Recycling is a bad sign...
I'm not saying we shouldn't recycle but if it's economically viable to recycle that suggests that demand is outstripping supply.
No ones throws gold rings away because everyone knows gold is valuable because we like it and it's rare, so we sell it and make a point of recycling it, gold demand exceeds supply. Most people throw paper or plastic things away because we know they are worthless and there is plenty more where they came from...! Tat supply exceeds demand.
For decades our societies in the west have lived of an infinite growth, based on zero resource constraints, model for fuel and a bunch of core raw materials. When oil gets expensive things get painful and politicians get hot under the collar.
Generally speaking if companies are recycling plastic then it means that it is something they are doing on cost grounds, or availability grounds. Companies mostly aren't charities and don't do something unless it's in their interest. If raw plastic is in short supply or is getting expensive then it's suggests something we've thought of limitless is becoming limited - and that has consequences....!
Given that oil companies are pushing oil and gas into plastic production as we are currently travelling less, if there really is a plastic shortage does that mean we're hitting peak oil and gas? Not suggesting we're in anyway running out at the moment, but that demand is now exceeding supply.
While I'd love to see better efforts at recycling and much better waste management, I fear the short term effect will simply be price inflation, which always annoys most people...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
