Recycling innovations must include the public – every step of the way
The plastics crisis is urgent and desperate. As consumers, we are constantly being bombarded with doom-and-gloom, from hopeless statistics and news stories to overwhelming documentaries and imagery.
Concurrently, Australians are being drip-fed solutions and messages of hope. The now widespread initiative of kerbside collection for separated recyclables (introduced in the 1980s) meant no more dumping of glass, plastic, and cardboard into landfill.
The soft plastics scheme rolled out across thousands of our supermarkets meant hard-to recycle plastics could be returned and recycled into roads or other products. And making the personal switch to bio-based, single-use products meant goodbye to waste that couldn’t break down or decompose. We were promised these things.
We were told that—if we made the effort—we could move the dial on the waste crisis in Australia.
So, it comes as no surprise that when these ‘solutions’ end up being debunked, we are left angry and disillusioned. And it continues to happen, time and time again.
Last week, Australians heard about the collapse of the soft plastics scheme. Earlier this year, we read about the mixing of yellow-bin recycling with red-bin garbage having gone on for years. And repeatedly, we’re told that bio-based products are not necessarily better than their plastic counterparts.
It seems any new solutions and initiatives have little chance of falling on anything other than deaf—and rightly, cynical—ears.
So where does that leave Samsara Eco? As infinite recyclers who want to change the way humans produce and recycle plastic, we are acutely aware of the fatigue consumers feel regarding new promises of hope. We also understand that to actually make a difference to the climate crisis; we need to collaborate with the country’s biggest plastic producers. It’s a daunting task, but we are genuinely optimistic about changing plastic packaging in supermarkets to be infinitely recyclable. And we know that we can deliver climate repair with our low carbon footprint technology.
But, we also understand that consumers need to be taken on this exciting journey with us. Consumers need transparency and accountability all the way through, not just when the solution is rolled out.
Samsara Eco also needs consumers—not for sorting and returning household plastic—but for social rejection of anything other than environmentally responsible and effective recycling, for helping us put pressure on policy makers, and for co-designing our infinite plastic future together.
We are tackling an incredibly complex problem, one which requires not just our technology, but also political action, corporate responsibility, and shifts in human culture regarding the way we experience plastic and view waste.
Samsara Eco is committed to transparency, accountability, and genuine climate repair. So please, sign up to our newsletter, let us know what you think about what we’re doing or questions you might have, and follow our movement, SAM.FOR.CHANGE.
Author: Jestin George
