Recycling Innovations

Everything in life is a process. Amazing technologies get created but this is hardly where the story ends. The technology gets adapted and partnered and upgraded as more great minds join the party.

This innovation is happening in areas you might not have realized needed upgrading. Take, for example, recycling.

Recycling has been around possibly as long as humans have existed. That being said, the process of recycling has changed dramatically as technology changes what is possible.

Now, in our times, we are seeing another shift as fantastic innovators are turning the notion of recycling on its head, giving the entire system an upgrade it desperately needs to be the environmental savior it was always intended to be.

Let’s look at these recycling revolutionaries.

It’s sad to realize how dependent we have become on plastic. A byproduct of fossil fuel extraction, its production and consumption is not good for our or the planet’s health. It’s even sadder when you realize most of these items end up in landfills or the ocean—because they weren’t recycled by the user, because they were “the wrong type of plastic,” because the recycling facilities weren’t willing to accept the product, etc.

The answer? Follow the lead of Loop Industries and change from recycling to upcycling.

Completely changing the plastic game, Loop takes in all types of PET plastic and breaks it down to its base state (or monomers), then rebuilds it all into Loop™ branded PET plastic.

This sustainable plastic is then sold to major corporations, reducing the need for new plastic and minimizing our carbon footprint.

The biggest players are on board, with major names like Coca-Cola, Danone, Evian, Keurig and PepsiCo all entering into agreements with the company.

In this new world, people mail in their plastic using postage-paid envelopes and Loop ensures it all gets recycled in a sustainable way. It’s that easy.

We may not be able to quit plastic but we have the real opportunity to change how that plastic gets produced. This is amazing.

There are, of course, other ways to reuse plastic and we really should be offering companies exploring these options our full support.

The astounding thing is when you start to discover all the amazing things old plastic can be used to create.

One company rethinking how we manage our plastic is ByFusion. This company is revisioning both recycling and building by turning used plastic into ByBlocks, a modern upgrade to cement blocks that offer better sound and thermal insulation.

Cement, if you were unaware, is a high-carbon producer and is one of the major contributors to our rising CO2 levels. We need to reduce our dependency on it.

ByFusion’s ByBlocks stand as an amazing next step in our business world as they are both reducing our plastic waste and reducing our need to rely on the carbon-heavy element of concrete.

This is actually a good example of how we manage the conflicting needs of reducing the damage we inflict on the planet and maintaining our current comfort of living.

One of the areas your mind probably doesn’t immediately go to when considering plastic and plastic pollution is clothing. The reality, however, is the modern propensity for fast fashion means our wardrobes are full of clothing made from synthetic plastic material and these items are discarded quickly.

In fact here in North America we send 9.5 million tonnes of clothing to landfills every year. Obviously this is not good.

The question then becomes: How do we make our clothing more sustainable?

There is an answer and this answer lies in recycled and upcycled clothing. Instead of using new materials to create new products we reclaim old elements and give them new life.

Recover understands the potential in this field and has created a line of clothing using material made from recycled plastic and cotton scraps.

This is the type of thinking we need to embrace if we want to maintain our expansive wardrobes yet limit our carbon footprint. In essence, this is one of the best ways to ensure sustainable fashion.

It’s a fashion trend we all need to follow.

Here’s the reality: For the good of the Earth we need to limit our plastic footprint.

Yes, there will be challenges, especially when you look at how big a role plastic plays in our lives.

Curious about your personal footprint? Check out My Little Plastic Footprint, an app designed to help everyone learn about how they’re contributing to the problem and what they can do to reduce their footprint.

If we work to reduce our personal footprints and support the innovators coming up with real solutions to the plastic conundrum we can make a real positive impact that will set us on a better path.