h2>1. Replacing wood with recycled plastics risks contaminating our wildest natural spaces</h2> An increasing number of benches, tables, bollards and boardwalks are being made from recycled plastic. This shift away from timber is touted as a sustainable step - but caution is warranted when introducing these products to pristine areas such as national parks. Wood is naturally present in those areas. It has a proven record of longevity and, when degrading, does not introduce foreign matter into the natural system. Swapping wood for plastic <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749122019510?via%3Dihub">may introduce microplastics</a> into the few remaining places relatively free of them. Replacing wood with downcycled plastics also risks plastic pollution through weathering or fire. <h2>2. Taking circular plastics from their closed loop to meet recycled-content targets creates more waste</h2> Clear PET bottles used for beverages are the most circular plastic stream in Australia, approaching a 70% recovery rate. When these bottles are recycled back into clear PET bottles, they are circular plastics. However, the used PET bottles are increasingly being turned into meat trays, berry punnets and <a href="https://www.praise.com.au/faqs-100-recycled-bottles">mayonnaise jars</a> to help producers meet the <a href="https://apco.org.au/national-packaging-targets">2025 National Packaging Target</a> of 50% recycled content (on average) in packaging. The problem is the current industry <a href="https://anzpacplasticspact.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Recovered-Polymer-Specifications_FINAL_June2021d.pdf">specifications for plastics recovery</a> allow only downcycling of these trays, punnets and jars. This means that circular PET is removed from a closed loop into a lower-grade recovery stream. This leads to non-circular downcycling and more plastic sent to landfill. <h2>3. Using “compostable” plastics in non-compostable conditions creates still more plastic pollution</h2> Increasingly, plastics are labelled as compostable and biodegradable. However, well-intended use of compostable plastics can cause long-term plastic pollution. At the right temperature with the right amount of moisture, compostable plastics breakdown into soil. But if the conditions are not “just right”, they won’t break down at all. For example, when a landscape architect or engineer uses a “compostable” synthetic fabric instead of a natural alternative (such as coir or jute mats) they can inadvertently introduce persistent plastics into the environment. This is because the temperature is not hot enough for the synthetic mat to break down. We must also <a href="https://documents.packagingcovenant.org.au/public-documents/Considerations%20for%20Compostable%20Packaging">differentiate</a> between “home compostable” and “commercially compostable”. Commercial facilities are more effective at composting because they operate under more closely controlled conditions. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Plastic pollution could reduce by 80% by 2040 if governments and companies make policy and market shifts using existing technologies. OUT NOW – UNEP’s new report provides a pathway for nations to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeatPlasticPollution?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeatPlasticPollution</a>: <a href="https://t.co/dcfBkZaOfN">https://t.co/dcfBkZaOfN</a> <a href="https://t.co/iSQ9QSpYC1">pic.twitter.com/iSQ9QSpYC1</a> — UN Environment Programme (@UNEP) <a href="https://twitter.com/UNEP/status/1658419925638152192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <h2>Learning from our mistakes</h2> Clearly, we need to reduce our reliance on plastics and shift away from linear systems – including recycling into lower-grade products. Such downcycling may have a temporary role in dealing with existing plastic in the system while circular recycling capacity is being built. But we must not develop downcycling “solutions” that need a long-term stream of plastic waste to remain viable. What’s more, downcycling requires constantly finding new markets for their lower-grade products. Circular systems are more robust. So, to the negotiators in Paris, yes the shift to a circular plastics economy is urgent. But beware of good intentions that could ultimately make things worse.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206060/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pascal-scherrer-230971">Pascal Scherrer</a>, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business, Law and Art, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-little-known-reasons-why-plastic-recycling-could-actually-make-things-worse-206060">original article</a>.

Home Hints & Tips

Microwaving solar panels makes them easier to recycle

<div> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/news/solar-cells-essential-for-brighter-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solar cell</a> manufacturing and recycling should be easier with a surprising new discovery by Macquarie University scientists – that uses a commercial microwave. While they’re being made, the silicon in solar panels goes through a process called “annealing”, which involves heating the materials to temperatures well above 500°C. Annealing is usually done with ovens. But a study <a href="https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0127896" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in Applied Physics Letters shows that microwaves are not only faster and more energy efficient for the job, but make the panels much easier to disassemble, and thus recycle, at the end of life. This is because microwave radiation heats individual substances – like the water in food, or silicon. “It just heats the very thin layer of silicon rather than heating the bulk of the materials around, and it’s really fast,” says lead author Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil, a researcher at Macquarie University’s School of Engineering. This also makes the process easier, because the microwave doesn’t have to be as carefully cleaned. “In most of the high temperature processes, lots of contaminants come out of the walls of the oven. But in this case, the heat is flowing from the silicon outwards, while everything else is at room temperature, it’s kind of a pseudo room temperature process where the contaminants don’t get diffused from outside,” says Veettil. “But the thing we are most excited about is the benefit to recycling.” Currently, solar cell recycling is a very <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/solar-panel-recycling/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy intense process</a> which involves crushing up the panels and heating them to temperatures of at least 1000°C, so that all of the expensive elements can be extracted. This method destroys some of the reusable solar cell components: particularly, the toughened glass on the top of the panel. “This glass contains most of the weight of the solar panel,” explains Veettil. That glass is stuck to a layer of plastic, usually ethylene vinyl acetate, which keeps the silicon plate underneath dry. This plastic is too hard to remove, so the whole thing is smashed up, with the glass sold as scrap. But microwaving the silicon specifically softens the plastic, making it easy to peel. “You can just peel off the silicon cell, without destroying the glass, and you can reuse that expensive glass,” says Veettil. “If you can reuse the glass, the recycling will pay for itself.” Plus, it doesn’t need the same high temperatures, or extra chemicals needed to wash and dissolve the plastic. For now, the process is lab-based – and only for solar panels that fit in a commercial microwave. “Initially, when we started the research, we used a laboratory microwave that we purchased from a US company,” says Veettil. “And we after that, we purchased some kitchen microwaves locally, and modified it to suit our purposes.” This modification involved heat-proofing the microwave so that it could handle the annealing temperatures. “It goes from room temperature to 500° Celsius in just two seconds,” says Veettil. (Depending on the size of the sample: bigger things take longer.) But the researchers have a patent pending for the recycling process, and are now investigating how to improve and commercialise it. “We are hoping that with some industry collaboration and funding, we can scale it up,” says Veettil. “Recycling needs to be meet two conditions: it should be environmentally friendly, and second, it should pay for itself. “I’m pretty sure, with the numbers I have in mind, it will it will be profitable and then the market will take care of itself and it organically grow recycling centres. That’s my hope.” </div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/microwaving-solar-panels-recycling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Ellen Phiddian. Images: Getty </div>

Technology

Brands are leaning on ‘recycled’ clothes to meet sustainability goals

Today we make more clothing than ever before. And the driver for this is primarily economic, rather than human need. Over the past decade, the term “circular economy” has entered the fashion industry lexicon, wherein materials are made to be reused and recycled by design. Yet we haven’t seen the same level of recycling in fashion as we have in other spaces – such as with plastic recycling, for instance. And this is mainly because clothing-to-clothing recycling is much more difficult. The use of recycled polyester and cotton by brands such as H&M and Cotton On are key aspects of these companies’ sustainability initiatives – but the source of these recycled fibres usually isn’t clothing. Recycled polyester tends to <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/zwUxmcq5wIZqLA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">come from plastic bottles</a>, and recycled cotton is usually made from manufacturing waste. The fact is most clothing is simply not designed to be recycled. Even when it is, the fashion industry lacks the kind of infrastructure needed to really embrace a circular economy model. Why is recycling clothes difficult? Recycling clothing isn’t like recycling paper, glass or metal. Clothes are endlessly variable and unpredictable. So they’re not ideal for recycling technologies, which require a steady and consistent source material. Even a seemingly simple garment may contain multiple materials, with fibre blends such as cotton/polyester and cotton/elastane being common. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469705/original/file-20220620-24-w9gmlu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Despite seeming simple, clothes are complex products containing many components and materials. This means recycling them is very difficult. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> Different fibres have different capacities for recycling. Natural fibres such as wool or cotton can be recycled mechanically. In this process the fabric is shredded and re-spun into yarn, from which new fabric can be woven or knitted. However, the fibres become shorter through the shredding process, resulting in a lower quality yarn and cloth. Recycled cotton is often mixed with virgin cotton to ensure a better quality yarn. Most fabrics are also dyed with chemicals, which can have implications for recycling. If the original fabric is a mixture of many colours, the new yarn or fabric will likely need bleaching to be dyed a new colour. A complex garment such as a lined jacket easily contains more than five different materials, as well as trims including buttons and zippers. If the goal of recycling is to arrive at a material as close to the original as possible, all the garment’s components and fibres would first need to be separated. This requires labour and can be expensive. It’s often easier to shred the garment and turn it into a low-quality product, such as <a href="https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/shoddy.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shoddy</a> which is used for insulation. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469714/original/file-20220620-20-6cxi7m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Massive amounts of clothing scraps are stacked on top of each other, loosely sorted by colour." /></a><figcaption>Even if a garment is designed to be recyclable, if the infrastructure needed is missing, it will likely still end up in landfill.</figcaption></figure> Industry progress and challenges Companies such as <a href="https://www.blocktexx.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BlockTexx</a> and <a href="https://www.evrnu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Evrnu</a> have developed processes to recycle fibres from blended fabrics, though such recycled fibres aren’t yet widely available. Through a proprietary technology, BlockTexx separates cellulose (present in both cotton and linen) and polyester from textile and clothing waste for new uses, including in new clothing. And Evrnu has developed <a href="https://www.evrnu.com/nucycl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a type of lyocell</a> made entirely from textile and clothing waste. Spain-based company <a href="https://recoverfiber.com/products/rcotton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recover</a> meticulously sorts through different kinds of cotton textile waste to produce high quality, mechanically recycled, cotton fibre. There’s also biological recycling. Fibre waste from the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-04/cotton-compost-turns-trash-to-treasured-fertiliser/12410248" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rivcott cotton “gin”</a> (or cotton engine) is composted to become fertiliser for a new cotton crop. The same is possible with natural fibres from worn-out clothing, after potentially toxic dyes and chemicals have been eliminated. Synthetic fibres such as polyester and polyamide (nylon) can also be recycled mechanically and chemically. Chemical recycling through re-polymerisation (where the plastic fibre is melted) is an attractive option, since the quality of the original fibre can be maintained. In theory it’s possible to use polyester clothing as the source for this. But in practice the source is usually bottles. This is because clothing is usually “contaminated” with other materials such as buttons and zippers, and separating these is too labour intensive. The plastic problem Almost all recycled polyester in clothing today comes from recycled plastic bottles, rather than previous polyester clothing. This is significant when you consider polyester accounts for more than 60% of all fibre use. Given the rapid increase in the production of <a href="http://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/FOSSIL-FASHION_Web-compressed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">synthetic fibres</a>, and the as-yet-unknown impact of microplastics (which were <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documented in human placentas</a> last year) – the question remains whether clothing should be made from biologically incompatible materials at all. Polyester clothes, regardless of fibre sources, contribute to microplastic pollution by shedding fibres when worn and laundered. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469721/original/file-20220620-26-z0f5f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Plastic bottles are ready to be used for recycling" /></a><figcaption>Although plastic bottles can be recycled into clothing, that clothing is very difficult to further recycle. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> A new generation of synthetic fibres from renewable sources (recyclable and also biodegradable) offers a path forward. For instance, the <a href="https://www.kintrafibers.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kintra</a> fibre is made from corn. Reduce and reuse before you recycle There’s plenty of evidence that reducing the consumption of clothing by wearing items longer and buying second-hand is preferable to purchasing recycled fibre clothes. But even second-hand fashion isn’t without problems when you consider the scale and pace of clothing production today. Liz Ricketts of the US-based OR Foundation, a charity focused on sustainable fashion, <a href="https://atmos.earth/fashion-clothing-waste-letter-ghana/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paints a gruesome picture</a> of the Kantamanto market in Ghana, where much of the world’s secondhand clothing ends up (including from Australia). <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> "You have to understand that this is recycling, this is not a landfill.” Thousands of tonnes of knock-off clothing from Europe and the U.S. are being piled up in a mass dump in Chile's Atacama desert <a href="https://t.co/ANHu7RiN5q">pic.twitter.com/ANHu7RiN5q</a> — Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) <a href="https://twitter.com/Quicktake/status/1470991517292630022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2021</a></blockquote> One path forward is for companies to take responsibility for products at their end of life. US fashion brand Eileen Fisher is a pioneer on this front. The company has purchased garments back from customers since 2009. These are cleaned and sorted, and mostly resold under the <a href="https://www.eileenfisherrenew.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eileen Fisher Renew</a> brand. Garments too damaged for resale are given to a dedicated design team, which redesigns them to be sold under the <a href="https://www.eileenfisherrenew.com/shop/resewn-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eileen Fisher Resewn</a> collection. Off-cuts from this process are captured and turned into textiles for further use.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184406/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/timo-rissanen-1339498" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timo Rissanen</a>, Associate professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Technology Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/brands-are-leaning-on-recycled-clothes-to-meet-sustainability-goals-how-are-they-made-and-why-is-recycling-them-further-so-hard-184406" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Beauty & Style

How to make roads with recycled waste, and pave the way to a circular economy

It cost <a href="https://www.buildingfortomorrow.wa.gov.au/projects/russell-road-to-roe-highway/">A$49 million</a> to add 12.5 kilometres of extra lanes to Western Australia’s Kwinana Highway, south of Perth’s CBD. That’s not unusual. On average, building a single lane of road costs about about <a href="https://www.bitre.gov.au/sites/default/files/rr148.pdf">A$5 million per kilometre</a>. What is unusual about this stretch of extra freeway is not the money but the materials beneath the bitumen: two stabilising layers comprised of <a href="https://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au/images/resources/files/2021/06/RtR_Pilot_Report.pdf.pdf">25,000 tonnes of crushed recycled concrete</a>, about 90% of which came from the demolition of Subiaco Oval (once Perth’s premier football ground). <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jiFwKw3NTkk?wmode=transparent&start=75" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Recycling building and construction materials remains the exception to the rule in Australia. The<a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-policy-action-plan-2019.pdf"> National Waste Policy</a> agreed to by federal, state and territory governments has a target of 80% resource recovery by 2030. It’s currently <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf">about 40%</a>. Of the 74 million tonnes of waste <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/5a160ae2-d3a9-480e-9344-4eac42ef9001/files/national-waste-report-2020.pdf">generated in Australia in 2020</a>, masonry materials comprised about 22.9 million tonnes. Plastics, by comparison, comprised about 2.5 million tonnes. Of the 61.5 million tonnes of “core waste” managed by the waste and resource recovery sector, 44% (27 million tonnes) came from the construction and demolition sector, compared with 20% (12.6 million tonnes) from households and local government activities. Most of this waste – concrete, brick, steel, timber, asphalt and plasterboard or cement sheeting – could be reused or recycled. It ends up in landfill due to simple economics. It’s cheaper to buy new materials and throw them away rather than reuse and recycle. Changing this equation and moving to a circular economy, in which materials are reused and recycled rather than discarded in landfill, is a key goal to reduce the impact of building and construction on the environment, including its contribution to climate change. <h2>The economics of ‘externalities’</h2> The fact it is more “economic” to throw materials away than reuse them is what economists call a market failure, driven by the problem of “externalities”. That is, the social and environmental costs of producing, consuming and throwing away materials is not reflected in the prices charged. Those costs are instead externalised – borne by others. In such cases there is a legitimate – and necessary – role for governments to intervene and correct the market failure. For an externality such as carbon emissions (imposing costs on future generations) the market-based solution favoured by most economists is a carbon price. For construction material waste, governments have a few more policy levers to help create a viable market for more recycling. <h2>Using procurement policies</h2> One way to make recycling more attractive to businesses would be to increase the cost of sending waste materials to landfill. But this would likely have unintended consequences, such as illegal dumping. The more obvious and effective approach is to help create more demand for recycled materials through government procurement, adopting policies that require suppliers to, for example, use a minimum amount of recycled materials. With enough demand, recyclers will invest in further waste recovery, reducing the costs. Lower costs in turn create the possibility of greater demand, creating a virtuous circle that leads to a circular economy. <hr /> <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432794/original/file-20211119-17-19fvngo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432794/original/file-20211119-17-19fvngo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Diagram of the circular economy" /></a> <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf" class="source">Australian Government, Sustainable Procurement Guide: A practical guide for Commonwealth entities, 2021</a> Australia’s federal, state and territory governments all have sustainable procurement policies. The federal <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/856a1de0-4856-4408-a863-6ad5f6942887/files/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf">Sustainable Procurement Guide</a> states the Australian government “is committed to transforming Australia’s waste into a resource, where most goods and services can be continually used, reused, recycled and reprocessed as part of a circular economy”. But these policies lack some basic elements. <h2>Three key market-making reforms</h2> Our research suggests three important reforms could make a big difference to waste market operations. This is based on interviewing 27 stakeholders from the private sector and government about how to improve sustainable procurement. First, government waste policies that set aspirational goals are not supported by procurement policies setting mandatory minimum recycled content targets. All contractors on government-funded construction projects should be required to use a percentage of recycled waste materials. Second, the nature of salvaging construction materials means quality can vary significantly. Cement recycled from a demolition site, for example, could contain contaminants that reduce its durability. Governments can help the market through regularly auditing the quality of recycler’s processes, to increase buyer confidence and motivate suppliers to invest in production technologies. Third, in some states (such as Western Australia) the testing regimes for recycled construction products are more complex than that what applies to raw materials. More reasonable specifications would reduce compliance costs and thereby the cost of using recycled materials.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164997/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/salman-shooshtarian-693412">Salman Shooshtarian</a>, Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/savindi-caldera-1187623">Savindi Caldera</a>, Research Fellow and Project Development Manager, Cities Research Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tayyab-maqsood-711277">Tayyab Maqsood</a>, Associate Dean and Head of of Project Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-ryley-1253269">Tim Ryley</a>, Professor and Head of Griffith Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-roads-with-recycled-waste-and-pave-the-way-to-a-circular-economy-164997">original article</a>. Image: Main Roads Western Australia

Home Hints & Tips

Kate Middleton stuns in recycled dress for Earthshot awards

Image: Getty The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have walked the green carpet in London for the first ever Earthshot Prize awards ceremony. Established by Prince William, this prize recognises those who have set up projects that help the environment and combat climate change. Celebrities including Emma Watson, David Attenborough, Ed Sherran, Emma Thompson and Coldplay either presented awards or performed. Attending guests were asked to “consider the environment” when choose an outfit. Kate Middletown stunned the crowd in a recycled Alexander McQueen dress she had previously warn to the BAFTA dinner in 2011. William worn a velvet green suit he had been seen in back in 2019. The couple arrived in an electric car, ditching the usual royal fleet of Range Rovers. The Earthshot Prize offers winners a huge £1 million ($1.8million AUD) cash prize to fund and scale-up their environmental projects. There are five categories: <ul> <li>Protect and restore nature.</li> <li>Clean our air.</li> <li>Revive our oceans.</li> <li>Build a waste-free world.</li> <li>Fix our climate.</li> </ul> Winners of the inaugural event include a food waste hub in Milan and the nation of Costa Rica, which is pioneering a project to pay people to restore natural ecosystems. Among the judges were Sir David Attenborough, Cate Blanchett and singer Shakira. A Sydney team behind the ‘Living Seawalls’ project was among the list of nominees selected in the oceans category. In a short, pre-recorded video played to the crowd, William said: “We are alive in the most consequential time in human history.” “The actions we choose or choose not to take in the next 10 years will determine the fate of the planet for the next 1000,” he said. “Many of the answers are already out there,” he added. “But we need everyone, from all parts of society to raise their ambition and unite in repairing our planet.” The ceremony comes days ahead of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, which begins October the 31st.

Beauty & Style

How countries can recycle more buildings

More than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118710">35 billion tonnes</a> of non-metallic minerals are extracted from the Earth every year. These materials mainly end up being used to build homes, schools, offices and hospitals. It’s a staggering amount of resources, and it’s only too likely to increase in the coming years as the global population continues to grow. Thankfully, the challenges of sustainable construction, industrial growth and the importance of resource efficiency are now clearly recognised by governments around the world and are now at the forefront of strategy and policy. A critical component of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/securing-the-future-delivering-uk-sustainable-development-strategy">UK government’s sustainability strategy</a> concerns the way in which construction and demolition waste – CDW, as we call it in the trade – is managed. CDW comes from the construction of buildings, civil infrastructure and their demolition and is one of the heaviest waste streams generated in the world – 35% of the world’s landfill is made up of CDW. The EU’s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/eu-construction-and-demolition-waste-protocol-0_en">Waste Framework Directive</a>, which aims to recycle 70% of non-hazardous CDW by 2020, has encouraged the construction industry to process and reuse materials more sustainably. This directive, which favours preventive measures – for example, reducing their use in the first place – as the best approach to tackling waste, has been implemented in the UK since 2011. More specific to the construction industry, the <a href="https://www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/berr-strategy-for-sustainable-construction">Sustainable Construction Strategy</a> also sets overall targets for diverting CDW from landfill. Policies worldwide recognise that the construction sector needs to take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, tackle the climate crisis and limit resource depletion, with a focus on adopting a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-circular-economy-29666">circular economy</a> approach in construction to ensure the sustainable use of construction materials. Instead of simply knocking buildings down and sending the CDW to landfill, circular construction would turn building components that are at the end of their service life into resources for others, minimising waste. It would change economic logic because it replaces production with sufficiency: reuse what you can, recycle what cannot be reused, repair what is broken, and re-manufacture what cannot be repaired. It will also help protect businesses against a shortage of resources and unstable prices, creating innovative business opportunities and efficient methods of producing and consuming. Changing the mind-set The mind-set of the industry needs to change towards the cleaner production of raw materials and better circular construction models. Technical issues – such as price, legal barriers and regulations – that stand in the way of the solutions being rolled out more widely must also be overcome through innovation. Materials scientists, for example, are currently investigating and developing products that use processed CDW for manufacturing building components – for example, by crushing up CDW and using it to make new building materials. Technical problems around the reuse of recycled materials should be solved through clever material formulations and detailed property investigations. For instance, the high water absorption rate in recycled aggregates causes durability problems in wall components. This is something that research must address.<a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/manager-engineer-check-control-automation-robot-1104780941" class="source"></a> Moreover, it is illegal in the EU to use products that haven’t been certified for construction. This is one of the main obstacles standing in the way of the more widespread reuse of materials, particularly in a structural capacity. Testing the performance of materials for certification can be expensive, which adds to the cost of the material and may cancel out any savings made from reusing them. For the construction, demolition and waste management industries to remain competitive in a global marketplace, they must continue to develop and implement supply chain innovations that improve efficiency and reduce energy, waste and resource use. To achieve this, substantial research into smart, mobile and integrated systems is necessary. Radically advanced robotic artificial intelligence (AI) systems for sorting and processing CDW must also be developed. Many industries are facing an uncertain future and today’s technological limitations cannot be assumed to apply. The construction industry is likely to be significantly affected by the potential of transformative technologies such as AI, 3D printing, virtual/augmented reality and robotics. The application of such technologies presents both significant opportunities and challenges. A model for the future As the image below shows, we have developed a concept for an integrated, eco-friendly circular construction solution. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304567/original/file-20191201-156095-1h42cnl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Author provided Advanced sensors and AI that can detect quickly and determine accurately what can be used among CDW and efficient robotic sorting could aid circular construction by vastly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2018.05.005">improving the recycling of a wide range of materials</a>. The focus should be on the smart dismantling of buildings and ways of optimising cost-effective processes. The industry must also be inspired to highlight and prove the extraordinary potential of this new construction economy. We can drive this through a combination of creative design, focused academic research and applied technology, external industry engagement and flexible, responsive regulation. Only through a combination of efforts can we start to recycle more buildings, but I’m confident that with the right will – and the right investment – we can start to massively reduce the amount of materials we pull from the ground each year and move towards a truly sustainable future.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126563/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/seyed-ghaffar-500624">Seyed Ghaffar</a>, Associate Professor in Civil Engineering and Environmental Materials, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/brunel-university-london-1685">Brunel University London</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-can-recycle-more-buildings-126563">original article</a>.

Domestic Travel

Recycling plastic bottles is good but reusing them is better

Last week <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/woolworths-to-be-first-in-australia-with-zerowaste-food-delivery-system/news-story/8fb2f4018a2b0d25a63c58ba8b12a19b#.mo33b">Woolworths announced</a> a new food delivery system, in collaboration with US company TerraCycle, that delivers grocery essentials in reusable packaging. The system, called Loop, lets shoppers buy products from common supermarket brands in reusable packaging. As Australia works out how to meet the national packaging target for 100% of Australian packaging to be <a href="http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/mediaReleasesDetails.aspx?id=562">recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025</a>, programs like this offer an opportunity to overhaul how plastic packaging is produced, used and recycled. Recycling alone is not the silver bullet Plastic packaging, most of which is for <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/3f275bb3-218f-4a3d-ae1d-424ff4cc52cd/files/australian-plastics-recycling-survey-report-2017-18.pdf">food and beverages</a>, is the fastest growing category of plastic use. In Australia <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/3f275bb3-218f-4a3d-ae1d-424ff4cc52cd/files/australian-plastics-recycling-survey-report-2017-18.pdf">less than 10%</a> of this plastic packaging is recycled, compared with 70% for paper and cardboard packaging. Of the <a href="http://www.sita.com.au/media/publications/02342_Plastics_Identification_Code.pdf">seven categories of plastic</a>, recycling of water bottles (PET) and milk bottles (HDPA) is most effective, yet recycling rates remain relatively low, around 30%. Other hard plastics (PVC, PS) and soft or flexible plastics, such as clingfilm and plastic bags, present significant challenges for recyclers. In the case of soft plastics, although recycling options are available, the use of additives known as plasticisers – used to make the hard plastic soft and malleable – often make products <a href="https://www.packagingcovenant.org.au/documents/item/2179">recycled out of soft plastics</a> weak, non-durable, and unable to be recycled further. <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-recycle-our-way-to-zero-waste-78598">Some researchers</a> argue recycling actually represents a <a href="http://www.greenlifestylemag.com.au/features/2936/disposable-drink-bottles-plastic-vs-glass-vs-aluminium">downgrading process</a>, as plastic packaging is not always recycled into new packaging, owing to contamination or diminished quality. Even where single-use plastic packaging can be effectively recycled, it often isn’t. The more single-use plastics that are produced, the higher the chance they will enter the ocean and other environments where their <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-02-27/plastic-and-plastic-waste-explained/8301316">plasticiser chemicals leach out</a>, harming wildlife populations and the humans who depend on them. Zero Waste Europe recently updated its <a href="https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/recycling-and-reuse/warr-strategy/the-waste-hierarchy">Waste Hierarchy</a> to emphasise avoiding packaging in the first instance, and to encourage reuse over recycling. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299986/original/file-20191103-88399-1hlgzdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299986/original/file-20191103-88399-1hlgzdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> The zero waste hierarchy for a circular economy. <a href="https://zerowasteeurope.eu/2019/05/a-zero-waste-hierarchy-for-europe/" class="source">Zero Waste Europe</a> Getting reuse right For a reusable product to be more environmentally sustainable than a single-use product, it must promote the use of less energy and resources in our daily routines. Although the uptake of products such as reusable cups and shopping bags have increased, these types of reusable items have attracted criticism. If used correctly, these products represent a positive change. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-many-times-you-actually-need-to-reuse-your-shopping-bags-101097">some research suggests</a> these products can be less sustainable than the single-use items they are replacing if people treat them like disposable items and do not reuse them enough. For example, if you regularly buy new reusable bags at the supermarket, that potentially has a greater environmental impact than using “single-use” plastic bags. To really reduce plastic packaging, we need to find ways to alter the routines that involve plastic packaging, rather than directly substituting individual products (such as reusable bags for single-use ones). Developing new reusable packaging systems Redesigning ubiquitous plastic packaging means understanding why it is so useful. For food packaging, its functions might include: <ol> <li> allowing food to travel from producer to consumer while maintaining its freshness and form </li> <li> enabling the food to be kept on a shelf for an extended period of time without becoming inedible </li> <li> allowing the brand to display various nutritional information, branding and other product claims. </li> </ol> So how might these functions be met without disposable plastic packaging? <a href="https://loopstore.com/how-it-works">TerraCycle Loop</a>, the business model that Woolworths has announced it will partner with, is currently also trialling services in the United States and France. They have partnered with postal services and large food and personal care brands including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Nestlé, Mars, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo. Customers order products online, from ice-cream to juice and shampoo, with a small container deposit. These items are delivered to their house, and collected again with the next delivery. The containers are washed and taken back to the manufacturers for refill. The major participating brands have all redesigned their packaging to participate in the program. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299987/original/file-20191103-88403-1n63f5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299987/original/file-20191103-88403-1n63f5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> TerraCycle Loop reusable packaging. <a href="https://loopstore.com/how-it-works" class="source">TerraCycle Loop</a> This model works because it is not replacing products one-for-one, but creating a new product system to allow people to easily integrate reuse into their daily routines. We can examine the function of single use plastic packaging in takeaway food in a similar way. The purpose of takeaway food packaging is to let us enjoy a meal at home or on the move without having to cook it ourselves or sit in a restaurant. So how might these functions be achieved without disposable packaging? Australian company <a href="https://returnr.org/">RETURNR</a> has addressed this with a system in which cafes partner with food delivery services. Customers buy food in a RETURNR container, pay a deposit with the cost of their meal, and then return the container to any cafe in the network. The Kickstarter campaign <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zeroco/zero-co-win-the-war-on-waste-at-your-place">Zero Co</a>, is offering a similar model for a resuse service that covers kitchen, laundry and bathroom products. Making reuse <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/institute-sustainable-futures/news/developing-alternatives">easy and convenient</a> is crucial to the success of these systems. If Australia is to meet our national packaging targets, we need to prioritise the elimination of unnecessary packaging. Although recycling is likely to remain crucial to keeping plastic waste out of landfill in the near future, it should only be pursued when options higher up the waste hierarchy – such as reuse – have been ruled out.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126339/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachael-wakefield-rann-321286">Rachael Wakefield-Rann</a>, Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jenni-downes-12549">Jenni Downes</a>, Research Fellow, BehaviourWorks Australia (Monash Sustainable Development Institute), <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-florin-160370">Nick Florin</a>, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/recycling-plastic-bottles-is-good-but-reusing-them-is-better-126339">original article</a>.

Technology

Why not all glass can be recycled

When it comes to recycling, glass is one of the few materials that can be recycled over and over again. However, this does not mean that all glass can be put in the recycling bin. In fact, most experts say only jars and bottles should be thrown in as recyclables. This means other glass items in the house might be better off going to the trash. “Microwave turntables, ovenware, crystal glass, mirrors and light bulbs can't be recycled,” said Craig Mynott, from glass recycling plant O-I Asia Pacific in an interview with the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/can-all-glass-really-be-recycled-war-on-waste/8541048">ABC</a>. “We prefer if people don't put them in the recycling bin.” This is because different kinds of glass go through different types of manufacturing processes. According to the <a href="http://www.gpi.org/recycling/glass-recycling-facts">Glass Packaging Institute</a>, while glass containers for food and beverages are 100 per cent recyclable, the same cannot be said for other kinds of glass, such as windows, ceramics, Pyrex and crystal. These kinds of glass may contain products that cannot be reused. Furthermore, other glass types are often more fragile as they are designed to be transparent or heat resistant. That is why, the GPI said, adding these materials in the recycling process may cause production problems and defective results. So, what should you do with glass products that you want to dispose of? For lightbulbs, check with your local council to see if they have a recycling program. Otherwise, for incandescent and halogen globes, you can simply wrap them in paper and put them in the waste bin. When all else fails, selling or donating glass products is a good idea. You can also get creative and repurpose the glass products – for example, using old drinking glasses as a plant pot. How do you recycle your glass items? Share with us in the comments.

Books

Duchess Kate turns heads in recycled Alexander McQueen dress

Duchess Kate stepped out in style as she attended the 2019 Portrait Gala in London on Tuesday evening. The dress itself is a recycled Alexander McQueen gown that the Duchess previously wore to the 2017 BAFTAs. The dress has been refashioned to include sleeves, as it was previously an off-the-shoulder gown. The Duchess teamed the dress with a pink morganite and diamond earrings by Kiki McDonough as well as a Prada clutch. Other celebrities that were at the event included David Beckham and Victoria Beckham, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Bianca Jagger. There was also another royal in attendance, as Princess Beatrice attended as a guest with her partner Edoardo Mapelli Mozi. It was their first public appearance as a couple. This is the third gala evening that Kate has attended in her role as Royal patron of the National Gallery. Scroll through the gallery to see her outfit on the night.

Beauty & Style

Would you use reusable toilet paper?

Here at Over60 we’re all for recycling, but there are some things that, if you ask us, shouldn’t be included under the “reduce, reuse, recycle” umbrella – and toilet paper is one of those things. But, as <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/terripous/what-is-the-family-cloth-and-why-should-you-use-it-an?utm_term=.pmNJ6oLAYW#.wkgWgGM3kK" target="_blank">BuzzFeed</a> recently found out, that’s exactly what some people are doing, swapping two-ply for “family cloth”, a cloth wipe used once per bathroom visit, thrown in a hamper, then washed in the machine to be used all over again. One woman told BuzzFeed her family of four has been using the family cloth method for almost a year (for number ones only) and said they’re never going back. “In my mind, buying and using disposable toilet paper was literally flushing money down the toilet!” she explained, clarifying that they didn’t all use one single cloth but rather lots of smaller strips of cloth. “If you’re wondering, ‘Why would you want to reuse something that you wipe your genitals with?’, I’d answer this question with my own question: ‘Do you throw away your underpants after each use?’” And if you’re wondering how a family of four deals with a whole week’s worth of reusable toilet paper, the woman (who chose to remain anonymous) said it doesn’t make much of a dent in her usual laundry routine. “Even a week’s worth of cloth doesn’t add much volume to the load of laundry, so we don’t need to do it more often than we did.” And it seems it’s <a href="https://redandhoney.com/how-to-get-started-with-family-cloth-and-why-you-might-actually-love-it/" target="_blank">a growing trend</a>. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media"> <div style="padding: 8px;"> <div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 62.5% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <div style="background: url(data:image/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5/p8/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;"></div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BXLyMGohdSg/" target="_blank">A post shared by Susannah (@zerowastevegetarian)</a> on Jul 30, 2017 at 1:28pm PDT </div> </blockquote> "I use cotton cloth for number one," Instagram user zerowastevegetarian wrote. "I have black cotton cloth I use for my period. I use normal toilet paper for number two and for when I have company over." However, while the method works for these women, BuzzFeed readers weren’t quite onboard with the idea. “I read this entire article curled into my chair with a horrified look on my face,” one person commented. “SHE WASHES THESE ‘FAMILY CLOTHS’ WITH THE KITCHEN LINENS. At least have the courtesy to wash them by themselves with bleach, vinegar, and a sprinkle of plutonium.” Another woman questioned if it was really eco-friendly, after all. “I wonder if anyone has actually done a life cycle analysis to see if this is actually helping the environment. The amount of hot water and cleanser you’d need to disinfect the butt cloths (getting faecal bacteria anywhere else is a recipe for a UTI) has to have some impact on the environment.” Tell us in the comments below, could you see yourself ever using a “family cloth” instead of toilet paper?

Body

Duchess Kate shines in a recycled outfit

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined Belgian royals to mark the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, with Kate shining in a recycled outfit. A number of notable guests including Prince Charles and Theresa May also joined the commemoration of the battle between Allied Troops and German forces, but it was Kate who stole the show in her stunning outfit. Kate previously donned the stunning white ensemble to Charlotte’s christening. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> How to get it right at a christening the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KateMiddleton?src=hash">#KateMiddleton</a> way <a href="https://t.co/SsnrQuILa1">https://t.co/SsnrQuILa1</a> <a href="https://t.co/S03HbrfTYT">pic.twitter.com/S03HbrfTYT</a> — HerMissionToBuy (@HerMissionToBuy) <a href="https://twitter.com/HerMissionToBuy/status/885813906056384512">July 14, 2017</a></blockquote> To see photos of the event, scroll through the gallery above.

News

12 household items you can recycle (but probably aren’t)

Recycling is a win-win situation. Not only are you helping save the planet, but you’re also clearing the clutter out from your life. How do you know you’re doing it right? From bottle caps to aerosol cans, here’s a look at some of the things you may not think to recycle – but actually can. 1. Aerosol cans Over half of Australians wrongly believe that aerosol cans are non-recyclable – for fear they will explode. Once they’re completely empty, they’re safe to recycle along with other metal packaging, because they’re made from fully recyclable steel and aluminium. Try to remove any plastic parts and place in bins without compressing. Full or partially full aerosol cans are treated as household hazardous waste, and can be disposed of if you contact your local council. 2. Plastic bags and wrappers They don’t go in your regular wheelie recycling bins, so how do you save soft plastics from ending up in landfill? As it turns out, everything from bubble wrap and dry-cleaning bags, to chip packets, cling wrap and sandwich bags are recyclable. Check out REDcycle, a recycling program that saves soft plastics from landfill and turns them into a material that can be used to manufacture new goods. 3. Packing peanuts Those polystyrene packing peanuts with which you protect your breakables are particularly problematic as they take up lots of space and fail to biodegrade. To find out where you can recycle them in your state, check here. 4. Wine corks Australians are large consumers of wine – but less than 5 per cent of cork stoppers are recycled. Cork is natural and biodegradable and can be recycled to make a range of products such as coasters, cork boards, mats and flooring. There are a couple of cork recycling programs dotted around Australia. Alternatively, shred them up and toss them into your compost or use as garden mulch. 5. Ink cartridges Australians throw out over 18 million cartridges a year, which amounts to over 5,000 tonnes of material in landfill. Save any cartridges used in printers, photocopiers and fax machines – at home and at work – and drop them at a collection point at one of the following stores. 6. Bathroom product bottles A lot of people don’t have recycling bins in their bathrooms, which means toilet rolls, shampoo and body wash bottles end up in general waste. Once empty, take care to separate and sort properly. 7. Coffee pods Those single-serve coffee pods are notoriously wasteful. On average, Australians use one a week each. Do your bit to help by gathering those used pods in a plastic bag and dropping them at your nearest Nespresso store. 8. Juice and milk cartons Containers made of multiple materials bonded together – including long-life milk, soup and juice cartons – can be recycled. At the processing facility, they’re swirled in water, which helps to separate the cardboard from the plastic and aluminium. 9. Aluminium foil Don’t be so quick to throw out those Easter egg wrappers, disposable pans or the lids of your yoghurt containers. Aluminium foil is good to toss into recycle, so long as it’s clean and scrunched or rolled into a ball. 10. Makeup When was the last time you cleaned out that storage area under your sink? We shudder to think how many cracked, expired, half-used beauty products we’d find under there. Enter TerraCycle, who’ve teamed up with L’Oreal Australia to set up the Beauty Products Recycling Program. Simply fill a box, go online and download a shipping label, that way you can print and post it for free to the local recycling depot. Check out other Terracycle programs, including the Oral Care Recycling Program, allowing you to recycle used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and dental floss containers. 11. Bottle caps There are two types of bottle caps – the steel ones on beer bottles and the plastic ones on milk bottles. As it turns out, both are recyclable. Unfortunately, they’re too small to be collected, so often end up in landfill. The best way to recycle them is to collect them in a can and squeeze the top closed. 12. Pizza boxes People are in two minds about whether or not you can recycle pizza boxes. Yes, they’re made of cardboard, but the pepperoni particles and greasy cheese residue can spoil and create problems later down the track. Try to salvage the box if it’s only slightly greasy, or tear it apart and salvage the lid. Do you recycle any of these items? Written by Kathleen Lee-Joe. First appeared on <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/advice/12-household-items-you-can-recycle-but-probably-arent-20170214-guccb2/" target="_blank">Domain.com.au</a>.

Money & Banking

8 recycled materials to grow seeds in

There’s no need to buy seed starting kits or fancy pots when all you need is seeds, potting soil and whatever you have lying around the house – and we guarantee you’ll have a few these in your home. 1. Newspapers <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/8997/1_500x375.jpg" alt="1 (55)" width="500" height="375" /> 2. Egg cartons <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/8998/2_500x375.jpg" alt="2 (58)" width="500" height="375" /> 3. Egg shells <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/8999/3_500x333.jpg" alt="3 (54)" width="500" height="333" /> 4. Takeaway coffee cups <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9000/4_500x500.jpg" alt="4 (51)" width="500" height="500" /> 5. Toilet paper rolls <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9002/5_500x334.jpg" alt="5 (49)" width="500" height="334" /> 6. Juice cartons <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9001/6_500x373.jpg" alt="6 (48)" width="500" height="373" /> 7. Cans <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9003/7_500x500.jpg" alt="7 (43)" width="500" height="500" /> 8. Water bottles <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9004/8_500x333.jpg" alt="8 (43)" width="500" height="333" /> Image sources: Pinterest Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/gardening/2015/08/diy-self-watering-planter/">How to make a self-watering planter</a> <a href="/lifestyle/gardening/2015/08/test-if-seeds-can-be-planted/">Are those seeds viable for planting?</a> <a href="/lifestyle/gardening/2015/08/how-to-choose-plants-at-nursery/">What you need to know to choose the best plants at the nursery</a>

Home & Garden

Scary reason we should never throw old clothes in the rubbish

If you’ve recently done a spring clean of your wardrobe, chances are you’ve thrown out your fair share of old, unwanted clothes. However, if you’re simply chucking them in the bin, you might want to reconsider your approach. According to the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/why-trashing-old-clothes-is-so-bad-for-the-environment_us_57f408f1e4b015995f2b93cb" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a>, when clothes end up in landfill, it can have a seriously negative impact on the environment. When they decompose, your old jackets, jeans and dresses emit toxic pollutants into the atmosphere, including deadly greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. So, even if you think you’re doing your part for the earth by recycling and reusing, you may be undoing all your good work simply by having a good old spring clean. “Reuse and repair clothing to the extent possible,” landfill expert and professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University, Dr Morton Barlaz, told HuffPost. “When no longer usable and not appropriate to give away, use for rags or donate to a thrift store.” And even if you think your old clothes are ugly or too damaged to be re-used, think again. Most charity services don’t put all the clothing items they receive up for sale in their shops, opting instead to use the fabric to create new garments. Tell us in the comments below, how do you reduce your impact on the environment? Related links: <a href="/news/news/2016/10/the-basic-spelling-test-everyone-is-failing/">The basic spelling test everyone is failing</a> <a href="/news/news/2016/10/internet-thinks-this-is-the-worst-baby-name/">Is this the worst baby name ever?</a> <a href="/news/news/2016/10/maximum-human-lifespan-has-been-revealed/">Maximum human lifespan has been revealed</a>

News

3 recycling mistakes we’re all guilty of

Did you know that if a certain amount of non-recyclable items are spotted in your recycling bin, then everything will be processed as “non-recyclable” and added to landfill? We all know the importance of recycling but few of us are informed of the intricacies of the process. While it seems straight forward enough, many of us are making mistakes which end up jeopardizing the process. Here’s a simple guide to what should and shouldn’t be going in your recycling bin. 1. Eliminate plastic bags Plastic bags often make their way into recycling bins and end up causing issues down the line at the recycling plant. The best way to eliminate them from your bins? Ensure they are only ever tossed in with your general waste. Better yet, switch to environmentally friendly green bags and remove plastic from your home for good. 2. Use the scrunch test Plastics are divided into “soft” and “rigid” categories, with only the latter being recyclable. Soft plastic like bread bags, biscuit trays and packaging should be thrown in your rubbish bin. Rigid plastics like bottles, containers, fruit punnets and so on. that can’t be ‘scrunched’ can be thrown into the recycling bin. 3. Know your “combined” items Combined and composite items like a newspaper wrapped in plastic or packaging that’s predominantly cardboard but contains another, non-recyclable material cannot be recycled. The best way to tackle these items is by separating out the components if you can – for instance, unwrap your newspaper, remove the plastic lid from your coffee cup and then place in the correct bins. What’s your best tip for staying on top of the recycling in your home? Share it with us in the comments below. Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/08/your-bed-sheets-could-be-making-you-sick/">Your bed sheets could be making you sick</a> <a href="/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/08/how-to-clean-your-bathroom-like-a-professional/">How to clean your bathroom like a professional</a> <a href="/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/08/ways-to-ripen-your-avocado-in-minutes/">5 ways to ripen your avocado in minutes</a>

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