The Scrapper Solution

It is no surprise that a proposed market solution to the global problem will depend on the scrapper. The Minderoo Foundation aims to raise the price of “virgin” plastic so that recycled plastic can have a competitive edge. This would thereby give recycled plastic value and theoretically lead to less pollution. It is a compelling idea in the face of a seemingly hopeless outlook. If it succeeded the brunt of the work to create a “circular plastic economy” would be done by the poorest people in the world the scrappers. These scrappers would sift the endless landfills by hand pulling dirty pieces of recyclable plastic out to clean and process for resale. There is a small market now and considering that much of the east does not want United States plastic waste and often cannot recycle much of it, it seems a market incentive would help but hardly solve the problem.

It is my opinion we need different materials that can be reused or easily composted. If products cannot meet those requirements they cannot enter into the consumer market unless they are absolutely essential and come with a end of life plan in the local municipality. We are clearly far from this holistic solution.

For information on the Minderoo Project see noplasticwaste.org