“Recycle” By Mail Is A Major Climate Fail
Mail-back downcycling schemes used by companies seeking cover for their poorly-designed plastic products would hasten climate change
For Immediate Release: Monday, June 28, 2021
Bennington, VT – A fact sheet released today by Beyond Plastics and The Last Beach Clean Up shines a light on the troubling hidden climate and other environmental impacts of mail-back “recycling” programs offered by many major brands. Although currently little-used, should these mail-back programs grow to scale, the impact of trucking billions of boxes of used single-use plastic products thousands of miles across the country to be downcycled would speed the rise in global temperatures as we creep ever closer to the 1.5 degree C increase that scientists agree we must stay within to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
“Some companies are cynically exploiting Americans’ commitment to reducing plastic pollution by setting up mail-back programs for items that are not designed to be recycled. Unfortunately, mailing used plastic packaging and products all over the country does not make sense from either an environmental or a financial perspective making this another industry-touted false solution to our plastic waste crisis,” said Judith Enck, President of Beyond Plastics and former EPA Regional Administrator.”
The fact sheet assesses the carbon emissions and packaging waste of four types of common single-use plastic products if they were to be mailed back in cardboard boxes at scale nationwide—condiment packets, chip bags, plastic cups, and plastic cutlery. The carbon emissions from mailing back 6.6 billion condiment packets would be 104,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year, roughly equal to the annual carbon emissions of 23,000 U.S. cars. Shipping back 60% of the snack bags made by one U.S. manufacturer would be equal to the annual carbon emissions of roughly 580,000 U.S. cars.
“We’ve done the math and the long-distance mail-back programs for plastic products and packaging have significant environmental impacts that outweigh the meager benefits of downcycling the plastic products into things like picnic tables or park benches,” said Jan Dell, independent engineer and founder of The Last Beach Cleanup, who led the engineering estimation of waste rates and carbon emissions.
Rather than promoting climate-intensive false solutions to their plastic waste problems, Beyond Plastics and The Last Beach Cleanup call on product companies to create reusable products and adopt local refill programs. At a minimum, these companies should redesign their products to be accepted for recycling or composting via curbside recycling and composting programs.
“If these companies were serious about reducing the environmental impact of their packaging, they would offer consumers reusable products or choose packaging that can be easily recycled at the local level. These companies should spend less time and money on public relations and more on actual solutions to the waste they’re creating," said Enck.
The fact sheet can be found at: https://beyondplastics.squarespace.com/s/Recycling-by-Mail-is-a-Major-Climate-Fail_Fact-Sheet-_June-2021.pdf
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Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project based at Bennington College in Vermont, that pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of community leaders and activists to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet, and ourselves, from the plastic pollution crisis. Learn more: www.BeyondPlastics.org
The Last Beach Cleanup volunteers lead catalytic initiatives to move from awareness on plastic pollution to wide-scale action and achievement. We collaborate with diverse stakeholders who share the goal of ending plastic pollution: local and national governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), socially responsible investors (SRIs), individuals and others. https://www.lastbeachcleanup.org/