Opinion: We can’t recycle our way out of the plastic waste crisis

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As the world marks Global Recycling Day today, Lottie Free of Mr Green Africa argues that while recycling is often presented as the solution to the plastic waste crisis, it cannot solve the problem alone. Instead, she calls for a broader shift to a circular economy involving better product design, stronger policies and coordinated stakeholder action.

• Ms Free is Head of Partnerships at Mr Green Africa (MGA), a Kenya-based plastics recycling company specialising in rPET, rHDPE and rPP, and Africa’s first recycling company to become a Certified B Corporation. Prior to joining MGA, she worked in the UK Civil Service on policy areas including single-use plastic reduction and waste sector decarbonisation.

• “Only 9% of plastic produced has been recycled, which makes it clear we cannot simply recycle our way out of this mess. Without a more holistic and sustainable approach to managing waste, plastic pollution will continue to grow,” she says.

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By Lottie Free

“Is recycling actually the solution to plastic waste?”

Working for Mr Green Africa, a plastic recycling company in Kenya, I get asked this question a lot. And I always enjoy answering with a nonchalant shrug, an arched eyebrow and a simple “No.”

The effect of this depends on the motivation behind the question. If they’re asking because they want to be reassured recycling is in fact the solution and is working just fine, they look panic stricken. If they’re asking to be provocative or because they know they have the real answer to plastic waste, they tend to look a bit deflated that the point was seemingly so easily scored. If they’re a friend or family member, they usually start asking follow up questions about my career choices and future prospects.

Whatever the motivation for the question, the conversation rarely stops there, and we usually end up having a longer discussion about the potential solutions to plastic waste. So, with no interruptions and a fairly generous word limit, I’d like to use this chance to stop being flippant, unpack the thinking behind that ‘No’ and share some thoughts on what we can all do to tackle the problem more effectively and start seeing waste as an opportunity.

To begin with, it's important to understand the scale of the challenge we are facing. Existing levels of plastic pollution are hard to comprehend, and these are only growing. To help, here are a few statistics to illustrate the point:

• Kenya generates approximately 22,000 tons of waste daily, of which about 20% is plastic.

• By 2060, Africa could generate 116 million tons of plastic waste yearly, six times more than in 2019.

• According to the OECD, the world generates approximately 353 to 460 million tonnes of plastic waste annually.

At the same time, only 9% of plastic produced has been recycled, which to me makes it clear we cannot just recycle our way out of this mess. Without a more holistic and sustainable solution to manage our waste, plastic pollution will continue to grow. The next thing to understand is why this matters. Turning again to a few thought-provoking data points:

• Left untreated, plastic takes anywhere from 100 to 1000 years to decompose.

• Global plastic pollution is expected to double by 2030 (compared to 2021 levels).

• Today, plastic accounts for 85% of all marine litter and by 2050, by weight, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.

• Microplastics have now been found almost everywhere on earth, from the Mariana Trench to human placentae.

Although the focus is often on the environmental impacts of this crisis, we should all be clear that plastic pollution is fundamentally a people problem. Plastic does not just spring from the ground and march into the ocean by itself. This can be an uncomfortable truth to accept, but it's also the key to designing and implementing effective solutions.

So, if we can’t just recycle it, what can we do?

First, we need to take a step back, look at the bigger picture and ask a seemingly simple question: why is so much waste being generated in the first place? Typically, the answer lies in the fact that many of us are living and operating in a linear economy, in which we take resources, make them into products, use them once or twice, and then throw them away (without really considering where ‘away’ actually is). Though this is the case all over the world, it is particularly true of countries in the West, where the volumes of waste generated are especially high. As is the case with climate change, the impacts are often felt by people living in countries thousands of miles away from where the waste was generated.

To change this, we need to grab our linear economies and bend them into ‘circular economies’ in which we maximise our use of resources, reduce the amount of waste we produce and introduce sustainable and responsible end of life treatments. We can do this by reusing, refilling and repairing items as much as possible to extend their lives, before disposing of them in a variety of ways, some of which can enable us to extract further value from them (for example, recycling).  

The transition to a circular economy is often characterised as a radical new thing, when in fact you can see plenty of ‘circular economy’ practices already going on in Kenya and other countries in Africa. Particularly in informal settlements or low-income communities, the practice of reusing, repairing, refilling and recycling objects is nothing new and provides a vital source of income.

At this point, I want to underline and applaud the critical role the informal sector plays in many countries' waste management systems, including here in Kenya. Turning again to statistics:

• According to the Kenya National Welfare Association of Wastepickers, there are over 40,000 waste pickers working in Kenya.

• Across Africa, approximately 90% of waste management is handled by the informal sector (including waste pickers and unregulated small enterprises).

• Estimates suggest between 15 - 20 million people are part of the informal waste sector in Africa

• Globally, waste pickers are responsible for almost 60% of all plastic waste collected

Without these people, we wouldn’t even have recycled 9% of plastic. And yet, they are routinely stigmatised, excluded from key social services, and underpaid and undervalued for the role they play in tidying up our planet. The expertise, knowledge and experience the informal waste sector holds is not to be underestimated and is the backbone of the supply chains for recycling companies like Mr Green Africa. As more countries begin to deliberately transition to nation-wide circular economies with policies such as ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ (EPR, which enforces the ‘polluter pays principle’ by which companies placing products or packaging on the market are responsible for the cost of their end of life treatment) and taxes on virgin plastic, we must ensure we do not inadvertently cut out the informal sector or remove their sources of income without planning employment in new systems or other sectors. Their knowledge should guide the development of waste management plans and systems and they should be acknowledged and remunerated for this.

I’d now like to turn to what everyone else can do to accelerate and expand the transition to a circular economy, including increasing recycling. 

Brands can support this transition in many ways, but to call out a few:

• Design for reuse, refill, repair and recyclability. There is no such thing as an inherently ‘sustainable material’. Sustainability only comes from how we source, use and dispose of a material and those are all dependent on people. So, don’t just swap out plastic for cotton, paper or allegedly ‘biodegradable’ plastic, instead ensure the products and packaging you produce are not single-use but long lasting and have a clear and realistic end of life treatment.

• Stop ‘green hushing’ (a new phrase I heard this week) and stick to the plastic reduction targets you so boldly set a few years ago. This was never going to be easy, but we’ll never get anywhere if we give up at the first hurdle. If you can figure out how to deliver products across the world in the blink of an eye, you can figure out how to meet your plastic targets too.

• Label your products clearly and honestly, so that consumers know what materials have been used to make a product and how they can dispose of them when they can no longer use them - no greenwashing please.

• Support recyclers to produce the volumes of recycled plastic you need to meet your recycled content targets. Paying a premium for recycled plastic is obviously our ideal outcome, but committing to regular, consistent orders is equally helpful for recyclers. Harmonisation of standards and quality requirements for recycled plastic would also be a huge step forward.

Consumers also have a vital role to play, we’re not as powerless as it sometimes feels:

• Use your purchasing power to demand change from brands. If you can, vote with your cash and choose products that are made from recycled materials and easily reusable, repairable, refillable and recyclable (I hear you at the back asking how you’re meant to know which products meet these criteria, see above request on labelling).

• Use your voice. In this world of social media everyone can put pressure on brands, governments and systems to change and call out greenwashing, inequalities and injustices.

• Look for opportunities to swap in reusable products for single use - take a reusable bag, water bottle and/or coffee cup with you so you don’t need to use disposable, single use ones. If you want, you can take a whole picnic basket with you and take cutlery and food containers too (yes, my rucksack weighs a tonne).

• Start implementing the ‘Recycling Rituals’. If you are able to access waste collection and recycling, separate your waste at home, rinse out plastic bottles and containers, remove labels and bottle tops and crush or flatten them.

• Acknowledge the vital work of waste pickers and the informal sector and look for opportunities to support them and advocate for their rights.

• Everyone doing a little adds up to a lot - so even if it feels overwhelming or as though it won’t make a difference, just start small and keep it consistent.

Recyclers worldwide face a number of challenges, but working together and with brands, consumers and the informal sector I believe we have a critical role to play in a circular economy.

• There is more than enough plastic for us all, and a little friendly competition makes us all better - iron sharpens iron. So, let’s work together and speak with one voice to call for the policies and support we need to make our businesses thrive.

• Share knowledge on passing customer audits and meeting standards, effective ways of integrating the informal sector into our value chains, troubleshooting common issues with quality etc.

• Support the informal sector and recognise their work with fair pay and treatment, we would not be able to access the feedstock material we need without them.

Governments are also fundamental in driving and sustaining the transition to a circular economy by creating clear regulatory frameworks and supporting investment. They can accelerate progress by:

• Creating clear policies, legislation and implementation guidance, and bringing key stakeholders from across the value chain into their design through early and regular consultation.

• Ensuring enforcement of these policies is consistent and fair, with clear roles and responsibilities for enforcement agencies.

• Sharing knowledge and looking at what’s worked elsewhere to find policies that could be adapted to suit local contexts. For example, 17 of the 54 countries in Africa have introduced EPR legislation, with South Africa the most advanced in implementation. We can all learn lessons from early adopters to avoid repeating the mistakes of others and ‘leapfrog’ progress. Further afield the EU has published a wealth of legislation on waste management and plastic packaging, which could be used as the basis for regulation here, and the UK has introduced a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content to increase the market for recycled plastic.

• Looking beyond waste to see what’s worked in other sectors requiring systemic change, for example, energy and agriculture. Initiatives like ‘country platforms’ to plan the transition from fossil fuels to green energy, or the concept of a ‘just transition’ for workers in fossil fuel industries could provide useful templates for transitioning to a circular economy.

• Anticipating the impact of other countries’ legislation on domestic companies’ ability to export and access international markets - many of the regulations mentioned in the previous paragraph apply to imports as well as products produced domestically. 

So, back to the initial question: is recycling actually the solution to plastic waste? I hope you now understand and share my view that it's not the solution, but part of the solution.