Do Plastics Really Get Recycled? | Talking Point | Full Episode | Part 2/2

[@kwanzd]

This 2 part documentary taught me more than any public education campaign.. Owell. Maybe can consider printing “can recycle” or “do not recycle” on packaging. Make it into a law. This is common in Europe. Reduce the burden on consumers.

[@johcx1994]

TL;DR... Its really up to us... which is why reducing is more important then recycling. Even if Singapore were to carry on with pyrolysis... we will be in the same problem of plastics not being able to be recycled.

[@nicklovia]

This is quite sad to see. I'll definitely try to bring my own water bottle out more rather than buying. We really have to reduce, otherwise the problem goes in a circle and become more dangerous.

[@ambition112]

0:51: 🔄 Investigation into recycling efforts in Singapore reveals the complexity of different plastic types and their properties. 4:03: 🔢 Different types of plastics have different properties and can be recycled in different ways. 7:45: 🔄 The MRF sorts and separates different types of plastics based on their usage and type, but sometimes unidentified plastics are let pass to avoid mixing. Only three types of plastics are commonly sent out for recycling. 13:31: 🌍 Countries are tightening restrictions on imports of plastic waste, leading to fewer companies importing plastic waste from Singapore to Malaysia. 17:07: 🔄 Building more plastic recycling facilities in Singapore is not feasible due to high costs, lack of manpower, and insufficient plastic waste supply. 20:41: 🚰 Recycled plastic bottles have the highest level of disinfectant, which is unexpected but safe. Recap by Tammy AI

[@spaideman7850]

previously, i reused the plastic bags i had gotten from grocery for my rubbish bin. now i have to buy new plastic bags for my rubbish bin. that means i was made to change from 'reuse plastic' to 'single-use plastic'. i guess the total plastic usage for the whole nation had risen(instead of down) after the 'never thought thoroughly' plastic control plan was implemented.

[@leandrowngo]

The problem starts at the top of the chain: the manufacturers. The less plastic they produce, the less we use, the less we dispose.

[@koktonglee4350]

I've also had interesting conversations with my neighbour on biodegradable plastics. He was thinking that by changing regular disposable plastic plates, cups and bags to biodegradable ones, he was saving the environment. I informed him that Singapore doesn't bury our trash, and thus, the biodegradable plastics are useless. I ended up saving his wallet instead. :)

[@namele55777]

well at the very least, those plastics that get exported, and rejected due to contamination, won't have to sit 1000 years in a landfill. so yes. biodegradable would help, even if a little.

[@anydaynow01]

@@namele55777 Correct, there was a time when we didn't recycle either. With the compostable options all the food trash can be sent to a digester to make RNG and fertilizer. Just label the containers with a big imprinted C for compost. Even plastic bags can be changed to compostable bags so like you said, they aren't sitting around polluting as they disintegrate into petroleum waste for many years. Also what most folks don't realize is most biodegradable and compostable items come from plant based sources where plastics are from fossil fuel, so even in the worst case scenario where they are burned we're not pumping more carbon out of the ground and dumping it into the atmosphere.

[@spaideman7850]

biodegradable plastic is very important. if a turtle accidentally swallowed a non-biodegradable plastic, the plastic couldn't be digested and the turtle will die. tons of sea animal had swallowed non-biodegradable plastic.

[@HKspurs10]

implement a plastic tax on plastic producers focusing on single-used plastics and subsidise recycled plastics as well as plastic alternative such as seaweed based biodegradables.

[@JCCreatorStudio]

Plastic cups for foods and drinks, products wrap, online and offline shopping and delivery wraps are the main culprits. Stop these problems at bay, encourage consumer sense of responsibilities, big fines for companies using non green and excessive packaging.

[@saimandebbarma]

Nowadays humans can't think a single moment without plastic coz we have come very far & it's everywhere but, we can live without plastic for sure. Means if we want it's possible that we can stop creating plastics in the first place where after 'recycling can go in a sustainable way possible ! ☝️

[@cetdgrt]

All waste in Singapore is recycled, at least from waste to electricity. Even the residue from incineration is used for land reclamation. The main theme should be reduce and reuse. My 2 cents.

[@namele55777]

recycling into electricity is not efficient, releases oxides and greenhouse gases, and does not cut down on the oil needed to manufacture new plastics. agree that focus should be reduce and reuse.

[@jianxianggian2832]

Fascinating yet despairing. Can you do an episode on recycling electronics next?

[@rededwards3479]

This is why I invest in Greystone Logistics. They can take most of these unrecoverable plastics and turn them into PLASTIC PALLETS

[@willielimsgful]

You can turn any plastics into plastic pellets but manufacturerd may not buy them.

[@rededwards3479]

@@willielimsgful Greystone Logistics would just mix them into their PLASTIC Pallet Making "BREW" if no one wants that PELLET.

[@samuelross9884]

Plastics should be banned. We should only use glass, wood, metal, etc.

[@jonglewongle3438]

Some of those clear-colored plastic fast food cups are PET and some of them are not. If you are in the game of sorting the stuff never mind the silly friggin' triangular arrows but look for either the [ 1 ], or PP 5, or 6. Same deal with those plastic food trays and berry and fruit containers and cakes and bakery packs. Many are PET but some are 5 or 6 or even PVC. After a while you get to generally figuring it by look and a bit of feel, but it can still nevertheless flunk you out occasionally.

[@awaltt]

I figure, even if it's not undergoing the full process of recycling, it's still better to have it be individualized from other materials, and stored differently. That way most of the landfills can be products that break down more naturally.

[@lingth]

Singapore lack a lot of EDUCATION on Plastic recycling, many ppl dun know there are many TYPES of plastics, if you look at the Number below your plastic bottles you will see some has like number 1 while some is number 3 or 5.. different types of plastic has different recycling percentage. Some plastics you can only recover 30% or less of the material, some plastics like those wrapping on foods, its non recycable but ppl still throw them into plastic recycle bin thinking.,well its plastic what.. the govt just put recycle bins everywhere but there is no information on WHEN the material is collection for recycling and you wonder if the "people" collecting it is probably your local trash collector, you can have a whole bin of recyclable plastic bottles only to be contaminated by some one throw a dirty rubbish inside.

[@Kathakathan11]

Well tell me one country that has so much of awareness

[@PolymerSandTechnology]

We recycle plastiWe recycle plastic, but in order to save plastic, we mix it with sand in a ratio of 30/70 and get beautiful products. We manufacture equipment for this technology, and in many countries of the world there are enthusiasts who are ready to engage in plastic recycling, but the main problem is the indifference of officials, big business and there is no investment in real and not ostentatious events, although recently I see that the world is turning its face to this problem, slowly , but turns around.c, but in order to save plastic, we mix it with sand in a ratio of 30/70 and get good products.

[@chantillyculinarystudio4004]

Excellent video!

[@WWK186]

We as the suppliers of the plastic can help with sorting. But to make our effort worthwhile, can they be responsibly collected before being processed. Karung guni man could provide manpower to ensure standard of plastic waste at time of collection.

[@willielimsgful]

We can only reduce one time plastic use much. Our gov has to definitely invest huge capital in these high end plants to manage all these waste. Sorting can be sorted by AI solutions which reduces manpower significantly, solar panels to ease off electricity bills and process them into pellets directly. Most definitely a non profit making business but still better than bring reliant on exporting to other countries. People living in Singapore will then have to support the costs of plastic recycling too.

[@anziar3038]

The culprits are those irresponsible and inconsiderate users of recycling bins.🤣🤣

[@kschia9323]

Can an episode on whether recycle rate is lower due to less trash? Why do Singapore food sellers use more plastic than Taiwan. Can packaging price come down with paper products? 🤔

[@ezekielk.3629]

My household will continue to recycle plastics on regular basis. What the bloody government wants to do with the recyclable. It's their own bloody issue as we citizen has already done our part by recycling.

[@ligmaballs2022]

is the recycled PET bottle from Evian? i recognise the bottle cap and shape

[@tsvandyke]

Just make laws ... " making plastic containers illegal " ... which focusses the problem on the companies / creator of the plastic containers ... instead of the consumer ,

[@3dr14ng4]

The main issue I have with plastics are those plastics use to wrap online parcels. For example, if you ship a laptop the shipping company will wrap it up with 10 layers of bubble wrap.

[@zwickytube]

Use AI and Robotic etc.. for sorting :)

[@tsvandyke]

Why not just BAN / fine any companies that are still using plastic? .. .why is it the problem of the consumer that companies still make plastic containers ?

[@gosikh]

As a visitor who loves to visit Singapore, it is heart breaking to see the people carry out their food with a total of 3-6 plastic pieces Bag Container Sauce Spoon Fork Napkin cover All plastic pieces. Even if the people take the carry out home, they still use plastic spoon and fork. Sad. Plastic should be banned in Singapore, go to a wood or paper based products

[@jimiyu7989]

We have to bale tons of CECA and PRC back to their country of origin to lessen our plastic consumption.

[@keangwooichoo6138]

How to separate plastics from organic garbage in a plastic cup or food packaging? Tough right? Yes reduce consumption is important as we reach 8b human beings on earth. Will resources be enough? Will the sea and land able to handle garbage from humans?

[@tsvandyke]

Why is it the CONSUMERS fault - that the government has such piss poor laws ! ? ... unable to slow down / stop any wrong-doings .

[@colkellahan6676]

If they don't have enough plastics to recycle why don't other countries just give there over flowing amounts to them? everyone wins

[@henaimtiyaz4189]

People will shift to more eco friendly options when they are less costlier and affordable for the common people.Need more products with eco friendly packaging. Plastics are everywhere from shampoo bottles to eateries.

[@sleepy_dobe]

What about metals? There are also many products that come in metal containers that can be washed and recycled. Do they face the same hurdles as recycling plastics? Maybe the world needs to regress on this and go back to using glass containers. It should be easier to recycle glass, right? Correct me if I'm wrong 'cos I'm not knowledgeable about glass recycling. Reducing personal use of plastics can only go so far. What can one do when the products that one buys come in their own plastic containers and don't allow the consumer to use their own containers? A very obvious thing that comes to mind is bottled water. I drink from the tap, but bottled water is consumed in copious amounts all over the world. But let's just consider our own country for now. One cannot go to the store, pick up the bottled water, open it and pour the water into one's own container before going to the cashier to make payment. It doesn't make sense, nor does it make any difference since the manufacturer still had to use plastic bottles to pack the water for transport and sale.

[@namele55777]

metals are worth much more so there is secondary market for recycled metals. same for glass. as long as recycled metals/glass can be made cheaper or same cost than fresh metal/glass, then there will be market recycling plastic is difficult not because it can't be done, but because it can't be done cheaply enough. if recycled resin is more expensive than virgin resin, then nobody will use recycled resins at the end of the day, it's all about maximizing profits and making economic sense.

[@angeluscorpius]

metal cans are not "washed" and reused. Recycling means melting down the metal (aluminium) cans (or other metal containers) and re-manufacturing the cans (or into any other metal products). The thing about metal (iron, aluminium, etc) is that they are infinitely recyclable. They can be recycled many many times because the metal does not degrade or become less of a metal. Iron after 100 recycling is still iron, and will be as strong as long as it is properly manufactured. Plastic is NOT infinitely recyclable. Recycled plastic is often less strong or less durable. And if it were contaminated, that would usually affect its properties. And it is almost impossible to avoid contamination with consumer plastic. Which is why plastic recyclers prefer to get their plastic from commercial/industrial sources - factories that have plastic waste or manufacturing "mistakes" where the plastic is a single type and uncontaminated. On your question about drinking water and bottled water... the solution is simple: Get Tap water. Unless you are in a place where the tap water is unsafe. In singapore, water from the tap is safe to drink. Bottled water is an unnecessary "luxury" and pretentious.

[@addicted2me]

Noooo...I sort my glasses to be recycled.i support what I can do with the environment.however I hate how plastic is still used to throw our rubbish. Funny that I am the only one at work even care abt saving plastics and such.. they laugh at me at times..oh well.

[@TheYoosuf]

I totally understand, I'm in the same boat as you lol! Being a strong advocate against disposing recyclables despite the fact that people may look at it negatively. But please continue what your doing, every little bit counts

[@tjtann]

Nice

[@lycan39]

Less convenient 😕 or less usage... 😅😅😅 That's the Q. 💕💗🎉🧐💭

[@jeromeheah]

Talking about recycling. Im thinking about ev cars in 2040. To make lithium batteries cost the earth alot. And how is it greener? Yes it produce cleaner co2 from vehicle to show off to the world and be top 10 green country, but these batt are made using natural ingredient like lithium(hard to source), oil and machines that made them generated by diesel. So to make your ev battery,any resources are dug up from the earth. Also factory waste are much worse than the co2 coming out of vehicles

[@ChowYewLoon]

The more plastic you used then you eat and drink more plastic!

[@tsvandyke]

STOP ... the "it's not my problem" .. attitude . Companies that are responsible for creating the mess should be the one cleaning up after it - do not BLAME the consumer !

[@davidhuang7103]

gyadagidigyadagyagyadagyadaoh

[@lastChang]

Top 5 plastic polluting countries: 1. China 🇨🇳, 2. Indonesia, 3. Philippines, 4. Vietnam 🇻🇳, and 5. Thailand. - Thanks, Formosa Plastics!

[@beataplaya]

top plastic garbage producer Coca -Cola

[@spaideman7850]

thats because USA export their plastics garbage to be buried in poor countries like Malaysia and Philippines.

[@ronnianabalos4627]

😮

[@shaheenshinwaribbqandresta1676]

We have ruby's anyone intrested

[@jarrodyuki7081]

i can only beg for freed food at restruant or gas station right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by being a tranltot r sekagin hdin i or tmail or vietnamese.

[@kwl512]

Stop adding fake plastic flowers and plastic shiso leaves to my takeout sushi. Its pointless, wasteful, unappetising. @ntuc, donki